In September 2020, Cedar Park Church (CPC) embarked on a process
of discerning which values were important to embrace and live by. By the time
the process was completed in early 2021, it had become very clear that many
people wanted to talk more about LGBTQ+ inclusion and welcome.
A year later, all three CPC pastors had resigned and the congregation was taken over by the BC MB Conference, its former clergy and members left wounded and grieving.
Lee Kosa was the lead pastor at that time. It included a year, in 2021-22, that he describes as “the worst church year of my life.”
During that time, he was stripped of his ministerial credentials for being unwilling to unequivocally support the MB Confession of Faith, including its provision against same-sex marriage and relationships.
Anabaptists, he wrote on his blog, “due to their historic persecution, have often been wary of how people in power can weaponize creeds. So as an Anabaptist, my position is, and remains, that the only thing worthy of my unequivocal commitment is the Lord.”
Confessions of faith, he added, are living documents, expressing the view of a community at a particular place and time. And they can be changed; the MB Confession of Faith has been changed four times over its history.
The terrible year culminated in Kosa being spied on by the BC MB conference (someone was assigned to watch his sermons online during the pandemic), being “interrogated” (his word) about his beliefs, accused of false teaching and, ultimately resigning, which was followed by the church being taken over by the BC MB Conference.
Two-thirds of the congregation left instead of staying in the Conference-run church, and Kosa was out of job.
Kosa went on to found a new church, Estuary, with one of Cedar Park’s former pastors, Darren DeMelo.
Today, Kosa is still at Estuary, a group of between 50 to 75 people who meet twice a month at a local Anglican Church in Delta and who meet in homes or other locations on the other weekends. This includes occasionally organizing wild church, where people meet outside in nature for services.
Although Estuary is an independent congregation, it has a connection to Mennonite Church Manitoba that provides it with support, resources and guidance.
It might seem unusual for a B.C. congregation to partner with a Manitoba conference. But Kosa said partnering with MCBC was not possible, given Estuary’s stance on LGBTQ+.
“Anabaptism is still very important for us,” he said of the partnership. “It’s part of who we are.”
Looking back, Kosa has mixed feelings about the journey that took him to this point.
He has no wish to live through that terrible time at Cedar Park again, but is glad to be part of a church where everyone, including LGBTQ+ people, “can feel safe. It’s a non-negotiable.”
“I love the freedom I now have,” he went on to say, adding that includes the freedom not to own a building.
Finding a building to rent wasn’t easy, he says, noting that some churches wouldn’t rent to them because they are fully affirming.
But he still carries wounds from his time at the ending of Cedar Park and his time in the MB Conference.
“I wish I didn’t have them, but I do,” he said. “There is a sadness in me over what happened, along with lingering trauma.”
The experience has helped him to view church history through a trauma lens—a way of exploring how power, fear-based control and collective suffering have shaped both the institution and the people who are part of the church.
For Kosa, that includes examining how religious authority, like the MB Conference, has historically protected itself at the expense of the vulnerable people. This includes dissidents and marginalized groups like women and LGBTQ+.
“I’m thankful to be in this place now,” Kosa says. “It’s a place of belonging and building something new, and freedom to explore.”
You can hear Lee share about his experience at Cedar Park on episode 5 of the podcast The Schism Between Us.
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