Tony Myles

Student & Teaching Pastor

Hi, my name is Tony and I'm a real guy on a real journey with a real God who really loves you! He's put a passion in me for the future of the Church, and that's a huge reason I'm at Riverside. This is clearly a church that wants to make an investment into every generation, especially students, kids and the adults who care for them.

That's been especially good news for my wife Katie and I as we're raising two teenage boys and a younger girl ourselves. We moved here from Ohio where I served as a Lead Pastor for ten years, and prior to that I was an associate pastor in Michigan where I invested into other churches to strengthen their student ministries. I originally grew up in the Chicago area, though - so all that time in the Midwest made me quite the fan of deep dish pizza, Italian beef sandwiches and fruit smoothies. Good thing I signed up for a local community center membership to try to work it all off!

I've found life needs tension like that for us to grow. For example, God has blessed me with some truly undeserved opportunities to invest into others through leadership, teaching, training and writing. In contrast, none of the blessings in my life would be possible without His grace. Back in high school a Christian friend invited me to his church and that changed everything... not just because it was exciting and fun, but because it was there that I began a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In fact, the Lord used my own journey with God as a teenager to later reach my parents.

That means that whether you'd consider yourself a "seeker," "skeptic" or "sign-me-on-the-dotted-line-Christian" God has an amazing purpose for you and everyone in your household. What if you didn't have to feel alone or stuck in taking the next step to become the person He made you and them to be?

I hope you get a sense of why I'm excited to be here at Riverside Church. Count this not just as an introduction, but also an invitation. As the Pastor of Student Ministries, I can tell you firsthand that the team of people I get to work with is amazing. Together we'd love to help you and the next generation see how something real and whole can happen (and keep happening) in our lives and families through Jesus Christ. How can we serve you?