Jacqueline has been part of the Laidlaw community since 1996, when she enrolled as an undergraduate student. After graduating in 1999 with a Bachelor of Ministries, she began lecturing in Biblical Studies and Theology, and became a Senior Lecturer in the School of Theology in 2008. Her main teaching subjects were Old Testament Introduction, Biblical Interpretation, New Testament Greek, and Israel in the Time of Jesus. She also engaged in three seasons of excavation at Bethsaida, on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, and in 2011 took a team of Laidlaw staff and students on a study tour of Israel/Palestine. After completing her PhD through Otago University, Jacqueline returned to Laidlaw as Research and Consulting Fellow, leading a small team of theological consultants working with Christian organisations to better serve their communities. 

Jacqueline’s research interests include the New Testament and its historical background, the Historical Jesus, and Archaeology. Her MA from Macquarie University focused on Second Temple Judaism and Early Christianity, and her PhD drew on archaeological data and historical sources to argue that Jesus’ itinerant ministry, as depicted primarily in Mark, was extensive and historically plausible. 

Jacqueline also works for the New Zealand Christian Proprietors Trust providing professional development in Biblical Studies and Theology for teachers in State Integrated Christian schools. 

Prior to working at Laidlaw, Jacqueline spent eleven years teaching in State and Christian primary schools in New Zealand and overseas. She also spent eighteen months working with Youth with a Mission, and six months church planting in Inner London. Jacqueline currently lives in Auckland and attends Shore Vineyard Church.