Richard Kannwischer
8 min read ⭑
“Transformation doesn’t come from trying harder but from simply allowing God, our Master Gardener, to do the work in us.”
With 25 years of pastoral ministry under his belt, Dr. Richard Kannwischer is a writer and preacher who strives to make the deep, complex truths of Scripture more accessible for the everyday person. A graduate of both Princeton Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary, Richard is no stranger to academia, but he’s also committed to being the hands and feet of Jesus in the real world — whether that means ministering to trafficking victims from India, persecuted Christians in Asia or the members of his local congregation in Atlanta, Georgia.
Below, Richard opens up to Rapt about the foods that remind him of home and family, the physical activities that kick his spiritual disciplines into gear, and the rhythms he’s creating to balance consuming and creating as a busy pastor.
QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT
Food is always about more than food; it’s also about home and people and love. So how does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind your web bio?
I am a Texan, and so for me, Tex-Mex falls into the “food is love” category. I think the litmus test of any Tex-Mex restaurant is their Green Chicken Enchiladas. I might favor fajitas, but you can’t compare having fajitas at one Tex-Mex restaurant and Green Chicken Enchiladas at another.
The problem is, Tex-Mex can be dangerous for me because I can eat so much of certain foods — like chips and guac or chips and salsa — that I’ll make myself sick, even before my entrée comes.
That said, Superica in Atlanta gets my Texas seal of approval here in the South, even though we’re far away from Texas.
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QUESTION #2: REVEAL
What “nonspiritual” activity have you found to be quite spiritual, after all? What quirky proclivity, out-of-the-way interest or unexpected pursuit refreshes your soul?
I have two favorite forms of exercise — swimming and running. What I love about running is being able to zone out to an audiobook. I like running the same route not only because I can pay attention to my time but also because I don’t have to think about where I’m going, which allows me to be fully present with what I’m learning.
When I get in the pool, it becomes like a sensory deprivation chamber. For those 40 uninterrupted minutes, I can pray through something that’s weighing on my mind. The pool is also one of my favorite places to memorize Scripture. I’ll print out a Scripture that I’m working on, put it into a baggie and place it on the side of the pool. Then I’ll swim, rehearse and recite that portion of it until I get stuck, at which point I’ll swim up to the side of the pool and reread it. This works well because when your body is engaged, your soul gets free.
QUESTION #3: CONFESS
Every superhero has a weakness; every human, too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re all broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite and how do you confront its power?
Our greatest strengths often have a shadow side to them. For example, I like to be playful, but sometimes I’m playful in a way that isn’t sensitive to the other person. So instead of the person feeling like I’m trying to connect, they think I’m not being serious or taking them seriously. Sometimes I miss the social cue — I dive in with a holy sense of joy, but it’s not received as joy. It’s received as flippancy or insensitivity.
One of the things I have to work on is meeting people where they are. Sometimes I miss what they really need from me at that moment, whether it’s to be serious or to be joy-filled. It’s a constant growth edge with me.
QUESTION #4: FIRE UP
Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your current obsession? And why should it be ours?
I’m an avid reader, whether it’s an audiobook, paper book or Kindle. One of the things I have noticed about writing more is that I’m spending less time reading and more time engaging my imagination in ways I’ve never challenged myself to do before, which is fun, interesting and engaging.
At the same time, I have to replenish the well because one of the keys to good content delivery — like sermons, speeches and writing — is continuing to take in and read. It’s also hard for me to make headway in my writing while also writing a sermon every week. When I’m writing a sermon, my brain is focused on figuring out how to illustrate my various points, not my other writing work.
I’m learning a ton about rhythms, and I need to adapt the rhythms I have been using to be more externally focused on delivering content. This is especially true for the writing process, which takes a certain amount of energy. That’s why it was such a joy to write during my summer sabbatical — I didn’t have any other sermons I was trying to work on at that point in time.
So what have I been writing? My latest labor is my newly released book “Cultivate,” which explores how real spiritual transformation takes root. From my own experiences of challenge and renewal, I’ve learned that transformation doesn’t come from trying harder but from simply allowing God, our Master Gardener, to do the work in us.
QUESTION #5: BOOST
Whether we’re cashiers or CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need God’s love flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?
Just because you serve in a church doesn’t mean you automatically invite the Holy Spirit into your work. It’s easy to tell people to pray before a difficult meeting and then not apply the principle yourself. So I have some rhythms, habits and intentional items in my office that prompt me to pray for and think about ministry that is far beyond what I do there. These special items — artwork from girls who were rescued from human trafficking in India, a chalice from Asian Christians who were struggling amid persecution and an angel from my mom — are physical yet spiritual reminders to invite God’s presence and promises into my day.
QUESTION #6: inspire
Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied habits that open our hearts to the presence of God. So let us in. Which spiritual practice is working best for you in this season?
In this season, I make my living by what I say, and I steward the Word of God communicated to others. There is a liability to that. If I’m not careful, I can start to believe my own propaganda in the sense that it comes from me and not from God. So the most important spiritual practice for me is silence. When I finish preaching a sermon on Sunday and get in the car, I don’t listen to music or anything else. I also try to carve out time on Sunday and Monday to create space in silence and to engage with Scripture and prayer.
The discipline of withdrawing from noise, from listening to things, is huge for me. It recalibrates my week. To hear God better, I need to make time for moments of intentional space for God to speak directly to me.
QUESTION #7: FOCUS
Looking backward, considering the full sweep of your unique faith journey and all you encountered along the way, what top three resources stand out to you? What changed reality and changed your heart?
Number one is “The Divine Conspiracy” by Dallas Willard, it was the first book I read coming out of seminary, and it opened up the Sermon on the Mount to me, the presence of God as it’s communicated in his kingdom, and the reality of that kingdom. Discipleship, what God is doing in the world and the restoration of all things all mean so much to me now that I can see what the new creation looks like.
Second is Tom Wright’s book “Surprised by Hope.” For me, this book moved the goalposts of what God was doing in the world, and it showed me that the goal wasn’t a “hatch, match and dispatch” kind of gospel. It wasn’t all about getting to heaven after you die but being a part of what God’s doing in the full sweep of history.
Lastly, when I was in my first year of seminary, the most important class I took was Spiritual Disciplines for Church Leaders. In that class, the book that shaped me was “Working the Angles” by Eugene Peterson. I can’t imagine where I would be right now if I hadn’t read that book, which was a resource on what it means for us to do spiritual direction.
Certain things can be godsends, helping us survive, even thrive, in our fast-paced world. Does technology ever help you this way? Has an app ever boosted your spiritual growth? If so, how?
Yes, the Every Moment Holy app. I love the fact that it’s a new technology paired with the refreshment of praying and liturgy. I absolutely love those prayers. As someone who writes prayers and prays for other people, it’s so nice to pray set prayers. They’re not like what you’d find in, for instance, the Book of Common Worship or the Book of Common Prayer — but it’s a fresh take on that model. For example, they have prayers for when you’re in a transition and prayers for when you go home from work. They feature different kinds of ordinary occasions that don’t usually get a prayer attached to them.
Other apps I love are the Logos app and Accordance app. I go to school on those things.
QUESTION #8: dream
God’s continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?
The big thing for me in this season in ministry is the idea that this is a time for me to share because I have received so much. This is a season for me to be more present, more broadly, and to be able to give back some of the wisdom that has been passed down to me and some of the insights I’ve gleaned from Scripture. Those insights and wisdom are not for me alone — and I don’t think they’re just for the congregation that I’m privileged to serve. So that’s what’s stirring within me, doing this from a spirit of being able to share.
In 2012, the average person consumed 6.9 million GB of media every day. Surely, over the last 14 years, that number has only gone up.
The problem is, as we consume more and more information, we leave less room for creation. Think of the Dead Sea. Every year, it receives water from the Jordan River, but that water has nowhere to flow. It simply evaporates.
But what if, instead of allowing the input we receive to “evaporate,” we poured it into something — or someone — else? This week, we encourage you to think of ways you can activate your imagination, refine an idea, or connect with someone. Because ultimately, you were made, not just to consume, but to create.
Dr. Richard Kannwischer is the pastor of Peachtree Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and author of Cultivate. For more than 25 years, he’s been recognized as a gifted communicator whose greatest passion is helping people understand how the story of God speaks with clarity, depth and relevance to their everyday lives. Known for making complex theological truths accessible and engaging, Richard brings rich insights that encourage audiences. His writing and preaching combine theological depth with the art of storytelling, inspiring people to cultivate a faith that is authentic, practical and life-giving.