Rusty Pritchard has championioned holistic mission - the whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world - ever since he was introduced to Tearfund in the early days of his career. In understanding the big mission of God in the world, Rusty realized that He is calling His people to fight injustice.
After spending formative time in Glasgow, Scotland, where Rusty met his wife Joanna, the pair returned to the US and Rusty began grad school, earning an MS and a Ph.D. with focuses in ecology, environmental engineering, and economics.
In 1998, his family moved to Atlanta so he could help start the new Environmental Studies Department at Emory University. Eight years later, he shifted to the nonprofit sector, working with the National Wildlife Federation and then the Evangelical Climate Initiative on issues like agricultural and forestry policy and climate change policy.
In partnership with FCS Ministries, Rusty helped plant a multi-racial church doing holistic ministry in a mostly African American neighborhood, also one of America’s most highly-polluted zipcodes. There, he came to understand firsthand the effects of environmental racism and felt compelled to act.
In his role as Vice President of Tearfund USA, Rusty gets to apply his passion for science, advocacy, and economic and spiritual transformation, as part of a team that is constantly seeking to be transformed themselves, in their lifestyles and in their spiritual walk.
Rusty is an elder in his church and serves on its Race and Biblical Justice committee. He and Joanna live in Decatur, Georgia with two kids still at home and one away at college.
