Junia (“June”) Joplin is lead pastor of Lorne Park Baptist Church in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and is a board member of EthicsDaily.com / Baptist Center for Ethics.
1. Where did you grow up?
I grew up just outside Hudson, a small town in the foothills of western North Carolina.
2. What is your favorite verse, book or story in the Bible? Why?
The parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20 and Luke 8:4-15).
It sounds to me like Jesus is saying, “This farmer really isn’t that good or efficient at his job, and yet God is faithfully working in situations like this.”
3. What is your favorite movie? Why?
“O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
I love the music, the cinematography, the characters and the mashup of Southern Gothic with ancient mythology. I saw it in the theater and remember turning to my wife and saying, “I don’t ever want this to end!”
4. Who are three people you admire?
Walt Whitman, Anne Woolger (the founding director of Matthew House, a network of homes for refugee claimants in the Toronto area) and the late Tommy Douglas (a Canadian Baptist minister turned politician).
5. What is one little-known fact about yourself?
I got my first tattoo a few weeks ago!
