Rev. Dr. Kaiya Jennings is a native of Suffolk, Virginia.
On June 10, 2012, she was licensed to the gospel ministry, and she was ordained on December 30, 2018, at First Baptist Church in Suffolk.
She is a 2011 graduate of Virginia State University, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. She is a graduate of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, where she earned her Master of Divinity degree. She is also a graduate of Boston University, where she obtained her second master’s degree in Religion, Culture, and Personality in the Spring of 2016. She was the first woman elected as the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries for the Baptist General Convention of Virginia.
She is the founder of Kaiya Jennings Consulting, LLC which emphasizes the importance mentorship, coaching and congregational health. Rev. Kaiya received her Doctor of Ministry degree in September 2022 from Duke Divinity School in Durham, NC, where her work focused on Black Clergywomen and Congregational Leadership. Currently, she serves as the Assistant Pastor at St John Baptist Church and is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.
Her favorite scripture is John 15:2, “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful