About Phoenix

Phoenix Hayes is a writer, speaker, and ministry leader focused on helping believers think clearly, speak truthfully, and remain grounded in reality amid cultural confusion. Her work engages questions of truth, theology, worldview, politics, and culture, with particular emphasis on equipping Christians to articulate and defend the Christian worldview with clarity, conviction, and intellectual integrity.

She believes truth is not fragile, that asking hard questions is necessary rather than dangerous, and that Christians are called not only to hold convictions privately, but to live them faithfully and thoughtfully in the public square.

Work & Approach

Phoenix is known for tackling difficult and often controversial topics with clarity and restraint, opting for careful reasoning and principled disagreement over outrage or theatrics. She believes challenging ideas is not the same as attacking people—and that treating beliefs as untouchable is rarely the kind or loving option. Ideas matter. They shape lives. And when beliefs contradict reality, they should be examined honestly, while the people who hold them are treated with dignity and care.

At the heart of her work is the conviction that Christianity offers the most coherent explanation of reality, grounds objective morality, and provides a solid foundation for human dignity and human rights—why she continually challenges Christians to understand not only what they believe, but why those beliefs still matter.

Professional Background​

Phoenix’s work is grounded in both formal theological training and real-world engagement. She holds a Master’s degree in Christian Apologetics and Theology from Southern Evangelical Seminary and is currently working toward a Doctor of Ministry with a focus on Next-Generation ministry. She is also the founder of NEON, a ministry dedicated to helping the next generation stand boldly for truth through curriculum, training, and free resources, and by supporting the leaders guiding them.

Her writing has appeared in Women in Apologetics, CrossExamined.org, The Christian Apologetics Journal, and Decision Magazine, where she engages topics at the intersection of faith, culture, and public life. Phoenix also speaks at churches and conferences, with a particular emphasis on helping Christians think clearly and speak truth with confidence and grace.

Her first book, co-authored with Dr. Frank Turek, is set to release in Fall 2026.

Personal Background

Originally from New Zealand and now based in the United States, Phoenix brings a cross-cultural perspective shaped by life and ministry in both hemispheres. Raised in a highly secular, socialist-leaning cultural environment, she developed an early awareness of how deeply worldviews influence not just individual belief, but social structures, public policy, and cultural health. While still a true blue kiwi at heart, this background gave Phoenix a unique appreciation for the freedoms and foundational principles of the United States.

After earning a degree in Film and Television, Phoenix moved to the U.S., where she met her husband. Now married for over seventeen years with four children, they’ve navigated international moves, life far from extended family, and the unique joys and challenges of raising children with special needs.

Clear-eyed about America’s flaws but unconvinced by cultural pessimism, Phoenix believes the United States remains historically unique and worth preserving—not dismantling. 

Beliefs & Convictions

Historic Christian Faith

  • Phoenix affirms the historic Christian faith as articulated in the Nicene Creed, which faithfully summarizes the essential doctrines of Christianity. 

Scripture

  • The Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, is the inspired, infallible, authoritative Word of God, and without error in the original manuscripts.

The Triune God

  • In keeping with historic orthodoxy, she affirms one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ & Salvation

  • Salvation comes only through faith in Jesus Christ—fully God and fully man—by His atoning death and bodily resurrection, not by human effort.

Love & Truth

  • It is possible to speak truth without love, but there is no love without truth. Real love speaks with kindness, even when it’s uncomfortable, and refuses to affirm deception. True harm is telling people only what they want to hear.

Humanity

  • All of humanity, from the moment of conception, is created in the image of God, after his likeness, and therefore has equal, transcendent, and intrinsic worth regardless of gender, race, religion, age, ability, or political belief. 

Gender & Identity

  • God created humanity as two distinct, complementary biological sexes—male and female. In rare cases, chromosomal or anatomical conditions may complicate classification, but these medical variations exist within—not outside—this male–female design and are irrelevant to contemporary claims about transgender identity.

Marriage & Family

  • God designed marriage to be the faithful, lifelong union between one biological male and one biological female. This is the only God-ordained context for sexual intimacy and the foundational institution for a stable society.

Historic Christian Faith

  • Phoenix affirms the historic Christian faith as articulated in the Nicene Creed, which faithfully summarizes the essential doctrines of Christianity. 

Scripture

  • The Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, is the inspired, infallible, authoritative Word of God, and without error in the original manuscripts.

The Triune God

  • In keeping with historic orthodoxy, she affirms one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ & Salvation

  • Salvation comes only through faith in Jesus Christ—fully God and fully man—by His atoning death and bodily resurrection, not by human effort.

Love & Truth

  • It is possible to speak truth without love, but there is no love without truth. Real love speaks with kindness, even when it’s uncomfortable, and refuses to affirm deception. True harm is telling people only what they want to hear.

Humanity

  • All of humanity, from the moment of conception, is created in the image of God, after his likeness, and therefore has equal, transcendent, and intrinsic worth regardless of gender, race, religion, age, ability, or political belief. 

Gender & Identity

  • God created humanity as two distinct, complementary biological sexes—male and female. In rare cases, chromosomal or anatomical conditions may complicate classification, but these medical variations exist within—not outside—this male–female design and are irrelevant to contemporary claims about transgender identity.

Marriage & Family

  • God designed marriage to be the faithful, lifelong union between one biological male and one biological female. This is the only God-ordained context for sexual intimacy and the foundational institution for a stable society.