To celebrate International Women’s Day 2022 and to highlight the experience of women in ministry, we gathered a group of alumni and leaders from within our community to discuss the highs, the lows, and the in-betweens of being women serving in ministry contexts. You can watch the full panel below, or scroll down to watch short segments on different topics.
Meet the Panel
Rev. Dr. Anna Robbins
President, Acadia Divinity College; Dean of Theology, Acadia University
Dr. Anna Robbins is a Christian theologian, ethicist, and apologist, and serves as the president of Acadia Divinity College. She is a visionary leader committed to serve the mission of the church locally and globally, with faithful integrity that applies the gospel to real-life issues and relationships with justice, innovation, academic rigour, and joyful expectation.
Rev. Carolyn Steeves
Senior Pastor, The Crossing Church
Rev. Carolyn Steeves, known as Pastor Carolyn, was called to The Crossing Church as the Senior Pastor in 2015. She is passionate about reaching people locally, regionally and globally with the Good News of God’s love and communicating the gospel in both word and deed. Carolyn moved to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador from her home province of New Brunswick with her husband Dave and her son Luke; she also has two daughters, Katie and Hannah.
Jennifer Lau
Executive Director, Canadian Baptist Ministries
Jennifer Lau has served with CBM since 2002, primarily focusing on providing the marketing strategy and direction for all of CBM’s endeavours in Canada. Prior to her appointment, she served as the Associate Executive Director and was responsible for overseeing the organization’s operations. Jennifer created CBM’s magazine, Mosaic, and served as its Managing Editor. Her passion is to help people situate their own faith journeys within the global community, and encourage them to faithfully follow Jesus into the world. Jennifer is married to Chun and they have two children.
Rev. Andrea Anderson
Assistant Pastor of Administration and Leadership Development, EBC: The MEETing Place
Pastor Andrea holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree majoring in Human Resources and Marketing from Mount Saint Vincent University, and a Master of Divinity degree from Acadia Divinity College. Presently, she is employed as the Human Resources Managing Director with the Public Service Commission, Province of Nova Scotia. Since coming to Emmanuel Baptist in 2003, Pastor Andrea has served on the Intercessory Prayer Team, Altar Care Ministry, Worship Team, Women of Influence, Chair of Staff Relations, Board of Directors and has facilitated various bible study classes. Pastor Andrea has experienced the life changing power of God. It is her desire that God would use her ministry, so that others can also experience the transformational power of God in their lives.
Shari Russell, PhD (cand.)
Associate Director, NAIITS
Born into the Yellow Quill First Nation, Shari Russell and two siblings were removed from their home on the reserve during the Sixties Scoop. Shari reunited with her family in 2002 and became actively involved in Indigenous ministry in 2004. She is the Salvation Army’s Territorial Indigenous Ministries consultant and has served as Chair of the Board of Indigenous Pathways.
