Former Jesuit Has Not Made A Decision As To What Kind Of Christian He Wants To Be

A new spiritual home
Ex-Jesuit priest takes post as education director at Baptist Church in Halifax
By RICHARD WOODBURY
It’s a sign of the times that the Baptist Church is welcoming a former Jesuit priest with open arms but it’s not a surprise, says a religion expert. "Fifty years ago, this wouldn’t have happened. A Jesuit would not have been invited into a Baptist church and a Baptist wouldn’t be invited into a Catholic church. That’s just the way it was," Jennifer Dimoff, a professor in the department of religion and philosophy at Mount Saint Vincent University, said in a recent interview. Since Nov. 1, John Gahan of Wolfville has been serving as the interim director of Christian education at the First Baptist Church in Halifax. The former Jesuit priest ended his 21-year tie with the order two years ago.

Mr. Gahan said that during his time off, he examined his life and tried to figure out what he wanted to do next. The 49-year-old left the Jesuit order because his beliefs no longer matched up with those of the order, he says. The fact that Roman Catholic priests can’t marry and that women can’t be ordained were two of the divisive issues. In the Baptist church, as in all Protestant churches, ministers can marry and women can become ministers.

Parishioners are pleased with Mr. Gahan’s work, said Rev. John Boyd, who has been with the First Baptist Church for 20 years. He said the congregation is very open and welcoming."We actually receive as members of our church anyone that comes from any other Christian church. We accept their baptism and their own Christian experience as valid, as long as they want to be part of our congregation and work along with us."

Although there are a lot of differences between Jesuits and Baptists, there are a lot of similarities, he says. "We have a common faith in Jesus and want to follow his teachings and bring people to an understanding of faith." The main difference has to do with the decision-making structure. With the Baptists, the congregation decides and votes on issues such as whether to allow same-sex marriage (which the First Baptist Church supports). For example, they voted on whether to hire Mr. Gahan, to which there was unanimous approval.

With the Roman Catholics, decisions are made by church leaders, such as priests, bishops and the Pope. As the director of Christian education, Mr. Gahan works with and provides support to the teachers and co-ordinates special events. Before becoming involved with the Baptists, Mr. Gahan said he had stereotypes about the church being judgmental and not very welcoming.

He thinks differently now. "The church is so open and ecumenical, and inclusive. . . . It’s a really inviting and open church." Mr. Gahan said people often joke about the situation.

He was recently having lunch with the minister from St. Andrews United Church in Wolfville and the secretary of that church asked him: "Can’t you make up your mind which church you’re going to be involved with?" He is thinking about converting, but he hasn’t made a decision yet.

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The original article in Novo Scotia News (here)

John Gahan mentions that he is an adherent of Jungianism, read about Carl Jung and its threat to Catholicism (here) , (here) , (here) and (here)