Essie Koenig-Reinke grew up feeling most at home at church and on the track team. In both places, she was surrounded by nurturing and caring adults who helped her grow into herself. Today, as the associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Albuquerque, and track coach at the nearby Menaul School, Koenig-Reinke strives to be that invested adult for the young people around her.
“Every youth needs at least five to seven adults in their corner, and my role as a pastor and a track coach is to be in their corner,” Koenig-Reinke said.
Since taking on coaching responsibilities in 2024, Koenig-Reinke has found that her work in youth ministry significantly impacts her coaching. At Menaul, a diverse, independent school serving grades 6-12 with ties to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Koenig-Reinke seeks to shape the whole person. Her work goes beyond times and distances.
“Every kid could spend time really figuring out who they are,” said Koenig-Reinke, who joined FPC, Albuquerque, as associate pastor in 2023. “My hope is for them to see how God is moving and working in their lives, and how they’re being invited to be part of building the beloved community with their gifts.”
Sometimes God is directly named in her conversations with student athletes. Sometimes Koenig-Reinke decides to leave the God language out, but the spirit remains the same: these students matter, just as they are. Someone believes in them.
“My hope is for them to see how God is moving and working in their lives, and how they’re being invited to be part of building the beloved community with their gifts.” — Essie Koenig-Reinke
A security net
Creating a support network for students is especially important to Koenig-Reinke, as 84% of the Menaul School’s students self-identify as coming from racially or ethnically diverse backgrounds, and the school’s 220 students represent 26 countries, including Ukraine, Vietnam, Spain, Kenya, Lithuania and more.
This makeup of students provides unique gifts and needs. For instance, when Koenig-Reinke noticed a couple of upset track athletes earlier this spring, she approached them to learn more. The students, two young Ukrainian women enrolled at Menaul through the PC(USA)-affiliated nonprofit This Child Here, revealed they did not know where they were going to live after they graduated. While they were able to find temporary housing for the late summer, they did not have the money to rent an apartment in the meantime. In a month, they would have no place to stay.
After her conversation with the students, Koenig-Reinke consulted some other school staff members. They remembered the school was renting a vacant house, which had previously been used to house Young Adult Volunteers. They offered the house to the two graduating seniors at a moderate rent.
“Coach Essie has been a big support to me throughout this track season and beyond,” said Daria Butenko, one of the Ukrainian graduates. “I’ve never done track before and had some tough moments to go through both physically and mentally. Coach Essie supported me in every step of this journey.” After seeing how this has helped her students, Koenig-Reinke hopes to keep this place available for future students who need the support.
Meeting needs
Koenig-Reinke hopes all the students she works with develop a relationship with God. “Life is hard and complicated and beautiful, and faith is not a cure-all for everything we’re going to experience, but it can be a way for you to make sense, for you to feel supported, for you to grow, for a lens to look at through your life,” said the pastor.
But as a track coach and an adult invested in the lives of the Menaul School student athletes, sometimes her desire for spiritual security looks like meeting physical needs. For instance, Koenig-Reinke noticed many of the international students complaining about shin splints during the track season, and she observed many of them did not have the proper footwear. So she took to Facebook, and through crowdfunding, raised almost double what they initially needed to buy shoes for the whole team.
With the money, they were not only able to get the girls proper shoes for track, but had extra money left over that they used to add to a fund that supports their Ukrainian students with expenses they need throughout the school year.
“Coach” or “Pastor”? Maybe both.
The youth Koenig-Reinke works with in church call her coach. Her identity as a track coach is interwoven with her identity as a youth minister, and they have fueled her greater calling to help young people.
Koenig-Reinke’s identity as a track coach is interwoven with her identity as a youth minister, and they have fueled her greater calling to help young people.
Koenig-Reinke’s impact is a reminder that young people need love and support from the church. “It’s not theology, it’s not behavior,” she says. “Kids are more likely to stay in church when church and worship are a safe place for them to be as they are.” Koenig-Reinke knows what it’s like to have this safe space provided for her as a young adult. Now, she feels called to integrate ministry into her coaching in a way that supports the next generation.
