Life & Work with Rachel Reigard

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Reigard.

Hi Rachel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Rachel Reigard, and I am a local pastor and author. I graduated from college in 2018 with a degree in Christian Ministries from Indiana Wesleyan University. I then started working as a children’s and young adult pastor in northeast Pennsylvania. While beginning my career, I started to fall in love with writing and my husband, Josh. 

In 2019, I began writing my first book, Bad Reviews: Learning to Handle Rejection in a Godly Way. The book includes 22 different “Bad Reviews” someone could say about you and how to react to that rejection. Each chapter includes verse artwork, biblical comparisons, personal stories, and discussion questions. After three years, it was finally complete, and I self-published the book in 2022, all while moving ten hours from home to West Michigan. Since then, the book has been featured on the Youversion Bible App, with my plans consisting of over 21,000 subscribers! 

In the past year, I created Church Notes, a notebook to help people take sermon notes now in 12 different outside designs, with more to come in the future. So far, almost 500 of my Church Notes have been sold. I also wrote and designed a kid’s theology activity book called Discovering the Bible, a full-color activity book for kids to understand their faith better. I plan to keep writing and creating as it has become one of my passions. I currently work at Daybreak Church in Hudsonville as one of the Children’s Pastors. I love helping people of all ages connect with God and gain confidence in who he created them to be! 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One thing that almost stopped me from writing my book was the fear of harsh criticism and negative comments, which is what would end up inspiring the title and theme of Bad Reviews! After all, what better way to face your fears than to write about them for the whole world to see? I realized how often I had let my insecurities control me, and I no longer wanted to see that happen. I may still have moments of doubt, but I know I need to do what I feel called to do despite what the critics will say. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a Children’s Pastor at Daybreak, and my husband is a Campus Pastor at All Shores Coopersville. We both love doing ministry and finding ways to use our talents and gifts for the church. I love content creation for kids, and recently, my church, Daybreak, completed a huge project for our kids’ ministry called Growth Guides. These are full-color activity guides for kids and families to do together throughout the week, and I was so happy to participate in that. I also love to design kids’ ministry spaces and stage designs, which I get to do at my job. Basically, count me for anything that involves some creativity and/or writing! One thing I love about kids’ ministry is finding unusual ways to teach kids about the Bible. I once used an elephant toothpaste science experiment to teach about Jonah and the Big fish. It is moments like that where I know I am in the right profession. We also are launching a brand-new kids’ ministry called Explorers, where kids will get to spend time in God’s creation while learning life skills and earning badges. I was able to write the curriculum for that and cannot wait to see the ministry in action this September. 

When I am not working as a children’s pastor, I write for the Youverison Bible app, do freelance writing and design work, teach at speaking events, and write for my own blog, An Honest Answer, where I answer people’s questions about the Bible! 

As a kid, I never knew what I wanted to do, but I did know I wanted to wake up every day and love my job. Growing up, I would see people who did not like their chosen career path, and that scared me. After all, we spend a lot of our time at work, so I prayed and prayed for God to show me what I should do. Finally, after changing majors about 5 times, I found the right career for me and have never looked back. Ministry and content creation is the perfect mix for all the things that I love to do, and I know I was created for this. 

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
My one major takeaway from COVID-19 was that I needed to slow down. I did not realize I was burning myself out so quickly, and when we were all forced to pause for a bit, I was able to recover. It actually helped me create healthier rhythms of rest and prioritize my physical and emotional health, which I can often forget about. I now know how important it is to take some time to rest and recharge so I can hopefully do what I love for a long time! 

Pricing:

• Bad Reviews $16.99
• Discovering the Bible Spiral Bound $19.99
• Discovering the Bible (ebook) $13.99
• Church Notes $7.99

Contact Info:

• Website: Anhonestanswerblog.com
• Instagram: rachelkatlyn
• Facebook: Rachel K Reigard
• Other: TikTok: rachelreigard Amazon Author page: Rachel Reigard