A "choice between choosing to leave or being voted out." Lendrum Mennonite Church in Edmonton leaves Alberta MB Conference

2026 is the 5th anniversary of when over 450 Canadian MBs signed an open letter asking the Canadian Conference of MB Churches to discuss the issue of LGBTQ+ welcome and affirmation. The Conference said no. In 2022, I started this blog, pausing it in 2024 after my church at the time, River East, was expelled. Five years later, I decided to check in with the eight congregations that left or were expelled to see how things are going. The most recent to leave is Lendrum Mennonite Church in Edmonton. 

Artisan Church was the first to leave the MB Conference, in 2021. Lendrum Mennonite Church in Edmonton is the most recent, leaving the Alberta MB Conference this year. 

The congregation formally voted to withdraw in May, 2026. The official leaving date was August 31. 

For former Lendrum board member Adrienne Wiebe, “it was a choice between choosing to leave or being voted out. The Alberta MB Conference told us they would have a vote at their AGM in May to remove our church. We debated this and decided to leave on its own terms rather than having the painful and disruptive process of being voted out.” 

Adrienne thinks the decision by the Alberta MB Conference to remove Lendrum “may have been triggered by the listening and exploring process that we did last year to interview every single member and adherent for their perspectives on being a welcoming and affirming church, and about conference affiliation.” 

As a result of that process, Lendrum posted a statement of welcome on its website that says: “All who desire to follow Christ in community are invited to participate fully in the life of the church including membership, leadership, and marriage, without obstacles related to their race, class, ability, family status, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.” 

But it was more than that, Adrienne says. 

“For many years, many folks at Lendrum have felt that the MB conference no longer was a fit for us. While the welcoming and affirming church question was one of the key ones, there have been ongoing issues related to the reluctance of the conference to credential any of our pastors, and some other governance and theological regulation questions.” 

Aimee Reimer is Lendrum's current board chair. She agrees with Wiebe’s view of the situation, adding that the board received a letter earlier this year from the Alberta MB Conference asking for clarification about continuing as a member church. 

Aimee says the Alberta MB Conference indicated that if Lendrum wanted to continue as a member of that Conference, it would have to re-engage with the pastoral credentialing process—a process that requires pastors to affirm the MB Confession of Faith as an authoritative guide for faith and practice. That includes upholding the Confession’s statement that marriage is only between a man and a woman. 

As well, its pastors would have to sign the Code of Personal and Ministry Ethics for ABMB Credential Holders. That document not only requires MB pastors to support for marriage as being only between a man and a woman, but also requires them to avoid “any communication or actions (e.g., solemnizing or officiating in a marriage/civil ceremony) which is in conflict with this understanding of God’s vision for the expression of human sexual intimacy.” 

Aimee notes the Albert MB Conference “did not explicitly mention that Lendrum's posted affirming statement was the reason for this letter.” But after some congregational meetings, “Lendrum voted to withdraw rather than be expelled,” she says. 

Lendrum has applied for membership with Mennonite Church Alberta. The vote about their application will take place at the MC Alberta AGM in March, 2027. That will make Lendrum the fourth of nine former MB churches that left or were expelled from the MB Conference between 2021-26 to join Mennonite Church Canada. (The others are River East, FreeChurch and FaithWorks. Jubilee was already a joint MB/MC church when the Manitoba MB Conference expelled them.) 

Kevin Trautwein was pastor at Lendrum from 2014-24. He went through some of those experiences with the Alberta MB Conference. He praises the church for making this decision. 

“There was nothing for them to lose,” he says of Lendrum’s decision, noting there “isn’t much space” in the Alberta MB Conference for having discussions about LGBTQ+. “They can now be honest about who they are as a congregation,” he says.

The Lendrum website still says the church is a member of the MB Conference. That will be changed soon, Aimee says.