Transcript

Erica Corbin · Called to Serve

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Hello and welcome. This is Called to Serve, a
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podcast where we share stories from women who have been
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ordained by the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada.
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We have spoken with almost 100 pastors, chaplains,
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missionaries, and community leaders as we learn what it's
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like to be a woman in ministry. If you haven't heard yet, Called
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to Serve the book is coming out later this year.
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Our book will feature stories from 14 ordained women in
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ministry, along with some introductory material and
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appendix and a foreword written by the current CBAC Executive
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Minister, Renee Mcvicker. If you'd like to win a free
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copy, e-mail Called to Serve at acadiau.ca by March 31st with
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the subject line free book. That e-mail address is also in
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our episode description. Today you'll be hearing from
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Erica Corbin. Erica was ordained with the CBAC
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in 2023 at Faith Baptist Church in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.
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She has since moved her denominational affiliation to
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the Canadian Association for Baptist Freedoms.
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In this episode, Erica describes her ministry as a chaplain for
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the Canadian Armed Forces, emphasizing the ability
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chaplains he gives her to walk alongside people and challenge
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the stereotypes they may have about faith.
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My name is Erica Corbin. I was born in Halifax, NS.
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So I was baptized as a baby as an Anglican and then when I was
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probably 5 or 6 my parents moved to the Baptist Church and I
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think I was 11 when I was baptized.
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There was a little bit of some issues with the church.
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We we were going to a church that had a big split.
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So my parents ended up leaving that church and they never
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actually returned to another church again, which is a little
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sad. I, I, I struggled a little bit
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with my faith in that time period.
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I decided I, I didn't really want to associate with that kind
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of like an organized religion type thing.
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And then I joined the military because I, I was done with, you
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know, I did high school and I was like, I hate this.
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I don't want to go to university or college or whatever.
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And I knew that joining the military would be something that
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would like get me started right away.
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So I joined the, the summer after I graduated high school,
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shipped out, went to basic training and I, I joined as a
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medical technician and I did that for about 5 years before I
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decided that I actually did like school and I wanted to go back
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to school. I went to UPEI and I was really
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struggling personally. And I, I decided that I just
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wanted to go to a church, sit in it, and maybe kind of like, if
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I, you know, felt that God's presence, maybe I, it would help
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me. So I ended up going to this
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church. I met this woman there who she
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connected me with the power to change, which is a student
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ministry for me. I think at that point that was
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like new faith that gave me that fire of faith again.
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I was like, Yep, this is my group of people.
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I want to be heavily involved in it.
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So like I went to every meeting, I went to every prayer meeting,
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and then they started talking about doing mission tricks in
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like different countries. And I was like, I'm going to do
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that. I'm going to do all of the
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things and I went on a mission trip to North Africa for about 6
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weeks and I felt like that was the moment where I really had
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that feeling of calling into ministry, but I had no idea what
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that looked like. The leadership in Power to
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Change asked me if I wanted to be a student leader.
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And so I was like, yes, next step.
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Which that was really great because I really got that sense
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of discipleship and working with the other young girls who were
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either new to faith or had grown up in the church, but now we're
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in a university setting, they were on their own.
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And again, they were struggling with things like how do I do my
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faith on my own outside of my family?
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So I really enjoyed kind of like that discipleship aspect with
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them. When I was with Power to Change
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and I was still kind of deciding whether I was going to go into
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ministry, there was quite a few men that were against it.
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And I think the most frustrating part about those interactions
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was they never felt like conversations.
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They felt like a person telling me these things and then never
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giving me the room to give an answer.
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But I, I think one of the biggest challenges was there's
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lots of people who do funding their own salary and they do it
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so well and it is a struggle. It gave me so much anxiety that
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I was like, I don't think I could do this forever.
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So I was like, OK, how do I take this feeling of wanting to
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disciple people and wanting to do that one-on-one stuff, but
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also like being a little bit more financially secure.
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And that was when I decided to apply to Acadia and start I am
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division. I started in September of 2019.
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Again, this whole kind of process was like this vague idea
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of, I know that God was really leading me into wanting to be in
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full time ministry, but I didn't know where and I didn't know
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what it looked like. But I felt like I was just
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keeping myself very open. And it was very funny to me
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because as much as I was like trying to keep myself open to,
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to new possibilities, the first person who was like, oh, like
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you were your ex military. You should consider that.
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I was like, absolutely not. I was like, I left there for a
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reason. But then it kept coming up and
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that's when I started to be like, OK, maybe this is, you
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know, God prompted me in that direction.
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Once I kind of allowed myself to think about it, I was like, OK,
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maybe maybe that is where I'm supposed to be.
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I understand military side of stuff.
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And then the more I kind of thought about what chaplaincy
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within the calf was like, the more it fit with what I was
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looking for. I really liked that, you know,
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that one-on-one time. I really like that discipleship
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stuff. I really liked connecting with
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people outside of the church. I liked connecting with people
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of different backgrounds. And I was like, yeah, I think
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that that fits a little bit more.
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That's when I, I applied and I got in, in my, in my final year.
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And then, you know, I finished up my Mdiv and started my
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internship period and, and doing all that stuff just with like
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the steps and goals to get where I wanted, which was that
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military chaplaincy. I started my internship at Faith
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Baptist Church in Lower Sackville for my ordination
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process. I think it was just a year that
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I had to do. But for the military side, they,
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they require a two year internship, which works out
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really well for the church because you get basically a free
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pastor for two years because the military's paying me.
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I don't need them to pay me. I did my ordination council.
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I was so nervous going into it, but I think once I got into that
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room, it felt just very comfortable.
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They they voted, I came back and they were like, Yep, like we
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endorse you, you're good to go, which was a very exciting
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feeling for me. So right now I'm posted to
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Halifax and we've got about 10,000 people and probably 10 to
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15 chaplains on the base side of things.
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You would kind of get assigned different units and that would
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be trying to visit those places just to provide presents and
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make yourself seen and make yourself comfortable with
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people. Like nobody's going to come to
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me if they hurt, having major life issues, if they have no
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idea who I am. And then other than that, like
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people can set up appointments with me.
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Sometimes they want sounding boards, sometimes they want
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advice, but then oftentimes people will come to us not
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knowing what supports to get. A big part of chaplaincy is to
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know all the supports that are available to people, so we can
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act as that kind of hub and people can come to us and we can
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direct them out. And then another bigger aspect
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is because the military works on such a like a rank structure.
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If somebody's coming to me and they're having issues with a
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superior, I can then either go to that superior or I can go a
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little bit higher them and try to address those problems.
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So it becomes a little a little bit of like advocacy for people
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that feel stuck. Halifax doesn't do a lot of like
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Chapel services because we're because we're right in the city
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and there's so many churches. But I'm, I'm posted down now to
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the fleet. So that basically means right
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now I like, I'm with one ship. So I'm with the St.
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John's. So the frigates have about 240
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ish people and they'll have one chaplain with them.
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So you'll be the chaplain for like that whole shit, 240 people
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in a tin can. There's going to be fighting,
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there's going to be, you know, personalities clashing.
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And so I, I did a lot of kind of that interpersonal stuff.
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I ran Chapel services every Sunday that we were on ship.
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And then I also had quite a few members who were very curious
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about Christianity, curious about faith.
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I think that's the best part about kind of that military
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chaplaincy aspect is that you are so ingrained into the work
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environment. So like a lot of people, if they
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had questions, maybe they just would never go seek it out.
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But because, you know, you have a chaplain that's so readily
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available, it's so easy for them to be like, I have questions
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about this or like, I'm starting to read the Bible or like, like,
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I had one member very young, I went up to the bridge one day
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and he's sitting there and he's reading a Bible.
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And I just was like, oh, like, what are you doing?
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And he's like, oh, I just started this.
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I'm reading it. And then he looks at me, goes,
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have you ever read this? This is like, yes, I have indeed
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read this many times. So it was just very cute that he
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was like, you know, I think some of it stemmed from a little bit
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of boredom of like, what am I going to do on the bridge?
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I can't have my phone, so I'm going to read this Bible that I
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have. Ministry of the military is very
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different. I would say the most stuff that
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I deal with is mental health related and for people that are
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outside of a Christian faith. I think that's the part of the
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ministry that I like is caring for people, caring for all
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people, no matter their background, no matter their
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religion. It's providing a space where
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people can feel comfortable and safe to open up.
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I really like that aspect of, you know, journeying with people
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as they struggle through life, following Jesus example of going
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out and just helping anybody and everybody.
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And I think that's kind of what my goal has always been like I'm
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coming into the conversation with a Christian Baptist
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background, but I know that they may or not be.
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And it's never about me kind of pushing what my background is on
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to them. I have, I have always been with
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the CBAC. Now obviously I've switched to
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the Canadian Association of Baptist Freedoms.
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And one of my biggest reasons to switch was kind of a little bit
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more of an accepting stance, especially surrounding like the
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LGBTQ community. And I, you know, I considered
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looking at like the United Churches, but I was like, that
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just doesn't fit with my beliefs and how I've grown up.
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And I want to stay within the Baptist Church, the ideals and
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how we practice within the Baptist world.
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It just fits with what I know and it fits with what I believe
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in. So I was really struggling when
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I didn't know this other denomination kind of existed.
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So once I kind of found this denomination, I was like, this
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works well for me and it still allows me to be in the Baptist
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world. I'm just part of a slightly
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different Baptist community. I think when I think about
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growing up in the church, I never saw any woman pastors.
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I saw a lot of women doing family ministry.
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I never saw a woman in like a lead pastor position until I got
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a little bit older, until I got into like doing my Mdiv and
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working with other chaplains and stuff.
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And I think it's even more so within a military context as
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well because again, that's another area that is very male
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dominated. So to be able to be kind of in
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that dual area of a woman in the military and a woman in
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chaplaincy and in, in, you know, religious leader space, it
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really feels like, you know, breaking into that kind of male
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dominated field. That brings me a lot of joy to
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be able to be a visible person that other people then can see
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because I didn't see it a whole lot.
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There's, you know, there's obviously so much room to grow
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and, and room to improve. So the Navy women make up 20% in
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the Army they only make up 14%. And even within chaplaincy, I
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think there's around 200 ish chaplains.
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There's probably only about 20 women.
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So it's not a whole lot. And most of my Co workers are
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with faith traditions that don't allow women leadership.
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And I think it's been a good experience to be like, OK, like,
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we both believe in different things, but we're still able to
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to work together. But I've seen a lot of growth
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because I got in in 2008 and it was a whole different story.
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I experienced a lot of negativity from a lot of the,
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you know, male staff who were like, women should not be here.
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And they were very vocal about it.
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Obviously, I would consider myself a feminist.
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Often times some of the like feminist movements gets a bad
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Rep. I think some of it may be valid.
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I think some of it may not be valid.
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Like when I think about like the me Too movement kind of thing,
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there was a lot of negative pushback against it.
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And, and I still see it today. I still see a lot of men who are
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like, well, I can't do anything now or I'll get accused of this
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or, you know, false allegations. And I'm just like, statistically
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false accusations are very minimal.
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And like, I understand that it's not a good place to feel like
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you're being attacked. But like, when somebody is
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saying, like, you know, women are facing this issue, if your
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first thought is, well, I can't do anything now, I think that's
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a problem. Single men don't get as much
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like, pestering as single women do.
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And then you get the, well, when are you getting married?
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When are you having kids? And, and I've struggled with
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that a lot, a lot both in the church and in the military.
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I think I've gotten a lot of like older male colleagues that
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are like, well, when are you having kids?
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And, and when I say, oh, I don't want children, they're like, oh,
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well, you'll change your mind. It's like, I'm, I'm 36, but
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thank you go. I don't know.
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I think people have such ingrained ideas of what your
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life should look like, but I think it's also OK to not want
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those things like, this is what my life is like.
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And I'm perfectly OK with this. And my, my life is still
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valuable. My life is still valid and I'm
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still a happy person. A lot of people have this idea
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of, you know, of what a religious leader looks like.
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So when, you know, I show up, I'm, you know, a woman, first of
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all, that's different. You know, I'm covered in
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tattoos. I, I don't fit what they're
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picturing. That actually was more helpful
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because a lot of people had kind of negative associations with
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organized religion about people being very pushy and people
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being very judgmental. So when you come in and you
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already are breaking their idea of what a religious leader looks
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like, that breaks open. OK, if I'm wrong about what it
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looks like, maybe I'm wrong about how it is.
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Thank you to Erica for sharing her story with us.
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Remember, you can enter our draw for a free book by emailing the
15:34
address in our show notes. And please do take a minute to
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leave a review or a rating of this podcast and share the
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news at Called to serve.ca. We'll be back in two weeks with
15:51
another woman's story of being called to serve.