Rev. Dr. Frederick Field "Fritz"
Ritsch, III
Pastor
Dr. Ritsch was born in 1959 and grew up in Spartanburg, SC, where his parents
taught at Converse College. He received a BA in English from Hampden-Sydney
College in Virginia, and his D. Min. degree from Union Seminary in Richmond, VA,
in 1985. His first two parishes were in Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley,
where he met his wife, Margaret, and where their first child, Sara, was born.
From there he crossed the Mason-Dixon to serve as associate pastor of Concord
Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, DE. In Wilmington their son Benjamin was
born.
In 1997, Dr. Ritsch received a call to serve as pastor of Bethesda Presbyterian
Church in Bethesda, MD. While there, he helped found Action in Montgomery, a
faith-based community action organization affiliated with the Industrial Areas
Foundation. He also received a grant from the PCUSA for a post-9/11 project that
facilitated faith-based intergenerational discussion of dealing with national
and personal trauma.
Dr. Ritsch’s wife, Margaret is a journalist, writer, and public relations
specialist. Both modestly believe they have the best children in the world. They
own one small cat, Alice, a Siamese. Dr. Ritsch is author of several articles on
faith and politics, including “Of God, and Man, in the Oval Office,” published
in the Washington Post in 2003; and “Theology and Consequences,” in Presbyterian
Outlook in June 2004.
Dr. Ritsch received the call to serve as head of staff at St. Stephen Presbyterian Church in 2004.