As Canadian Southern Baptists work to establish new congregations and further understanding of the denomination in their country, they are also seeking their identity as Southern Baptists in their own right.
The Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists (CCSB) is an autonomous convention, yet it maintains strong ties with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which helped to found the fairly young convention, said Gerry Taillon, who, as head of the CCSB, holds the title of national ministry leader.
The most recent evidence of the CCSB’s search for identity is the move to change its name to the Canadian National Baptist Convention, which will be voted on during two annual meetings of the convention, first in 2007 and again in 2008, in accordance with the convention’s bylaws.
Taillon said the name change is needed to prevent misunderstandings by the "uninitiated."
"The ‘initiated’ are people who know that being Southern Baptist has nothing to do with geography. It is the name of a denomination with a heritage that reflects a missionary zeal and a commitment to the Bible," he explained. "When you say ‘Southern Baptist’ to a person who understands this, they think about this theological heritage."
But the "uninitiated" often jump to erroneous conclusions because Southern Baptists are not well known in Canada, Taillon said. "In Canada, there are a lot of people who don’t know anything about Baptists. Hearing the name ‘Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists,’ they are confused," he explained. "They wonder if this is southern Canada. Some have thought it is an African-American denomination."
Taillon believes dropping the word "Southern" and adding "National" to the name will allow for the partnership to be preserved while reducing misunderstandings.
"The word ‘Canadian’ is our identity; ‘national’ is our scope," he explained. "We want to be from sea to sea to sea — from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic."
Although the convention’s name may change, its relationship with the SBC will not, Taillon said. "We have a partnership with Southern Baptists that we prize and want to continue to develop and expand. Changing our name has nothing to do with wanting to lessen our relationship."
Baptist work in Canada has its roots in the early 1800s, when immigrants from the United States established several Baptist churches in Nova Scotia. According to documents on the CCSB Web site by historian Richard Blackaby, these early churches cooperated closely with Baptist groups in New England prior to the formation of the SBC in America in 1845.
The relationship with the SBC that resulted in the formation of the CCSB began in the 1950s on the other side of Canada in British Columbia. At that time, large numbers of Regular Baptists in Canada became disenchanted with their denomination and were leaving it or supporting the work of parachurch organizations instead of denominational work.
According to Blackaby’s account, in April 1951, R.E. Milam, a Southern Baptist minister from the Baptist General Convention of Oregon-Washington, spoke at a meeting of Regular Baptists at Northwest Baptist Bible College in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia (now Northwest Baptist Theological College in Vancouver, British Columbia). He captivated "his audience with his tremendous vision and energy to see the lost won and New Testament churches established in the Pacific Northwest."
Milam’s vision caught hold and Regular Baptist churches in the area began inviting Southern Baptists from the United States to speak and hold clinics for them. They also began adopting Southern Baptist methods of evangelism and education.
In 1963, the Canadian Southern Baptist Conference (CSBC) was formed, intended as a temporary organization to coordinate Southern Baptist work in western Canada while the conference sought full status with the SBC.
Its efforts failed, however, and in 1985, the CSBC was renamed the Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists, a national, permanent organization independent of the SBC but with close ties to the SBC’s International Mission Board (IMB) and North American Mission Board (NAMB). The CCSB is also a member of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the Baptist World Alliance.
Part of the CCSB’s relationship with the SBC includes funding from NAMB for certain strategies, in much the same way state conventions receive money, said Eric Ramsey, NAMB manager of church planting awareness. "The CCSB develops a strategy, and that strategy document is what the funding is based on," he explained.
In 1987, the CCSB and IMB partnered to begin Canada’s only Southern Baptist seminary, Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary in Cochrane, Alberta.
Currently the CCSB is focused on church planting because Southern Baptists are a small minority and relatively unknown in Canada, said Wallace Jorden, pastor of Community Baptist Church, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
In October 2006, the CCSB reported 245 congregations, with the highest concentration in western Canada. The Maritime Provinces have 12 churches. According to its Web site, the convention has a goal of establishing "1,000 healthy, reproducing, cooperating churches by the year 2020."
To reach this goal, Canadian Southern Baptists need their American counterparts to pray for workers, as well as wisdom and leadership in deciding where, when and with whom to start new churches, said Mark Puckett, pastor of King’s Way Christian Fellowship, Montague, Prince Edward Island.
"Many of our communities have no evangelical witness of any kind," he said. "We have a ‘post-Christian’ culture that sees little use for the church. It is hard ground to plow."
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