Welcome to The Pursuit, a series documenting the experiences of Colson Fellows-in-Training as they seek to walk wisely in this time and place. The Colson Fellows Program is designed for busy men and women from all walks of life. Each segment will provide an insider’s look at what a prospective participant can actually expect should they choose to embark on the journey themselves.
As told to the Colson Center Communications Staff.
In this segment, we sat down with Lauren Grenier, an English teacher from Texas.
Where are you from, and what season of life are you in?
I live in Dallas, Texas. I’m a wife, mom of two, and I work as a 7th-9th-grade English teacher. I’ve been teaching in public school and private Christian education for 18 years. I currently work in a hybrid school program that meets in-person three days a week. My days are full of teaching and extracurricular activities. My husband and I also host weekly small group sessions for teens who want to unpack theological topics.
What challenges do you face in living like a Christian where you are?
I live in the “Bible Belt” where there are a lot of cultural Christians. Everybody goes to church because it’s the thing to do. You have churches on every corner, which is amazing in one sense, but also really challenging. What we’re seeing play out in school and church is indicative of this. There’s a lot of moralistic therapeutic deism going on today. We have a lot of churched individuals but not a lot of disciples. When you ask someone, “How’s the Lord at work in your life?” they’ll say, “I’m good. We’re fine. Everything’s great.” But I'm seeing their children, and their children are not fine, and their children are not great. It’s not the case for every family, but it is for many, and I’m seeing it grow.
I went to my headmaster a couple years ago and said, “We have a problem.” When I would integrate Scripture into my lessons, many of my students’ eyes would just glaze over, as if they were powering down. As soon as I would bring up Jesus, Scripture, or any sort of biblical integration, they would be resistant, like, “Don’t come at me with that.” It really bothered me. They were showing up and doing the work to get an A so they could graduate and go to college, but that is secondary to knowing Jesus. Jesus is the main course, not the side dish.
What cohort were you in, and what was your experience like?
I was in the Central Online cohort. My favorite part of the cohort was that it wasn’t just people from Dallas. We had the commonality that we were all disciples of Christ, but we had various backgrounds and generational spans—some Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, millennials, and maybe one Gen Z participant. We had a variety of walks of life, backgrounds, professions, and regions within our cohort.
What was your favorite part of the program?
In my line of work, I’m knee-deep in Gen Z and Gen Alpha. So, the Cultural Flashpoints portion of the Program was huge, because I’m seeing these flashpoints play out in front of me. It’s a fallacy to believe these cultural issues aren’t seeping into the Western Church and Christian education. They are. Because kids have access to phones, they have access to everything. It’s been hugely helpful to have more resources in my bag to respond to things like progressive Christianity, deconstruction, or moralistic therapeutic deism.
I really appreciated that the program addressed topics the Church is far behind on, like IVF and children’s rights. Being able to discuss these controversial topics in class was fascinating. I’d share the daily Breakpoint articles with my students and say, “Talk to me about what you think. MIT just released a study on ‘bodyoids.’” The students responded, “Oh my gosh, this is like The Giver!” I said, “Talk to me about IVF. You have all these embryos frozen in clinics and they’re going across the border with no accountability.” My students’ jaws were on the floor.
I told them, “You do realize this is the world you’re entering into? But God has empowered you to enter this world. Acts 17 reminds us that He knew you were supposed to be born for such a time as this.” Having these deep, substantive conversations was incredible. You could almost see the scales falling from their eyes. Initially, their reaction was typically fear, but then curiosity. These really profound questions were coming from kids with no filter, which was amazing.
Those were my favorite parts of the program, being able to have more resources to bring to the next generation and say, “Let’s talk about this. What does the Word have to say about this? How does this apply to the Word? Because It’s not antiquated. It’s living and breathing and active.”
What was your favorite book or resource from the program?
Professionally, Strange New World by Carl Trueman was my favorite book, hands down. Personally, Knowing God was my favorite. I wish I could sit down and have lunch with J.I. Packer.
How can the Colson Fellows Program help public school teachers who can’t overtly teach the Christian worldview?
The program is going to give you information and resources to help you do whatever God has called you to do. I spent a decade in public school and had conversations with peers and colleagues that the program would have helped me navigate better. It’s not just about your interactions with students. The program gives you a biblical foundation and cultural knowledge to help you navigate discussions in the teacher workroom, at lunch with your peers, or on professional development days.
How has the program impacted your life?
Professionally, it was huge. Personally, it solidified tenets of the faith. I grew up in church, and my parents were phenomenal disciplers. But I think my view of the Gospel and the cross was kind of two-dimensional. After digesting Knowing God, which was infused with Scripture, I had a more robust view of not only the cross, but of the Gospel itself. It became more alive to me. It totally changed the way I saw everything, gave me a greater burden for the lost, and changed the way I interact with people in everyday situations.
What would you say to someone considering the Colson Fellows Program?
If any of the cultural issues resonate with you—progressive Christianity, deconstruction, doubt, and others—you absolutely need to go through the program. Whether you like it or not, you are called to such a time as this, and you need all of this information that you may or may not have at the moment. We live in culture, so unless we’re actively engaging with it, we’re just floating through, and that’s not what God calls us to do. You’ve got to put some work in, and it’s worth it.
Any tips for managing your time and getting everything done?
You will have time; you just have to structure it. It took me about 4-6 hours per week. If you can do audiobooks, they’re great for the books that aren’t as meaty. Schedule your work ahead of time. It looks daunting, but it’s not as bad as you think. You’ll find that you enjoy what you’re reading and that it’s applicable to your everyday life.
What did you choose for your personal mission plan?
My husband and I are in the early stages of starting a nonprofit. A while ago, my husband needed a weekend to fast and pray, completely unplugged. Finding a place was surprisingly hard until a friend brought him to a deer lease, where the Lord gave him a vision for a retreat center with discipleship training and housing for ministry workers and missionary expats.
Dallas is a mission hub where expats constantly come through for fundraising, but they have nowhere to stay. The Church should be meeting this need. While many pastors get sabbaticals, too many Christian laypeople who are equally laboring never get rest. As a culture, we’ve thrown out the Sabbath. Volunteers are being stretched thin, and burnout rates are skyrocketing.
The Lord dropped this vision on us. I told Him it was too big, but He orchestrated everything perfectly. We purchased 140 acres in East Texas. We’re selling our house and moving there. The plan is to build a retreat center with housing for Christian ministry workers of any kind. There will be zero Wi-Fi access. They’ll fast and pray if the Lord leads them to. They’ll have space to ask God, “What do You want me to do? How do You want me to participate with You in restoring this world?”
We would love to have a convention center of sorts where we have space for worship, and classrooms for discipleship like the small groups we’ve been doing. We need more of that. There’s no Colson Fellows cohort or Church Affiliate where we’re moving, so I’d love to consider starting one, and for people from different churches in East Texas and Southern Oklahoma to be able to come.
The man who lives across street from the lot we purchased had been praying for three years for that land to be used for ministry. When we ran into him providentially at a Chick-fil-A, he said, “I’m your neighbor, and I’ve been praying for you to come. Let’s get started.” I was just overwhelmed by God’s goodness. He was so big in that moment!
This is a huge vision. Sometimes I pray, “Lord, this is too big. How are You going to do this?” It’s definitely a testing of faith. But I know God is who He says He is, and I’m asking Him to help me be fine with just one step at a time.
Disclaimer: This interview has been edited for clarity.