Mike Tenney

Growing up, my faith was mostly limited to Sunday mass and memorized prayers. That began to change during my teenage years when several things happened almost at once. My older brothers went to college and got serious about their faith, and when I was confirmed, I asked my brother Brian to be my sponsor. Those conversations with him opened something up in me. Around the same time, my parents enrolled me in Catholic school, where I discovered for the first time that Catholicism had real intellectual depth. Then came a youth group retreat where I experienced Christ's love in a way that made everything click.

After that, I was all in. I developed a real prayer life, started reading Scripture and the Catechism, and threw myself into service and evangelization alongside other young Catholics and Christians.

I wanted to attend the most Catholic college I could find, so I chose the Catholic University of America, in Washington DC. There I found a vibrant community of students, clergy, religious, and professors who didn't just talk about the faith, they lived it. I discerned the priesthood for a few years, then volunteered with the Capuchin Franciscans in New York through Cap Corps. After that, I spent 14 years teaching and leading retreats at a Catholic high school.

Through it all, I played in a rock band, did speaking engagements and worship music, and met my hilariously fun wife, Madalynn. We now live in Maryland with our two kids. A few years ago, I left the classroom to homeschool them and focus on ministry full-time. I do a lot of different things now, but my favorite project is Pop Culture Catechism, a podcast exploring Christian themes in secular media.

We’ve recently done episodes on K-Pop Demon Hunters and Chappell Roan but some of my favorites from previous seasons are Hamilton, Taylor Swift, and The Handmaid’s Tale. I’ve gotten to interview some of my heroes (like Christopher West and Katie McGrady). The show has also opened up some awesome opportunities for me to share the gospel like leading worship at National Catholic Youth Conferences in Indiana and California, singing for 9,000 people on Christmas Eve with Church of the Nativity, as well as speaking for Hallow parish events across the country. 

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