Welcome to the Canadian Association for Baptist Freedoms!
We seek to be a safe and welcoming environment in which Baptists can share all concerns and points of view without fear of being marginalised.
The CABF is a Canada-wide fellowship composed of both individuals and Churches. Currently, we have 17 member Churches located in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. We have individual members from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. We are open to receiving new members from any province or territory - click here for details.
Our Vision: Baptists freely seeking, living, sharing and celebrating justice, peace and love under the lordship of Christ.
Our Mission: We encourage and support churches, pastors, and other individuals to understand and affirm Baptist freedoms as they express their faith.
Notice
Some unscrupulous person has searched our website and found records of the Nominating Committee reports from former Annual General Meetings. These contained personal information such as phone numbers and email addresses that were intended for Council use only. This information has been used to send spam messages to Council and Committee members appearing to ask for the purchase of gift cards or similar scams or requesting urgent communication.
Please do NOT respond to these requests as they are NOT from CABF, its Council or Committees. These postings containing personal information have been taken down and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that may have been caused.
Council Approves Plan for Membership to Vote on Amendments to CABF By-Law #2
At its meeting on March 12, 2024, CABF Council approved a plan to inform the CABF Membership of progress on the Special Project to Update the CABF Governance Structure and the proposed amendments to CABF By-Law #2 in preparation for a vote on the amendments as a Special Resolution at the time of the upcoming Rushton Lecture on Saturday, June 7, 2025.
The April 9, 2025 Letter to Members with an progress report on the Special Project to Update the CABF Governance Structure is available here.
To see more detail on the Special Project and to view the proposed amendments to the CABF By-Law #2, please follow this link and scroll down. Canadian Association for Baptist Freedoms - Constitution and Policies.
On-Line (Zoom) Town Hall Information Sessions
On-line (Zoom) Town Hall Information/Discussion sessions on the proposed amendments to CABF By-Law #2 are being planned, with sessions scheduled for 8:00 pm Atlantic time on:
- Thursday evening, May 1, 2025
- Wednesday evening, May 7, 2025 and
- Tuesday evening, May 13, 2025
This is your opportunity to find out more about the planned ammendments to our By-Laws, ask questions and make comments. If you are interested in attending one of these sessions, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for login information.
CABF's 2025 Cross Canada Conference
October 26-29, Vancouver, BC
This year, the lectionary is based on the gospel of Luke, a gospel that articulates God’s compassion and care for those on the fringes of power—women, the poor, the stranger, religious and ethnic minorities. In an age of rising hostility towards the “other” and disregard for the poor, how important it is to remember the way Christ drew near to all people!
As we, friends and members of the CABF, draw near to each other, may we reorient ourselves to Divine Love, strengthening our love and commitment to soul liberty, to one another, to all God’s children, and to God’s good earth.
For more information click here CABF EVENTS.
Letter to Members and Friends of the CABF
The January, 2025 Letter to Members and Friends is available here.
We encouraged you to share this with those who you feel might be interested and to post it on your Church bulletin board.
If you have not received a copy of this letter in your personal email account and would like to receive future communications as soon as they are posted, just notify us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
--CABF Executive and Council
Two LGBTQ British Baptist Ministers Ordained in Canada
(Originally published in Baptist News Global October 28, 2024)
A Canadian Baptist church and association ordained two ministers from the United Kingdom Oct. 27 because they could not be ordained in the Baptist Union of Great Britain.
First Baptist Church of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the Canadian Association for Baptist Freedoms ordained Andrea King and Luke Dowding as ministers. The ordination was witnessed by family and friends and faith leaders from across North America and Europe.
King, a graduate of Regents College, Oxford, serves as director of safeguarding and strategy for OneBodyOneFaith. Dowding, a graduate of Spurgeon’s College, London, and King’s College London, serves as CEO of OneBodyOneFaith.
Luke Dowding and Andrea King
“Andrea and Luke, due to their sexuality and public position on LGBTQ relationships and LGBTQ safeguarding in the church, are unable to be ordained and accredited in the Baptist Union of Great Britain. This landmark expression of God’s expansive love and inclusive call is the result of years of partnership and building relationships between the Canadian Association for Baptist Freedoms, OneBodyOneFaith, and a global partnership for progressive Baptists,” said a news release from the church.
Rusty Edwards is chair of the ordination credentialing committee and senior minister at First Baptist Church of Halifax.
“In 1830, First Baptist Church Halifax sent two qualified clergy to Providence, R.I., in the United States for ordination by the First Baptist Church in America,” he said. “One hundred ninety-four years later, we are living into our story to receive Andrea and Luke, celebrate and affirm the Spirit’s work in their lives, and send them forward to keep living out the justice-love of Jesus. This ordination is part of a larger movement within the global Baptist family to live more fully into our heritage of liberty under the guidance of Jesus Christ.”
Canadian Association for Baptist Freedoms is a Canada-wide fellowship composed of both individuals and churches. They describe themselves as “Baptists freely seeking, living, sharing and celebrating justice, peace and love under the lordship of Christ.”
OneBodyOneFaith is an ecumenical Christian charity based in the UK working to enable LGBTQ Christians to thrive, not just survive.
Clara Rushbrook, co-principal of Northern Baptist College in Manchester, England, participated in both ordination councils and delivered the address during the ordination service.
“I am deeply honored to have been able to share in this historic ordination service today,” she said. “Andrea and Luke are clearly and graciously living out their God-given calling as ministers of the gospel, despite the numerous barriers that have been put in their way. Their integrity, their commitment to justice and their heart for all who are marginalized, are testimony to their deep love of God and faith in Christ and a rich blessing to our global Baptist family and the wider kin-dom of God.”