Powassan United Church is the first of the 11 United Churches in the Almaguin Highlands to support becoming an affirming congregation.
On Oct. 20, the congregation voted 23-2 to seek affirming congregation status.
An affirming congregation supports and welcomes all people regardless of their gender identities or sexual orientations.
For decades, members of the LGBTQ+ community have encountered rejection and shaming in places of worship, and this includes the United Church of Canada.
However, in partnership with the organization known as Affirm United, the United Church of Canada has been working to end this practice within the church and in society.
The local pursuit has taken years and started long before its present minister, the Reverend Fraser Williamson, took over the ministry, although Williamson is credited with helping to restart the process after it was derailed by COVID-19.
The now-retired Reverend Teresa Jones and Reverend Dr. Bob Jackson initiated the affirming congregation process several years before the pandemic.
Jackson recalls that not all members of the congregation were happy with what Jones was proposing.
“She brought our congregation to a new level of understanding about the gay movement,” Jackson said, adding that Jones did get some pushback and a small number of people stopped attending the local church.
A combination of Jones's retirement and the arrival of the COVID pandemic stalled the affirmation process.
In nearby Port Loring and Golden Valley, Williamson was the minister for both United churches and was aware of what Jones and Jackson were pursuing.
Williamson said their attempt to achieve affirming congregation status was a major reason why he applied for the Powassan vacancy when it became available.
During his job interview, Williamson expressed a strong interest in the affirming congregation process and once he was installed as the new minister, he, Jackson, and other church council members resurrected the project.
“We spent a whole year educating ourselves and then brought it to the congregation which took another year,” Jackson said.
Jackson, who at 82 has been retired since 2006 and now lives in North Bay, was the minister for the Powassan United Church from 1972 to 1979.
He says the United Church of Canada has come a long way since his tenure in Powassan.
Jackson said beginning in 1980 the United Church of Canada was “dealing with the ordination of self-declared homosexual people.”
“Prior to that we ordained gay people but it was kept secret,” he said.
“In those early days, gay people didn’t feel safe to come out because there would have been a lot of push back and the church was not immune to that kind of thing. Also, many people said we shouldn’t go down this road because we’re going to lose a lot of people.”
Jackson put himself in this category but was also part of the national committee that would deal openly with the ordination of gay ministers.
His involvement on that committee changed his beliefs and perceptions on the issue.
“I went from being one of those folks who thought being gay is not a good thing to understanding that it’s just a human trait,” he said.
“It changed me a lot. We interviewed gay people who were Christian and were either studying to be ordained in the United Church or wanted to be part of the United Church in some way. As we listened to their stories you got a whole different picture and it began to change my view very much as to what was going on.”
Jackson said during this period the United Church recognized that it wasn’t only the gay community that was mistreated but also many marginalized people.
Although the Powassan congregation voted in favour of becoming an affirming congregation, Jackson said it still needs certification from Affirm United to achieve that status.
He says Affirm United has strict guidelines on what an affirming congregation must follow.
For example, in the Bible’s Old Testament, we’re told how people were put to death for being homosexual.
Jackson notes this was written at a time when society had different values and heterosexuality was a dominant trait.
However, Affirm United wants congregations to learn from these early writings.
“So, we would still read these scriptures but in an affirming congregation they would be read as a teaching moment,” Jackson said.
He adds what will also be read are other scriptures and much of that includes what Jesus taught which was tolerance, acceptance, compassion, and forgiveness.
The Oct. 20 vote was a secret ballot so no one knows who voted against becoming an affirming congregation. Jackson hopes the people who voted nay at this time, remain with the congregation.
He says there is a trend toward more United Churches pursuing affirming congregation status.
Jackson says not all congregations will pursue this status and he believes one reason is the fear of losing members.
But he said that as a kid he thought homosexuality was a bad thing and now he has many gay friends so it’s always possible other congregations may change their view on this matter.
Jackson says Affirming United has a broad spectrum and not only focuses on the gay community, it also includes Indigenous people and people with health challenges.
Jackson personally takes the belief aspect of inclusiveness further to include atheists and agnostics.
Next June the United Church of Canada celebrates its 100th anniversary. Reverend Fraser Williamson hopes the local church can be granted affirming certification status by next spring ahead of the centenary celebration.
He says what remains to be done is mostly administrative work like making the church’s marriage policy more inclusive.
In addition to the United Churches in Powassan, Chisholm, Port Loring, and Golden Valley, there are seven other United Churches in the Highlands. They are Restoule, Nipissing, Sunridge, Trout Creek, Burk’s Falls, Magnetawan, and Katrine.
Williamson says none of the other churches are yet at the affirming congregation discussion stage including Sundridge and Trout Creek where his wife Sandra Jenkinson is the minister.
But Williamson says the operative word is "yet."
Williamson posted the results of the vote on social media and received mostly positive feedback.
He said 94 per cent of the comments were positive.
He kept the negative posts up but blocked any further comments because individuals were becoming too argumentative and he didn’t want to take down the posting.
He wants the post to help increase public awareness of what the Powassan United Church is trying to achieve.
“It shows that Powassan United Church is a loving place,” Williamson said.
He added once certification is granted, there will be a local celebration marking the milestone.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter with NorthBayNipissing.com. LJI is funded by ythe Government of Canada,
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