Guest speaker at House of Grace
Local pastor Vinita Baker was the guest speaker recently at an event in Ottawa called Women of Distinction, where over 100 attendees heard her speak on worship as a lifestyle.     Courtesy photo

Candice Vetter
Villager Staff
OTTAWA – Local pastor of the Covenant Fellowship Church in Russell, Vinita Baker, was guest speaker at a Women of Distinction seminar at the House of Grace for All Nations Church on St. Laurent Blvd. on Fri., Feb. 2.

The event welcomed about 100 attendees, mostly women, although Baker reports there were a few men too, and she was the only speaker for the evening.

Her topic was worship as a lifestyle. “It’s not just singing and praying,” she said in an interview with The Villager. “How do we bring forth worship in our lives? How do we live every day and maintain a connection?”

She said that she did her talk then the responses from the crowd caused her to lead them into a discussion of healing and being touched by healing power. “I want it to be practical for people,” said Baker, who trained and worked as a registered nurse before turning to ministry. “I talked about how you can break through in the spirit to that relationship, as opposed to action.”

She strongly suggests taking brief breaks in the day, as little as 30 seconds in the morning and the afternoon. “Sit back and let His presence overwhelm you, let go.” She said often people feel that they must read the Bible or pray or take on a charitable task. “It’s not about working at it. Just sit back and relax. The cares and stresses of life can overwhelm us. Let go.”

She said her message seemed to resonate in spirit with her audience. Baker has given much counselling in many areas, to couples, men, women and children. “We look at the same threads weaving through their lives. But we can stop perpetual cycles and start healing.”

Baker grew up in a household where Bible study was a daily event. After working as a nurse, she and husband Harry Baker moved out to Russell and started a family. At that point she quit nursing and, as she puts it, “…started talking to people. I started volunteering, etc., and it changed my life.”

She was officially ordained in 2004 under the Evangelical Church Alliance Ministry, both in New York State and in Toronto. Besides her Covenant Fellowship Church pastor’s duties, she is also a leading force in Ambassador Ministries in Covenant, the church’s charitable arm, which has local, national and overseas projects.

In August, she has been invited to be a keynote speaker at a Conference in Siaya, Kenya (near Kisumu), and teaching ministers there for a week beforehand.

Locally she has also been instrumental in bringing churches here together for common cause.

The Covenant Fellowship Church holds services at 10 a.m. on Sundays at the Russell Legion Hall.