From Kate Shellnutt: One of our goals at CT is to showcase and introduce readers to interesting and influential people who are serving the church and their communities. These could be up-and-coming voices, lesser-known leaders working behind the scenes, or even big-name figures doing new things. 

With all the writers, thinkers, pastors, professors, speakers, entrepreneurs, and influencers out there, we have a lot to choose from. I like to look for people whose ministries and lives reflect some bigger trends we see across evangelicalism. Or people who are doing something unusual or unexpected that can challenge our thinking in a good way. 

Brenna Blain was not a name I had heard until this summer, when some clips of her speaking came across my Instagram feed. I had a couple friends ask me if we had ever written about her. And then just a couple weeks later, writer Ericka Andersen pitched a profile of Brenna, a tattooed young theologian in the Pacific Northwest, whose approach resonated with young believers and those who have struggled with mental health. Her story is up on our site today.