Meet the Leadership

Meet the Leadership Team The Journey is led by an elder body that gives spirtual direction, wisdom, oversight, and overall direction to our church. Our Elders are Jamie Priest, Van Hardin, Mike Stodard, and Stacy Andrews. In addition to our Elders, we have a Leadership Team that serves as our pastoral staff that gives leadership to our church each week. Hopefully, this page will help you get to know them a little better.
		Stacy Andrews, lead pastor stacy@explorethejourney.org START :: tupelo, ms ... 1971 FAM :: wife is named stacy lea andrews (yes, we have the same first and last name); a focused son named parker who is a third degree black belt in taekwondo and wants to be a stunt man in a martial arts movie (age 13); a free-spirited daughter named rosie who is on the city swim team, wants a pet pig, plays the piano, and dresses in cool clothes she gets at thrift shops (age 8); and a fun baby boy named jackson who giggles and seems to be a pretty good wrestler (age 2); we all live in fondren, a beautiful, diverse, and funky community in the heart of the city in a house built in 1939. EDU :: mississippi college (philosophy) and reformed theological seminary (theology); currently working on doctorate at Bakke Graduate University in Seattle, WA (ministry in complex contexts); but mainly my education comes from remembering all the wise and funny phrases my dad used to say (most of them are PG-13 so I won't post them them here) READ :: i really enjoyed reading a book by bob ekblad this past year called, 'reading the bible with the damned.' my favorite alive theologian right now is Miroslav Volf, two of my favorite volf books are 'exclusion and embrace' and 'the end of memory;' i like reading paul tillich, if you want to check out tillich, read 'essential tillich.' i tend to read 'desiring god' by john piper every few years and enjoy it on new levels each time. i can't stop reading the opening story in chapter 6 of ragamuffin gospel. And I've been known to daydream while flipping through 'operation world' by patrick johnstone. i also like reading anything by nt wright, and i have read frankenstein about four times and i often contemplate writing a theological companion essay to go along with it. LISTEN :: matthew perryman jones (swallow the sea), coldplay (viva la vida), jakob dylan (seeing things), modest mouse (we were dead before the ship even sank), wallflowers (breach), patty griffin (living with ghosts), iron and wine (endless numbered days), david gray (life in slow motion) BIG SCREEN :: crouching tiger hidden dragon (i like this one, my wife thinks its too sad), millions (great movie for the whole family, its brittish), motorcycle diaries (a film about che guevara and his uncle riding a motorcycle through south america one summer, he saw poverty and suffering and it changed his view of the world), shawshank (gotta love the redemption themes in this one), memento (depravity at its best / worst ... the guy has no short-term memory), waking ned divine (my wife and i laughed a lot when we saw this), whale rider (a little cheesy, but I liked it), fight club (warning: big boy movie, gets at the heart of guy stuff on some level) - one of my favorite things each year is wandering around Crossroads Film Festival and watching weird little films ... i also love the final dance scene in little miss sunshine where the entire dysfunctional family gets on the stage, good snapshot of community LITTLE SCREEN :: iron chef (our family watches and if the secret ingredient is odd, we watch the whole episode), the daily show (its how i stay informed on all the serious issues), austin city limits, ncaa basketball, and any florida state football game ... i really liked the john adams hbo mini-series and recently bought it on dvd.

		Ronnie Dennis, worship leader ronnie@explorethejourney.org START: Vicksburg, MS … 1977 HISTORY: Grew up for the most part in the Jackson area…summer of ’04 I moved to Manhattan and worked for a church called the 411 … met a girl named Shaunti in March of ’05, started dating her that May ... we got married a year later … we moved to Jackson in July of ’06 and started at The Journey in September of that year. We now live in a little house in the Fondren area with our little girl, Dylan Nicole, and we’re expecting our second child in May of ’10. READ: Donald Miller’s new one “A Million Miles In A Thousand Years”, anything by Brennan Manning and Fredrick Buechner, and EW magazine. LISTEN: Ray LaMontagne, Ryan Adams, The Swell Season, The Frames, Griffin House, Matthew Perryman Jones, Garrison Star, Sarah Harmer, Brandi Carlile, Death Cab for Cutie, Matt Pond PA ... I also listen to NPR’s This American Life whenever I get a chance and Radio Lab from WNYC. MOVIES: I’ve definitely seen fewer films since my daughter was born. But here are some of my favorites … There Will Be Blood, Juno, Eastern Promises, Step Up 2 The Streets (just kidding). Others that are great … High Fidelity, Half Nelson, City of God, 21 Grams, and of course Eternal Sunshine. I also like silly comedies from time to time … Nacho Libre is a good example. TV: Here are some shows I’ve been keeping up with…Mad Men, Dexter, Fringe, The Office, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, Community, Modern Family… Looking forward to the final season of Lost… I like any show about flipping a house or remodeling a house…especially Holmes on Homes and Divine Design…

		Shaunti Dennis, ministries coordinator shaunti@explorethejourney.org I was born and raised in Los Angeles County, California and went to undergraduate school in the O.C. at the University of California, Irvine. After college I went to the Peace Corps and received my Master’s degree in International Public Policy and Administration. I then moved to New York in 2003 where I became a follower of Christ and after 2 years of following Him felt a desire to study the Word of God. In 2005 I met my husband, Ronnie, fell in love and got married in May, 2006. Then we moved to Jackson ... I didn’t have a television for three years because I had no will power to not watch it, but now that I am married to the King of Popculture, I watch the following stations with no guilt or shame: Disney - The High School Musical, The Cheetah Girls, Even Stevens, That’s so Raven, … Bravo - Project Runway TLC - What Not to Wear, Overhaulin’, Miami Ink, While You Were Out… MTV (Ronnie's influence) - filler during commercials VHI - I love the “place year here” Comedy Central – Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report E! - The Soup Favorite Books: East of Eden and The Eygpt Game (this was the first big book I read all the way through)

		Sam Self, journey kids sam@explorethejourney.org start - Jackson, MS 1983 history - grew up in Madison, MS.....play baseball....education is an ongoing process......wish Mississippi had big mountains and good rivers to kayak married - Cheri Self read - Wild at Heart (Eldredge), Captivating (Eldredge), The Mark of the Lion Trilogy (Francine Rivers), Blue Like Jazz (Donald Miller), financial stuff and civil war stuff. listen - johnny cash, damien rice, bebo norman, allison krauss, third day, jack johnson, good movie soundtracks, willie nelson, foo fighters, conway twitty, norah jones movies - braveheart, legends of the fall, the war, glory, diary of a mad black woman (anything tyler perry), shawshank redemption, dances with wolves, seabiscuit......many more