Following in the footsteps of his personal pastor Mark Lewis, the Rev. TJ Andrus is thankful to take up the position of interim pastor for Mount Calvary Baptist Church and has kept a special emphasis on attracting the youth back to church life.

The Crowley native said he has maintained an active church life since 13 when he began playing keyboard and piano as a musician. The call to pastoring came somewhat unexpectedly when he attended a youth event and was given the challenge of extemporaneous speaking.

“I participated at a speaking event at a Baptist association meeting where the children are given a Scripture and you come up with a speech as best you can,” Andrus said. “I placed second in the competition, and it made me think that I may be gifted in this.”

The call to become a pastor was a bit intimidating for Andrus, but at the age of 26 he said he felt the call from God to enter into the vocation.

“I felt the Lord leading me and let me know it’s time to take it seriously,” he said.

Andrus has been the pastor of Greater New Hope Church of Baldwin since 2019 and also took over the role of interim pastor following the recent departure from the Rev. Mark Lewis.

“Both churches have really been a great experience, they’ve both given me an opportunity to share a gift with the world and the resources to develop into a leader,” Andrus said.

One of the cornerstones of Andrus’ ministry has been a call to giving young people an opportunity in church life.

“I really have a heart for the younger generations,” he said. “I feel there’s a great divide between Generations X, Y and Z, the church and the children.”

“Down here they call us the Bible Belt, we’re raised in households where I’m noticing our young people are being influenced by society and culture without a strong Christian presence anymore.”

In a time where simply singing “Amazing Grace” may not cut it anymore, Andrus said he wants to engage with technology and innovation in order to bring young people back to the church.

“A lot of churches have failed to develop innovative ways to bring our youth back,” he said. “We need to get to a place where we develop a ministry for them with things like social media and live streaming.”