"Dream small dreams, see small dreams fulfilled."
Chris Ritchie is a husband, father to four amazing children, a third generation worship leader, pastor, independent filmmaker, and actor. He carries a deep passion for leading people into the glorious songs of worship and releasing the sounds of Heaven. Chris loves to call sons and daughters to walk in their God given destiny! He lives his life, and leads worship with the core value that God is always good.
The music and entertainment bug hit Chris as a young man. Always dreaming of playing on the big stage and acting in film, he was driven to pursue both music and acting. You could either find him carrying around his parents camcorder recording anything and anyone he could find or playing in the worship band at his church. While in Bible college he and his older brother bounced from band to band, eventually forming the Christian alternative/pop rock group called, "Salt The Band". They traveled America playing their songs to youth groups, youth camps, churches, and festivals. They released two albums, Worship Project X and Mr. Brown. Christianity Today heralded, "Salt the Band", as one of the top 10 unsigned Christian bands in 1999 - even declaring, "If you’ve ever wanted to be into a band before they broke big, now’s your chance". They played festivals alongside PETRA, Audio Adrenaline, The Katina Boys, Plumb, Christafari, Skillet, and many other popular CCM acts of the late 90's early 2000's. Chris was even asked by Toby Mac if he would consider auditioning to be a DC TALK dancer - to which Chris declined.
Eventually He felt the call of God to pursue a life of leading the people of God in worship. The desire to lead people into the presence of God became his singular focus and he began to passionately pursue God's presence. After ten successful years as an indie band, "Salt the Band" called it quits. They did however have six months of shows scheduled and were committed to fulfilling their obligations. It was during that six month period that a starter record label offered them to a recording contract. They would be the third band on the new label joining Big Daddy Weave and By The Tree. But staying true to their belief that God had called them to walk away, they refused the deal. In 2005 Fervent Records was bought out by Word Records.
Chris pursued the heart of the father in a way he never had after the band broke up. He was hired part time to lead worship at his local church in Seattle but had grown tired of ho-hum Christianity. Having gotten married during this season, he and his wife attended a conference at Bethel Church in Redding, CA, and their lives were radically changed. A couple years later they would leave Seattle, WA and Chris became the full time worship pastor at a spirit filled church church in Central, CA (Harvest Church). After a couple of years they felt the call of God to transition to Las Vegas, NV to become the worship pastors at Encounter Church Vegas. In 2020 - as COVID was beginning to shut down the world, and after having served on staff for 9 years at Encounter, he and his wife became the lead pastors at Encounter. They still serve as the lead pastors to this day.
The music and entertainment bug hit Chris as a young man. Always dreaming of playing on the big stage and acting in film, he was driven to pursue both music and acting. You could either find him carrying around his parents camcorder recording anything and anyone he could find or playing in the worship band at his church. While in Bible college he and his older brother bounced from band to band, eventually forming the Christian alternative/pop rock group called, "Salt The Band". They traveled America playing their songs to youth groups, youth camps, churches, and festivals. They released two albums, Worship Project X and Mr. Brown. Christianity Today heralded, "Salt the Band", as one of the top 10 unsigned Christian bands in 1999 - even declaring, "If you’ve ever wanted to be into a band before they broke big, now’s your chance". They played festivals alongside PETRA, Audio Adrenaline, The Katina Boys, Plumb, Christafari, Skillet, and many other popular CCM acts of the late 90's early 2000's. Chris was even asked by Toby Mac if he would consider auditioning to be a DC TALK dancer - to which Chris declined.
Eventually He felt the call of God to pursue a life of leading the people of God in worship. The desire to lead people into the presence of God became his singular focus and he began to passionately pursue God's presence. After ten successful years as an indie band, "Salt the Band" called it quits. They did however have six months of shows scheduled and were committed to fulfilling their obligations. It was during that six month period that a starter record label offered them to a recording contract. They would be the third band on the new label joining Big Daddy Weave and By The Tree. But staying true to their belief that God had called them to walk away, they refused the deal. In 2005 Fervent Records was bought out by Word Records.
Chris pursued the heart of the father in a way he never had after the band broke up. He was hired part time to lead worship at his local church in Seattle but had grown tired of ho-hum Christianity. Having gotten married during this season, he and his wife attended a conference at Bethel Church in Redding, CA, and their lives were radically changed. A couple years later they would leave Seattle, WA and Chris became the full time worship pastor at a spirit filled church church in Central, CA (Harvest Church). After a couple of years they felt the call of God to transition to Las Vegas, NV to become the worship pastors at Encounter Church Vegas. In 2020 - as COVID was beginning to shut down the world, and after having served on staff for 9 years at Encounter, he and his wife became the lead pastors at Encounter. They still serve as the lead pastors to this day.