Originally published in the spring 2026 Update Magazine.
“I first saw James [Strasburg] (Music ’17, M.A. Music ’19) singing when he was a freshman. I was a sophomore. He had won the Commencement Contest for men’s voice and sounded like an angel,” remembered Anna Strasburg (Secondary Education: Mathematics ’16). “I just closed my eyes and listened.” Although Anna was immediately impressed with his voice, it wasn’t until a couple of years later that James began pursuing Anna, visiting her where she worked at the on-campus Common Grounds Café. James quickly learned that Anna loved to run and was preparing to run across America advocating for pro-life and children’s rights. They attended a Fine Arts together for the first time, and James presented Anna with a bouquet made up of folded-up sock roses. Their relationship officially blossomed thereafter.
Today, James and Anna both serve from platforms that represent what they’re called to teach. Since 2019, James has been a voice instructor and now also serves as the assistant chair in the Performing Arts department at Pensacola Christian College, while Anna homeschools their seven children (four biological and three adopted); she’s also an author, avid runner, and speaker for pro-life and children’s rights. Side by side, they’re reaching the world through their life-changing examples.
James’s Lifelong Pursuit
Music has played a large part in James’s life. He’s sung in choirs since the 4th grade and began studying piano formally at age seven. “I knew I wanted to pursue music as a career, and PCC offered an excellent learning experience and teachers that would challenge me to grow in my craft as a singer and musician.” And as a college student, James was not disappointed. “The excellence my teachers taught in their course material helped prepare me to be successful as a teacher.” Today, as an instructor, James strives to emulate the professionalism and examples he observed in the classroom. He still appreciates how each of his teachers taught through the biblical worldview lens and went out of their way to ensure that the class was following along through clarification, review, and investment in spiritual growth.
“Learning to sing is not something that happens over a four-year college career,” James said, a key component he learned along the way. “But it’s a lifelong pursuit, just as becoming more like Christ.” James took to heart his voice instructor’s comparisons between the student’s voice journey and the spiritual walk as believers. “One of the things she encouraged me with was that just as we are to be constantly spending time reading God’s word and bettering ourselves as Christ-followers, we are to do the same as musicians and be faithful day in and day out to put in the hard work of practice.”
Having overcome his own limitations and benefiting from personalized coaching through the music programs, James teaches his voice students with the same methods that helped him. “Each person is uniquely made in the image of God. No one student has the same vocal range, timbre, physiology, and singer’s imagination as another,” James explained. “This means that vocal techniques that work for one student may not work for another, making the studio always a fluid environment where I am constantly working to find the best solutions for each individual.”
“Learning to sing is not something that happens over a four-year college career.”
As he navigates his students’ needs, what James loves the most about being an instructor is the meaningful connections he makes with them. “Because of the one-on-one instruction students receive in this department, we have a real opportunity to make deep and lasting relationships,” he added.
Along the way, James realized his dream of performing professionally. “I have had the privilege of performing with the Shining Light Players, a local Christian theater group, for four summer tours as well as other local performances in the show The Hiding Place,” said James. “In addition, I have had the privilege to be a part of the Christian musical group Forever Be Sure, singing in two of their recorded albums as well as a few music videos.”
Anna’s Calling Planned by God
A dedicated wife and mom of seven under six, Anna is living the life the Lord had been orchestrating without her realizing it. Growing up in a loving, Christian family with six siblings, Anna had her parents’ example of how to genuinely care for the people around her—the elderly, students, friends, and neighbors. “When I was in 5th grade, my Christian school teacher taught us the importance of life in the womb. She used Scripture (Psalm 139:13−14, for example), art projects, and more to teach us. That year stuck with me and changed my life forever.”
In addition to having a heart for people, young Anna explored her gift of teaching with her stuffed animals and enrolled her brothers (if she was able) in her homemade school. As she grew older, Anna began tutoring friends and classmates through calculus, U.S. history, and government. “What seemed like merely tutoring to me soon grew into a love for math and history,” she reflected. “Math especially, because so many people feel dumb when it comes to math, but I believe they just haven’t been taught it correctly.”
“God knew exactly what He was planning to do with each part of my life, and He perfectly knit it together.”
Anna’s desire to share math and history with others flourished in college. She chose PCC “because of their excellent teaching program where I knew I could learn better how to convey my love for math and history to others,” Anna said. “God used my love for teaching to enable me to teach through public speaking while I ran across America for the pro-life movement. The same concepts I learned about teaching [math and history] helped me teach the importance of protecting life in the womb.”
In college, Anna co-founded the organization If Life, which educates and advocates on behalf of the preborn and their mothers. The courses she took also coincided with her pursuits. Speech classes were foundational for the hundreds of presentations Anna has given across America; math classes inspired an ability to think outside the box when resolving challenges; and Dr. Watson’s Origins class helped establish an even firmer foundation from the Christian perspective. “[The biblical worldview] was and is highly important when addressing the biggest human rights abuse of our time,” Anna said. “And having the confidence to know what I believed and why was essential before setting off into a field where I would be challenged in almost every way.”
After she graduated, Anna ran and biked across America for the pro-life movement, speaking at venues along the way. Her cross-country experience turned into a book entitled One Mile More: Running Across America to End Abortion. Education remains a part of Anna’s everyday life as she homeschools her children. “What always amazes me is that what started with stuffed animals and siblings has become one of the main focuses of my life,” Anna commented. “God knew exactly what He was planning to do with each part of my life, and He perfectly knit it together.”
Recognizing Ministry Everywhere
James and Anna Strasburg get to experience some of the immediate rewards that come with living a life in service to others. As James invests in his music students, he fosters meaningful relationships. “God in His perfect goodness was at work in my heart and has allowed me to use my challenges as ways to better connect with students who come through my studio,” said James.
“God has shown us that ministry can look very different than on a grand stage. Ministry can be in our own homes, in our neighborhoods, and to the very people around us.”
While she speaks to a crowd, Anna is positioned to witness people realize the true value of life and the gift of forgiveness. “With advocating for children’s rights, it’s seeing people’s perspectives shift through something as simple as an educational speech,” Anna expressed. “Most people believe abortion is okay simply because they don’t know what it is. Once they understand what it is and the reasons for it, most change their mind. I also get to share with them about forgiveness in Christ, which can be one of the most impactful parts of a speech.”
Together, James and Anna share the special opportunity to raise their children and care for the precious children they’ve added to their family. “God has opened an unexpected ministry to foster children that was not in our initial plan,” James said. “But God has shown us that ministry can look very different than on a grand stage. Ministry can be in our own homes, in our neighborhoods, and to the very people around us.”