Andy Stanley, the pastor and founder of North Point Community Church, shares three kids with his wife of three decades, Sandra Stanley.
Born in March 1958, Andy grew up in a very religious family as his dad was none other than Charles Stanley, a pastor and founder of In Touch Ministries who also served two one-year terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention in the mid-80s.
[The Stanleys] became the foster family of three girls.
Andy Stanley during a speech shared on YouTube on May 18, 2020 | Photo: YouTube/Andy Stanley
ANDY STANLEY ON BECOMING A PASTOR
In an interview with Outreach Magazine, Andy pointed out that the Bible was a priority in his household during his childhood as the four members of his family (Charles, his mother Anna, and his sister Becky) always prayed together. He added:
“We would literally get on our knees as a family, every time we thought about moving, anything. That marked me.”
As years went by, Andy saw up close what it was like to be a preacher through Charles’ experience – the good and the bad. Even though he was interested in the church, he never felt called to ministry.
Andy said that it was probably because he was afraid, but he eventually volunteered to ministry, and that’s how his successful path began.
In 1995, he founded North Point Ministries in Atlanta with the intention of being deep and wide. Nowadays, it consists of seven churches all over Atlanta, as well as about 100 churches around the world.
According to Andy Stanley’s website, the NPM’s churches collectively serve approximately 185,000 people every week.
SANDRA STANLEY, ANDY’S WIFE
Apart from being ranked as one of the ten most influential pastors alive in the US (according to Outreach Magazine), Andy has plenty of leadership videos and messages broadcast through YouTube and podcasts.
He has not done all that by himself, though. His beautiful wife, Sandra Stanley, has been by his side ever since they tied the knot in 1988.
According to her website, she was born in Georgia and has been living in the Atlanta area since 1988, when she graduated from Georgia Tech. That year, she married Andy, and they have three children together: Andrew, Garrett, and Allie.
If that wasn’t enough, Andy Stanley’s wife has been promoting foster care. Not only has she been involved in the foster care initiative developed by NPM called Fostering Together, but she has also fostered children herself!
BECOMING A FOSTER FAMILY
Everything started when her youngest kid, Allie, entered ninth grade, and they became the foster family of three girls. Although it was challenging, every member of the family made some space in their schedules to help the girls.
The boys, Andrew and Garrett, would drive them to school as well as help with some errands. They also provided the much-needed laughter for the lives of the girls who never had brothers.
Allie, on the other hand, served as a role model and helped with child care. According to Sandra, the girls used to “actually listed” to Allie even though she and Sandra told them the same things.
In January 2018, Sandra and Andy Stanley were fostering another girl! Apart from that, she is the mother-in-law of Garrett’s wife, Danielle, and Allie’s husband, Clay Cooney.
As per Andrew, he has not gotten married yet, and, at the moment, he is mainly focused on his career as a comedian. On May 6, he performed a virtual comedy show to raise money to feed those affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Nowadays, Andy Stanley and his family are, like most people, waiting. In July this year, he announced that his churches would not hold in-person church services until 2021 due to COVID-19.
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