Author Archives: Andrew Stephens-Rennie
About Andrew Stephens-Rennie
Andrew is an Anglican lay leader who loves pioneering responsive, contextual solutions to the challenge of being church in the 21st Century. He serves as an assistant to the rector for Evangelism and Christian Formation at Christ Church Cathedral Vancouver and is a founding member of the emerging St. Brigids community (www.stbrigid.ca).An open letter to parishes hiring youth workers
Hi. It’s me. One of the ones you don’t quite know what to do with. One of the ones who has served the church professionally for countless years. But is strangely not a priest. Nor a deacon. Continue reading
Why Anglican youth ministry is unsustainable
A few weeks ago, someone passed me a job description for a new part-time youth ministry position, and asked me to pass it around. I took one look at it and summarily refused. Continue reading
Faith & The Muggle Generation
I wonder what would happen if we immersed ourselves in God’s stories just as much as we immerse ourselves in stories like Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Bachelor or the Hunger Games? How would that affect the way we live? What kind of people might we become? Continue reading
Why Millennials Are Coming To Church
Does the life of the church hinge on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Can we answer the question of why we gather, and why the Christian gospel is good news even beyond the walls of our church? And can I meaningfully contribute my gifts to the life of this community? Continue reading
Free From Anxiety
It seems to me that the talk about Millennials is really just code for our fear that the church might die. If we allow ourselves to truly and honestly confront our feelings about the loss of Millennials by looking such death squarely in the eye, our church will find its own freedom from the anxieties of death as it seeks to embody Christ’s gospel. Continue reading
Why Are Millennials Leaving the Church?
What would happen if we treated young people as if they mattered? What if we unleashed young people to passionately live their faith in daily life? What if we listened to their deepest passions, and found ways to encourage them in Christ’s name? Continue reading
Living Theologians
Whether we’re called youth workers, youth ministers, or quite simply “the youth guy” (as I’ve been called far too often), the reality is that ours is a theological task. The thing is, nobody warned me about this before I took my first youth ministry gig. Continue reading
Worker vs. Minister
It may not be a matchup you’ll find on the next MMA pay-per-view, but it’s still a bit of a battle. Who are we exactly – are we youth workers or youth ministers? Continue reading
Scapegoating the Young
The young people were there. They were contributing in a variety of ways – through worship leadership, outreach, campus ministry and numerous other things. But the books hadn’t balanced, and that required someone to blame. That’s what young people are for. Continue reading
Becoming Conversant
Have you ever found yourself in conversations with others and you can’t quite decipher what they mean? What happens when you hear words you thought you understood in a context that is incomprehensible? What do you do when one person’s jargon doesn’t line up with yours? Continue reading
