The Rev. Andrew Lazo is the newest participant in the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida’s residency program, serving as apprentice rector at Church of the Messiah, Winter Garden. The Houston, Texas, native and his wife, bestselling author Dr. Christin Ditchfield, made the move to Central Florida from Virginia in June and have quickly felt at home in the area.
“We’ve found everybody to be so warm, hospitable, so friendly, in some of the diocesan events that I’ve attended so far,” he said.
Lazo received a Master of Divinity degree with honors from Virginia Theological Seminary in 2022 and is currently completing a doctorate in theology and ministry through Northwind Seminary. He said working with Church of the Messiah’s rector, The Rev. Tom Rutherford, is a “huge blessing.” In turn, Rutherford offered glowing remarks about his apprentice rector.
“Andrew loves God and loves people,” he said. “He’s hospitable; caring; an inspiring teacher and preacher; and an internationally known C.S. Lewis scholar, speaker and author. We are blessed to have landed him here as our apprentice rector, where we get to both enjoy and hone his already formidable gifts for a couple of years to prepare him to lead a congregation of his own.”
Lewis, the iconic Irish author whose works such as “Mere Christianity” and “The Great Divorce” made a huge theological impact on readers in the 20th century and beyond, is a central part of Lazo’s life. As a child, he read the author’s “The Chronicles of Narnia” series, rereading the books at age 14 when he became a Christian. Then, during a crisis of faith, a friend loaned him copies of Lewis’ nonfiction works, which changed the course of his life.
“I like to say that as a child, he sparked my imaginative life,” Lazo said. “When I became a man, he saved my intellectual life. He taught me how to think and led me back to school. I ended up going back to school, finishing college and graduate school, just kind of following in his footsteps and trying to understand what he was talking about.”
The friend who shared the books was prominent Christian artist Phil Keaggy, with whom Lazo toured for a while as his road manager. Following the example of Keaggy, whom he calls “one of the most generous people I’ve ever met,” Lazo continues the tradition of passing along Lewis’ books.
“Every year I visit him at his home in Nashville, I try to bring a book on C. S. Lewis to thank him,” he said. “One year when I did that, he pulled a book off the shelf and handed it to me. It was a British first edition of ‘The Great Divorce’ that had been signed by Lewis.”
Beyond friendships and theological studies, the Lewis thread has extended to Lazo’s marriage as well. He met his wife when she was writing “The Family Guide to Narnia,” one of more than 80 books she’s released.
The apprentice rector shares his expertise and love of Lewis with his local congregation and the community through two classes, an online class on “The Screwtape Letters” on Sunday nights and an in-person “Mere Christianity” group on Monday nights.
“I really found a deep sense of vocation of teaching faith-based material to adults,” Lazo said. “So, I have continued to do that ever since. Much of that has been concerned with C. S. Lewis, but I also love teaching the Bible. I love teaching theology. When I get a chance, I’d love to see ideas in a room coming alive and making a difference in others’ lives as they have in mine.”