River East Church proposes new process for Mennonite Brethren churches in Manitoba living on the "borderland" of the Confession of Faith

Delegates to the March 3-4 convention of the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba (MBCM) will vote on whether to remove Jubilee Mennonite Church from membership. 

Prior to this vote, River East Church invited MBCM to consider its Borderland Proposal to interrupt the process to suspend and remove churches that want to welcome and affirm LGBTQ+ people in order to provide more time and space for further conversation. 

The Proposal was sent to MBCM in January. River East has not received a response. 

Borderland Congregations Proposal for MBCM Board 

Overview 

River East Church is proposing a 5-7 year period in which churches such as REC could remain part of MBCM and yet pursue understandings and practices that may border on the edges of common interpretations of the Confession of Faith. 

River East feels led by the Holy Spirit to cultivate an inclusive community that would create space for a number of marginalized and underrepresented groups/persons in the MB community. 

We have expressed our desire to pursue radical inclusion in a statement that includes many categories, but the one which we feel we need leeway to explore is that of full participation of LGBT persons. This may include marriage and church leadership. 

Perhaps, not unlike Philip in Acts 8, we are being called to leave the center (Jerusalem) and move to the edges (a wilderness road). 

Our view 

We would like to remain a part of MBCM and we believe the Board would wish REC to remain a part of the conference. We hear the teaching of Christ encouraging REC to be more expansive by making space for same-sex marriage, but we are not at this point suggesting a change in the Confession of Faith or in the traditional interpretation of Scripture held by others. 

Instead, we are requesting that the MBCM Board grant permission to REC, and any others that would like to join us, in a flexible posture of 5-7 years where LGBTQ+ members would be invited into full participation which may include leadership and/or a life of committed marriage.

REC has seriously considered scripture, tradition, reason, and experience in coming to our inclusivity understanding. We believe we follow in the path of Jesus who was the welcoming Presence of God. We understand the Biblical trajectory as moving over time and experience from Law to Grace, exclusion to inclusion, punishment to mercy. 

We have no desire to judge others, but we cannot deny the movement of the Spirit among us, leading us into a more generous posture of inclusion of any person eager to be on a path of following Jesus and loving the God who loves us all. 

We understand that the Confession of Faith changes from time to time as noted in #4 of the Nature and Function of the Confession. This process of community hermeneutics is partly explained in item #3. 

River East would like some time to work on this position as we have learned so much more about what it means to be LGBTQ+ and what those persons have to offer a congregation. 

Also, in #6 in the Nature and Function of the Confession, it states that “the Board of Faith and Life also recognized that there may be times when leaders embrace a ‘principled confessional integrity’ rather than a ‘legalistic confessional rigidity.’” 

In other words, struggles with particular statements in the confession are not incompatible with affirming the confession in principle. 

Process 

1.    Borderland Congregations could be defined as: A respectful acknowledgment that there are those in the MBCM family of Christ (congregations and individuals) whose careful study of scripture and prayerful journey of discernment has led them to a different understanding. An example would be covenanted same-sex relationships differing from a commonly understood stance of reading Articles 10 and 11 in our Confession of Faith.

2.    MBCM Board would consider and approve the concept of a ‘Borderland Congregations’ framework.

3.    REC requests that the MBCM board regard this negotiation as a matter of governance appropriate for the MBMC board and not, at this point, a matter requiring a vote of the MBCM assembly.

4.    A time period of 5-7 years be allotted for this initiative during which churches would maintain an active conversation with the Board and PFLT.

5.    At the end of the specified time there would be a complete evaluation of how the inclusion process is working in both Borderland and non-Borderland congregations as both seek to live out our mission for the world. At this point changes to the CoF could be suggested or the Borderland Congregation be asked to change or leave.

6.    REC may reach out to other congregations who are having similar conversations.

7.    MBCM could invite ONMB to participate as well.

8.    River East would remain in relationship with MBCM and its congregations, seeking to learn from one another.

Conclusion 

What we ask of conference leadership is this: That we be allowed to stay within the Mennonite Brethren church family in Canada as member churches that seek to faithfully interpret scripture, acknowledging the theological differences among us. We believe that this is a reasonable request. 

While several MB-affiliated churches in Canada are, by their stated positions and actions, challenging Article 11 (Marriage, Singleness, Family) and by extension Article 10, of the Confession of Faith, there are other MB affiliated churches in Canada that by their positions, actions, or inactions, have challenged other articles of the Confession yet remain in good standing in the conference. 

For some MB-affiliated churches, Article 13 (Love and Nonresistance) is treated as an historical peculiarity of the Mennonite Brethren rather than a core conviction. For some MB-affiliated churches, a significant component of Article 3 (Creation and Humanity) is expressly ignored or countered in church policy in terms of women in leadership.

As the MB Conference already occupies diverse theological space, we ask that room be given to churches whose practices are on the borderland of the Confession of Faith.

Southridge Community Church, Toronto FreeChurch removed from membership in Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches

As expected, Toronto FreeChurch and Southridge Community Church were removed from membership in the Ontario Mennonite Brethren Conference on the weekend.

When asked for a ballot count, a conference official said they were not required to communicate anything more than a pass/fail. 

More information about the vote coming this week.

Open letter to the Mennonite Brethren Herald from a pastor about the upcoming vote on Jubilee Mennonite Church

By Janessa Nayler-Giesbrecht 

The letter was composed as I lay sleepless at night, thinking of my apprehension about the upcoming Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba (MBCM) assembly where delegates will vote on whether or not to remove Jubilee Mennonite Church from Conference membership over its decision to welcome, include and affirm LGBTQ+ people and same-sex marriage.

The apprehension has shifted from the vote about Jubilee to the defensive posture I have sensed us all growing in over my time as a pastor in MBCM. I couldn’t help but reflect on the marriage advice analogy; without that intentionality in assuming the best while acting our best we don’t stand a chance at unity. How can we overcome any difficulty if we are constantly trying to protect ourselves from each other? 

The most difficult part of this, which was hard to nuance in the letter itself, is that too often it’s those who are NOT holding seats of power who will try to close the gap, while those who do hold power will not. And when that happens there is abuse. And then rinse and repeat the cycle as more hurt comes forward. 

This letter was me daring to imagine a world where we could mutually care for each other and turn to each other in hope.  

To my Mennonite Brethren family, 

I am worried about us. In a big way. 

When I do premarital counselling with couples, I am known to give the following advice: "assume the best of one another, and always be someone the other can assume the best of."

By this, I mean that at our BEST in a relationship, we expect that the other is working with us, acting in love and integrity; and to make that true, we in turn must consciously embody that.

When both of these things are being actively lived out, there will be a beautiful unity that can sustain all the ups and downs life can offer. This is true of all of our meaningful relationships in life. 

However, when that is not lived out—when we cease thinking the best of one another's intentions—we begin to build walls and guards to protect ourselves from the other. We try to gain leverage for ourselves to make sure we are protected, leaving our commitment to the relationship to suffer. 

The longer we do this, the more distance exists between us. The more distance between us, the harder it is to return to that place of mutuality that is essential to the thriving of any relationship. 

Perhaps you see where I might be going with this, but if you do not here it is: it does not take much of a leap for us to see that we are a Conference living in that second scenario. 

I have been a part of you since middle school, and I have been a pastor with you for a decade. And if I reflect on the state of our relationships over that time, I sense the widening gap between us. Not just as an outside observer, but as one who also feels it deeply. 

The reasons and motivations are complex and plentiful, of course. I don't actually know a specific fix for it, but naming it feels important. Naming it feels like it can give us a chance to stop walking in opposite directions, turn around, and take steps to close the gap again.  

In Manitoba, specifically, we have a big meeting coming up. And there's lots to say (and lots that will be said) about that. But before that, can we name this thing? This mistrust that has seeped into who we are? There is no instant fix for it, it always takes time to repair. But we have to start somewhere, somehow. And I want that for us.  

When Jesus prayed for his disciples, he prayed that we would be one as the trinity is one. When Paul prayed for the church, he begged for us to keep the unity. May the Spirit be with us and help us find a way. 

Janessa Nayler-Giesbrecht is a pastor at Fort Garry Mennonite Brethren Church in Winnipeg. She posted this letter to the Herald, MBCM and the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches on Twitter. 

Opinion: Of standards, change and confessions of faith

 

“It is not exclusion to promote an identifiable standard of membership in a Christian church. It is foolishness to think that a minority group could expect to revise such a standard based on the preferences of that minority group.”

That’s what a friend said about Mennonite Brethren churches that want to welcome and affirm LGBTQ+ people, including same-sex marriage, in contravention of the Confession of Faith.

I replied: “But that’s the thing, isn’t it? The standards change. At one time the standard said there could be no divorced members, no women in leadership, speaking German was the only acceptable language of worship, immersion was the only acceptable form of baptism, and marrying outside the Mennonite denomination could get you removed from membership."

I went on: "Those things were once all standards, but they aren’t any longer. And before you say LGBTQ+ is different because it is in the Bible, the Bible was once used to justify all these things, too. The world changed, people changed, theology changed.”

I haven’t got a response from him to that yet. But the exchange reminded me of a sermon Jon Isaak preached at River East Church in January.

In it Isaak, who directs the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies in Winnipeg, noted that things Mennonite Brethren once considered to be “standard” have indeed changed over the past 162 years of the denomination’s history.

Those changes include:

Spouses of Mennonite Brethren members who were baptized in modes other than immersion were, for years, forced to be rebaptized by immersion in order for the Mennonite Brethren spouse to avoid excommunication.\

The Lord’s Table: For years many Mennonite Brethren churches would not allow children and those who weren’t baptized to participate. Now most have a more open practice of communion.

Women in ministry leadership was once ruled out, but now is practiced to varying levels of support and encouragement in Canada.

Cremation was once taboo among Mennonite Brethren. But now it has become much more common.

As for the Confession of Faith itself, there have been four in the denomination’s history.

The 1853 Confession used by most other Mennonites in Ukraine was the one that was taken over without change when the Mennonite Brethren left to form their own church in 1860.

The 1902 Confession was the first one Mennonite Brethren wrote for themselves. It introduced two major changes—Baptist language of “personal conversion and assurance” in the salvation article and immersion language in the article on Baptism.

The 1975 Confession introduced no major changes, just some updating.

The 1999 Confession introduced a broader definition of sin as a systemic power field, and not limited to the personal sins of transgression. And the word “homosexuality” was introduced in Article 10 as simply the most grievous example of sexual immorality anyone could think of at the time, something that reflected most, if not all, evangelical thinking in the 1990s.

Since 1999, there have been two changes to the text of the Confession. In 2014, the American church decided to change Article 13, the one on love and non-resistance, to say now that “historically” many Mennonite Brethren have chosen to do alternative service in times of war; non-resistance is no longer the default expectation.

In 2021, the Canadian church decided to change Article 8, the one on baptism, softening the covenantal language with the church but keeping all the rest.

As Isaak put it, “the evidence for changes over time is clear. This should not surprise us. Usually, there are some social or cultural realities that eventually convince the majority of Mennonite Brethren on whatever topic that a change is needed.”

For him, these changes should not be dismissed automatically as cultural relativism, or as giving into culture and the world (although some would surely have made that argument at the time).

Rather, he said, “it is a sign of the incarnational character of the Judaeo-Christian tradition; it is a faith that is embodied in human cultures.”

As Isaak put it: “Confessions do develop, changing to keep pace with what God is doing in our world. In all these changes, it is important to note that the Bible has not changed, but the interpretation of the Bible has changed.”

And even within the Bible itself, he said, there are many examples of change and development—polytheism to monotheism, polygamy to monogamy, tribal governance to monarchy, Judaism as a closed ethnicity to a nonethnic, universal Judaism in Jesus, and so on.

“So, whether it is within the Bible, or our interpretations of the Bible, change and development are givens,” he said. “They are not things to be afraid of but rather to be processed responsibly and critically.”

Such changes are never easy or simple or obvious, and sometimes they are only made with great struggle, he said, adding "but they call for engagement as we discern together how best to represent Jesus in our worlds.” 

The time could come to retire a Confession that is 162 years old, Isaak said. If that happens, one option would be to adopt the Mennonite World Conference Shared Convictions. It doesn’t get into the weeds about behaviours and doesn’t mention marriage or sexuality at all.

Either that, or use Palmer Becker’s threefold definition of Anabaptist Christianity, as adapted by Lynn Jost (who teaches Old Testament and preaching at Fresno Pacific University): Following Jesus is the centre of our faith; spirit-inspired community is the centre of our life; peacemaking is the centre of our mission.

As Isaak put it at the end of his sermon: “Embracing change, development, and evolution is something not only visible in science, society, and the environment, but it also applies to Christianity.” And maybe to confessions of faith, as well.

 

Opinion: Ontario Mennonite Brethren Conference finally names the big issue at the heart of the LGBTQ+ discussion: The role and authority of the Bible

Finally—someone said it. 

To date, when provincial Mennonite Brethren conferences resolve to expel churches that welcome and affirm LGBTQ+ people, and support same-sex marriage, they do so because those churches have stepped outside the Confession of Faith. 

But the Ontario Mennonite Brethren Conference (ONMB) has finally named the bigger issue at the heart of this dispute: The role and authority of the Bible. 

In its report to delegates for the ONMB’s annual convention, to be held February 24-25, the Provincial Faith and Life Team explains to delegates why it is proposing to revoke the membership of Southridge Community Church and Toronto FreeChurch. 

This topic, ONMB states, “really matters” because it has “larger implications for how we understand the nature of Christian discipleship, the authority of Scripture, the nature of the gospel, and so on.” 

“We do not see sexual ethics as a standalone issue, but one integral to the overall framework of how we use Scripture,” it goes on to say. 

In other words, it's not just a matter of deviating from Article 11 of the Confession of Faith, which states marriage is only between a man and a women—which they name. It's also about the role, place and authority of the Bible. 

Of course, this is what many have known all along. 

Anyone who has met LGBTQ+ Christian knows they are fine people who love Jesus as much as any straight person—maybe even more because of the challenges and wounds they have endured to keep their faith. 

It’s not about whether LGBTQ+ people can love Jesus and be faithful disciples. They can. It’s about whether the Bible, as some interpret it, is true and can be trusted. That’s the big issue in play. 

I have often likened this to the game of Jenga, where players have to pull out pieces of wood from a tower. Lots of pieces can come out before the final one is pulled and the whole edifice falls down. 

For many Christians today, including many Mennonite Brethren Christians, welcoming and affirming LGBTQ+ people and supporting same-sex marriage is the final Jenga piece. 

They have seen other things pulled out, things the Bible was once believed to be certain about. This includes slavery, divorce and remarriage and the role of women in leadership. These were once seen by some as fundamental to the authority of the scriptures. Those views have changed, yet their faith has continued. 

Somehow, though, this one is different. Perhaps it's because it is about sex, which has always been a volatile subject for churches. But that’s not the only reason. 

According to the late Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence, the topic of LGBTQ+ welcome and affirmation is attracting so much attention, anger and recrimination because it is the last piece to be pulled before Christians today find themselves with a new perspective on the Bible, one that challenges hundreds of years of biblical tradition. 

As she put it in that book: 

To approach any of the arguments and questions surrounding homosexuality in the closing years of the twentieth century and the opening ones of the twenty-first is to approach a battle to the death. 

When it is all resolved—and it most surely will be—the Reformation’s understanding of Scripture as it had been taught by Protestantism for almost five centuries will be dead. 

That is not to say that Scripture as the base of authority is dead. Rather it is to say that what the Protestant tradition has taught about the nature of that authority will be either dead or in mortal need of reconfiguration. And that kind of summation is agonizing for the surrounding culture in general. 

In particular, it is agonizing for the individual lives that have been built upon it. Such and ending is being staved off with every means available and resisted with every bit of energy that can be mustered. Of all the fights, the gay one must be—has to be—the bitterest, because once it is lost, there are no more fights to be had. It is finished. Where now is the authority? 

It's a battle for the Bible for some, in other words. The stakes are high.  

Christians whose faith is dependent on a literal, “plain reading” and inerrant view of the Bible sense the danger in this topic of LGBTQ+ welcome and affirmation. Everything they have believed in is in jeopardy if this piece is pulled. Their whole system of faith could fall apart.

For that reason, churches like Artisan, Cedar Park, Southridge, FreeChurch and Jubilee have to go from the Mennonite Brethren conference. 

Not just because they have made decisions contrary to the Confession of Faith, although that is the reason normally given for justifying their expulsion. 

It's because this time the topic of LGBTQ+ threatens the way many view the Bible, and by extension the very nature of Christian faith as taught by the Mennonite Brethren conference in Canada. 

So good on ONMB for naming the big issue at stake here. Putting it on the table might mean Mennonite Brethren in Canada can now have an honest discussion about the topic of LGBTQ+ and same-sex marriage, and understand why it generates so much bitterness and division.

Ontario Mennonite Brethren Conference publishes resolutions to revoke membership of Southridge, FreeChurch over LGBTQ+ welcome and affirmation

 

Saying that Southridge Community Church and Toronto FreeChurch have chosen “a different path from that as set out in our Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith,” the Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (ONMB) has resolved to revoke the membership of the two churches. 

Delegates will vote on the resolutions to expel the two congregations at the ONMB annual convention on February 24-25. 

In its report, the ONMB Provincial Faith and Life Team (PFLT) said delegates will be asked to “either affirm or reject the recommendation of the ONMB board and PFLT to release and bless these two churches as they pursue a different understanding and belief regarding marriage.” 

In the case of FreeChurch, its membership in ONMB is being revoked because of their “commitment to full inclusion of all 2SLGBTQ+ persons including those who are in or seeking same-sex marriages.” 

For Southridge, it is their intention “to move into a model of full inclusion for 2SLGBTQ+ persons and make the discipleship expectation of sexual intimacy limited to male/female marriage a ‘disputable matter’ and not a requirement for participation and leadership in their church.” 

The recommendations to remove the two from membership are coming to delegates “after much dialogue, interaction, process, prayer, and discernment by both the ONMB Board and the PFLT over the last four years,” said Michelle Knowles, ONMB Board Chair, and Ryan Jantzi, Interim Executive Director in a letter to delegates posted on the PFLT report on the ONMB website. 

In the letter, the two say they “share a deep concern for how we can grow in love and invitation for 2SLGBTQ+ persons,” but believe this is best done “by a careful exploration of the way of Jesus and the ethical expectations articulated in Scripture for disciples of Jesus.” 

These expectations are summarized well in Articles 10 and 11 of the MB Confession of Faith (about discipleship and marriage, singleness and family), they said. 

While stating they believe those articles “faithfully describe the way of Jesus in terms of sexuality and sexual expression,” they go on to say “we need to grow in our posture of love and invitation especially to those who have been excluded and marginalized.” 

At the same time, this state that this topic “really matters” because it has “larger implications for how we understand the nature of Christian discipleship, the authority of Scripture, the nature of the gospel, and so on.” 

For that reason, “we do not see sexual ethics as a standalone issue, but one integral to the overall framework of how we use Scripture.” 

“While some declare that our historic understanding of sexual intimacy for Christians as limited to male/female marriage is really a disputable or secondary theological matter, the Faith & Life Team and ONMB Board believe it is critical to hold fast to our existing convictions. Our ethics cannot be distanced in significance from doctrine,” they said. 

The biblical teaching on the subject of sexuality, “as historically understood and articulated in the MB Confession of Faith, is strong and biblically defensible,” they said, adding by allowing “differing views on sexual ethics, many of our other faith commitments are also dramatically and negatively affected.” 

At the same time, “divergence from sexual ethics expressed in the Confession of Faith would violate our existing commitments both relationally and organizationally with the broader MB community,” they said. 

If a church moves away from its commitment to operate in agreement with the MB Confession of Faith and practices, “it must recognize that this necessarily puts at risk their affiliation with the larger church family.” 

Since both Southridge and FreeChurch “have each publicly expressed their decision to move away from our shared biblical understanding that, for disciples of Jesus, sexual intimacy is necessarily limited to the context of a male/female marriage covenant,” both churches are “violating their ONMB affiliation covenant to operate in agreement with the MB Confession of Faith and practices.” 

Read the full report and letter here. 

Christian Leader, publication of U.S. Mennonite Brethren conference, provides overview of LGBTQ+ situation for Canadian MBs

 

Saying “the Canadian Conference of MB Churches (CCMBC) and its provincial conferences remain committed to the CCMBC Confession of Faith statements regarding marriage,” the Christian Leader, the publication of the U.S. Mennonite Brethren Conference, has provided an overview of the situation in Canada related to LGBTQ+ welcome and affirmation. 

As a result, the February 9 2023 article continues, “in the past year congregations that welcome and include LGBTQ+ individuals have been suspended and pastors and a provincial staff member who have initiated discussions on the topic have resigned. Meanwhile, some are asking for a moratorium on suspending churches that are discussing the issue.” 

Click here to read the article to see what American Mennonite Brethren are reading about things in Canada.

"The Confession of Faith is not written in stone." Thoughts from a Jubilee Mennonite Church member about the upcoming vote to remove their church from the Mennonite Brethren conference

 

Elfrieda and Hardy Schroeder are members of Jubilee Mennonite Church. They came to the dual-conference congregation (both Mennonite Brethren and Mennonite Church Canada) from the Mennonite Brethren side of things.

 

For them, the ability to live together with differences is a hallmark of healthy Christian life. Now they lament being removed from the Mennonite Brethren conference over Jubilee’s decision to welcome and include LGBTQ+ people and affirm same-sex marriage.

 

Elfrieda provided a few thoughts for delegates to the March 3-4 assembly where they will vote on a resolution to remove Jubilee from membership.

 

Both my husband Hardy’s and my family were refugees after WWII. We both experienced homelessness and trauma at an early age. As children, we knew what it is like to be different and we haven’t forgotten.

 

In 1947, my family ended up in Paraguay where my father helped build the village of Einlage and became a pastor there. The school in the middle of the village turned into a house of worship on Sundays. Our village was made up of both Mennonite Brethren and General Conference Mennonites. They worshiped together. It was more important to talk about the things that united us than what separated us 

 

When I was nine years old, we emigrated to Canada. The small Albertan town in which we settled did not have a Mennonite church. We attended an Evangelical United Brethren church, founded originally by Pennsylvania Dutch Mennonites.

 

Our family was treated with love, kindness and respect. We did not have to change to belong there. Everyone was welcome!

 

My family eventually moved again and I was baptized at Springfield Heights Mennonite church by sprinkling. When I met Hardy, who was preparing to go to Congo with Mennonite Brethren Missions, Pastor Quiring of Brooklands Mennonite Brethren church, where Hardy was a founding member, asked if I would consider being rebaptized by immersion.

 

I declined, and the church voted to accept me. The mode of baptism had been an ongoing debate for at least 20 years in the Mennonite Brethren conference.)

 

When we returned from Congo, the debate among Mennonite Brethren was about women in ministry.

 

To those of us who worked long and hard with this issue, it was disappointing to have it defeated in the early 1990s. After 20 years, there is now no problem; it is left up to individual churches to decide.

 

In 2023, we at Jubilee Mennonite church are being denied membership in the Mennonite Brethren Conference because of our decision to fully accept LGBTQ+ in a committed relationship. 

 

Hardy and I were so happy when we moved to Winnipeg to discover a church that had membership in both conferences. Now this will be taken from us. 

 

The Confession of Faith is not written in stone. It will have changed twenty years from now. That will be too late for us.

 

Is there a pattern here? Please think about the significance of your decision!

 

Read an interview with Elfrieda and Hardy titled “I hope the MB conference would give us their blessing” from 2022.

Questions about the Confession of Faith posed to the Director of the National Faith and Life Team

 

I was reading the National Faith and Life Team (NFLT) report to the Mennonite Brethren provincial conference assemblies when two things jumped out at me.

One was about whether there might be some wiggle room in the Confession of Faith for LGBTQ+ inclusion and affirmation, based on the 2006 women in ministry decision that allowed churches freedom to involve women as leaders if they wanted.

The other was a comment about the possibility of amending the Confession. Could that include amending the section on same-sex marriage? 

Wanting answers, I reached out to the report's author, Ken Esau, who directs the NFLT.

“You asked several good questions emerging from my report that I'm happy to respond to,” he said.

My first question.

I see from your NFLT report you are "exploring the implications of our 2006 Women in Ministry Resolution in the light of diversity of views in our national family." Care to add some explanation as to what that might mean? Could it create space for churches that want to be affirming and welcoming of LGBT+ people? 

Ken’s response.

This action comes out of questions that people have asked about how different churches within our MB family can better understand and relate to each other over this “non-confessional question.” 

Our 2006 Women in Ministry Resolution spelled out the parameters for our disagreement and how within those parameters we hoped to maintain mutually respectful relationships. 

We may need to be reminded about what was agreed to in 2006 since we have many new leaders in our MB family who know little or nothing about this resolution.

(I know that some have suggested that our treatment of this non-confessional question could be a model for how we navigate disagreements related to other questions, but this is not what prompted our planned work here). 

My second question.

You also noted you will be looking at how and when to possibly amend the COF. What prompted that?  

Ken’s response.

It is clear that amendments to our MB Confession of Faith are possible (see Article 8: Baptism—2021 Revision). We have not, however, provided a clear procedure for what can prompt an amendment, the acceptable rationale for an amendment, the process of community hermeneutic involved in the amendment, and the approval process for that amendment.

While we are presently updating all the Confession of Faith resources (viz. Commentary, Pastoral Application) that presently accompany each article, we do not have plans to amend any article of our Confession of Faith. 

However, we feel it is best to clarify the process related to an amendment so everyone understands what is involved. We believe that our national MB Church family is best served by open and transparent policies and procedures—and this is one more step in that direction. 

We are doing this as well with the creation of our “Collaborative National Credentialing Policy,” and our “Collaborative National Church Affiliation and Review Policy.” We have also articulated some of these questions in the new “Introduction to the MB Confession of Faith” (2023 version) available on our CCMBC website. 

I noted Ken's conclusion, where he said: "The questions that we are facing within our national MB family are both urgent and significant ones affecting the very fabric of our unity."  

Said Ken.

Yes. There is no question that this is an important moment in the history of our Canadian MB family. As I noted elsewhere, some diversity at a local church and a denominational level is normal, healthy, and a stimulus for energetic growth and positive movement, but too much diversity is crippling to the point that no movement and shared mission is possible.

We certainly need much Holy Spirit wisdom to discern together where we are as a church family on this spectrum of diversity. Once that is clarified, we will need the same Holy Spirit wisdom to know the best steps forward.  

Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba announces resolution for vote on Jubilee Mennonite Church membership; update on River East deliberations

 

Saying it has invited Jubilee Mennonite Church to “join us in embracing a posture of commitment to the Confession of Faith,” the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba (MBCM) has announced that if Jubilee “cannot respond to this invitation” it will “regretfully acknowledge” that it “has chosen a path that will end their affiliation with MBCM as of July 1, 2023.” 

The resolution to be voted on at the March 3-4 annual assembly states: 

“We, the Assembly of Congregations of the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba, do resolve that, unless Jubilee Mennonite Church returns to an active embrace of MBCM member church expectations by June 30, 2023, Jubilee Mennonite Church’s official membership in the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba will end effective July 1, 2023.” 

In a separate announcement, MBCM told Mennonite Brethren churches in Manitoba that the MBCM board is following the constitutional process in arranging appropriate meetings and follow up with River East Church, which has also announced if affirms same-sex marriages. 

In the coming weeks, MBCM churches can expect to hear from the MBCM board in this regard. 

The full letter from MBCM is below. 

The Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba (MBCM) recognizes the marginalization that LGBTQ+ persons and families have experienced in churches. We remain committed to our ongoing work to reduce marginalization and the resulting harm, while remaining committed to our Confession of Faith, in all of its aspects. 

As a condition of their participation and membership in the MBCM, every MBCM congregation specifically commits to an “acceptance of the Confession of Faith of the Canadian Conference'' and to not “pass[ing] or accept[ing] resolutions or practices which are in conflict with this [MB] Confession of Faith.” In their sincere effort to offer welcome to LGBTQ+ persons, Jubilee Mennonite Church (JMC) has made a statement titled “Jubilee Mennonite Church Statement of Inclusion” that substantively is in conflict with the Confession of Faith (see Articles 10 & 11). In so doing, JMC has broken the constitutional commitment to not pass resolutions or practises which are in conflict with the Confession of Faith. While our MB Confession of Faith is an expression of what we believe to be truth discerned from Scripture and is therefore changeable by our national MB conference of churches, a local congregation cannot legitimately make changes on its own and then pursue practices in conflict with these nationally shared convictions. 

The conclusion of the MBCM board, following consultation with the MBCM Provincial Faith and Life Team (PFLT), is that JMC is failing to uphold the commitment to the Confession of Faith. 

We invite Jubilee Mennonite Church to join us in embracing a posture of commitment to the Confession of Faith. It is the desire of the MBCM leadership board that Jubilee Mennonite Church would join us as a conference of churches in this important and ongoing work of reducing marginalization and harm of LGBTQ+ persons. If Jubilee Mennonite Church cannot respond to this invitation, and actively return to the shared membership expectations of the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba by June 30, 2023, we regretfully acknowledge that Jubilee Mennonite Church has chosen a path that will end their affiliation with MBCM as of July 1, 2023. 

Should this ending of affiliation become a reality as of July 1, 2023, MBCM will continue to extend an ongoing invitation for Jubilee Mennonite Church to re-apply for MBCM membership if, at that time, they are able to commit themselves to the theological and practical expectations involved in being an MBCM member church. 

With this special resolution, the Assembly of Congregations of MBCM in no way preclude the agency of Jubilee Mennonite Church. Jubilee Mennonite Church has the option, at a time of their choosing before July 1, 2023, to withdraw from membership with MBCM. 

Special Resolution 

We, the Assembly of Congregations of the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba, do resolve that, unless Jubilee Mennonite Church returns to an active embrace of MBCM member church expectations by June 30, 2023, Jubilee Mennonite Church’s official membership in the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba will end effective July 1, 2023. 

Should Jubilee Mennonite Church’s MBCM membership end as of July 1, 2023, MBCM extends an ongoing invitation for JMC to return to MBCM if they decide in the future to embrace and live in accordance with our shared member church expectations. 

Conditions of return

Should JMC choose to return to an active embrace of MBCM member church expectations, here are the conditions they need to accomplish. 

● Adjust their inclusion statement to reflect our confessional and constitutional commitments and understanding of marriage.

● State their intention to conduct their church life in harmony with MBCM and our shared Confession of Faith. Which includes, but is not limited to, a generous posture toward LGBTQ+ persons and a decision to wholly commit to our conviction that covenant marriage is between a man and a woman for life. 

MBCM/Jubilee Mennonite Church Process Timeline 

It’s important for delegates to orient themselves to the MBCM Constitution Article 3: Membership, with particular focus on Sections 1 & 2. 

2020-2022. 

Jason Dyck (Director of Church MInistries, MBCM) had 3 conversations (Oct 1, 2020, July 7, 2021, January 27, 2022) with Ken Warkentin (Interim Pastor at Jubilee Mennonite Church). The purpose of these conversations were to discuss Jubilee’s intention to have a conversation about how to welcome and include LGBTQ+ persons. Jason’s request was that, in recognition of the unique dual conference reality (JMC is a member of both Mennonite Church Manitoba and Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba), there might be MB voices (external to Jubilee) in this process. 

February 15, 2022 

Jason met with Jubilee leadership council and communicated MB realities in the ongoing work of addressing the marginalisation that many LGBTQ+ experience. During this meeting, Jason indicated appreciation for their work and communicated that efforts to progress in this regard do not necessarily, but have potential to bump up against the MB conviction that covenant marriage is between a man and a woman for life. 

June 21, 2022 

Letter from Jubilee received by MBCM leadership describing Jubilee’s discernment process and articulating their statement of inclusion. 

June 22, 2022 

Jason communicated with Ken W. via email expressing appreciation for work done towards inclusion, but indicating sharp disagreement with MB theology and practice. Jason offered for Jubilee leadership to meet with MBCM leadership, and requested that the statement of inclusion not be made public until after a conversation could happen. Jubilee agreed to this. 

June 29, 2022 

The Provincial Faith and Life Team was provided with an update of the circumstances regarding Jubilee. 

June 30, 2022 

Jason, Cam and Walter Fast (PFLT/NFLT) met with Jubilee Council to hear more about their process of discernment, and to share with them the response of the conference to their statement in step with our MBCM constitution. “The desired outcome, where possible, is for any such issues to be rectified in order for the congregation to remain in good standing with The Manitoba Conference.” (Article 3, section 3, 1.) 

July 4-5, 2022 

Chris Friesen (Moderator, Jubilee) sent an email to Cam and Jason, outlining their understanding of the moment and a draft of a letter to their church community which described the response of the conference to their statement. During this time, Cam met with Chris and Ken. 

July 14, 2022 

Jubilee communicated that their statement had been published on their website. 

August 5, 2022 

MBCM Board sent a letter to MBCM pastors and moderators communicating the recent statement produced by Jubilee, and scheduling a townhall meeting on Sept 14, 2022, for further discussion and information from the board. *Due to timing challenges, this townhall was later cancelled.

September 19, 2022 

MBCM Board sent communication to Jubilee describing the investigation process, informing the church of suspension, and giving time for response (Oct. 3rd, 2022). 

September 27, 2022 

Jubilee responded to the MBCM board stating they had begun processing the implications of the Sept. 19th letter, but would not be completed processing before the Oct. 3 deadline. 

October 3, 2022 

MBCM Board decision to suspend Jubilee was formalized. 

October 21, 2022 

MBCM churches were updated on the situation with Jubilee via the following communication: MBCM Board communication to MBCM churches November 19, 2022 - At the Council of Representatives (gathering of MBCM lead pastors and moderators) meeting Chris Friesen (Jubilee Moderator) presented comments regarding the journey and discernment process of Jubilee. Conversation among the representatives followed Chris’s comments. 

November 30, 2022 

PFLT met to examine the circumstances of the suspension, as per constitution. 

December 7, 2022 

MBCM Board met with Jubilee leadership for dinner and conversation. 

January 23, 2023 

MBCM Board received PFLT report regarding circumstances of the suspension of JMC, as per our constitutional process. 

February 2, 2023 

Dave Ens (MBCM moderator) and Cam Priebe met with JMC leaders to communicate the resolution from the board to be brought to Assembly 2023.