N.S. Baptist congregation ordains first openly LGBTQ, married clergyperson

On April 2, First Baptist Church Halifax made history by ordaining Arla Johnson as the first openly LGBTQ, married clergyperson in Canada.

The ordination was done in partnership with the Canadian Association of Baptist Freedoms.

Johnson told CBC Radio's Mainstreet Nova Scotia host Jeff Douglas she and her partner moved to Halifax eight years ago and chose the First Baptist Church Halifax because they felt welcome.

She said it felt like home when they first sat in the pews.

Their conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity and length. 

Does it make sense to you that it would be First Baptist Church here in Halifax that would be the first into this space?

Many years ago we were the first to come out as being welcoming and affirming. And to break from the convention back then when their policies were so strict against welcoming queer [people] into the church, let alone starting to ordain them. 

Why don't we talk a little bit about the Canadian Association of Baptist Freedoms, of which First Baptist Church is a part? What is that?

We used to be the Baptist Convention, which is 200 years old. There's four sections throughout Canada and, of course, the Atlantic provinces.

It was a group for Baptists to meet, there were some progressive and some liberals, but then they became not so open to new ideas and exploring more ecumenical natures of religion and church. 

And there was a group that wanted to explore these options. Back in 1971, a small group emerged out of that convention to create the association to give people a safe place, Baptist individuals and churches, to explore alternative options and to embrace the radical justice that Jesus proclaimed throughout the Gospel.

I was really quite surprised to see that there there's member congregations in the Canadian Association of Baptist Freedoms across the country.

I think there's 15 and nine here in Nova Scotia. 

Why here in Nova? Do we just have a lot of Baptist churches? Is that the thing?

Yeah, but there's only nine that belong to our organization.

These splits are going on in a lot of churches because some want to be affirming and welcoming, some don't.

And you've got that division within the churches, maybe between the clergy, maybe between the parishioners.

I'm glad they're happening. We've got to start talking about these things. We've got to start just moving forward in healthy, positive ways to promote equality and liberation and freedom for all people, not just the queer community.

But that's a really good start, especially if you look at the first Baptist [church] across Canada to ordain a minister.

That's ridiculous because the United [Church] started that many years ago. They made the forward move. And I think when the Baptists, the more conservative ones, saw this happening they really started tightening.

Can we talk about what sort of theological philosophical positions Baptist churches, congregations can choose to take when it comes to gay folks?

That's a hard question in the sense each church is so different. 

Some may say that they're welcoming. You could come to your church if you're queer, but you can't get married here, You can't become clergy there.

They're welcoming, affirming, but [to] what degree?

Maybe they took the vote to become welcoming and maybe 51 of the congregants said yes and 49 said no. You get a queer person that's going to go in there and ask, 'Am I really accepted by this side of the pew and that side of the pew?' And then you, maybe, feel judged. Maybe they're gonna talk about you when you leave. You don't know.

If you're queer and you're going to a queer church, you know you're accepted. You're the majority in that church, not the minority.

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