Vote total for removing Southridge from Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren released (unofficially)

In order to remove Southridge Community Church from membership in the Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (ONMB) a vote of two-thirds majority was required for the resolution to pass.

In announcing the result of the vote, ONMB officials indicated it was not necessary to share the total; just a pass/fail.

According to someone who left an anonymous comment on this blog, that total was 87 percent. (I am not able to independently verify that number.) 

If that figure can be trusted, it means 13 percent of delegates voted against removing the that church. (No figure has been suggested for FreeChurch.) 

To be clear, this doesn't mean that all 13 percent who voted no were in favour of full LGBTQ+ welcome and inclusion and affirmed same-sex marriage. 

Some might be, but others may have just wanted to keep the Conference unified; that could have been their higher value. Or perhaps they just wanted to buy more time to keep the conversation going. There could also have been abstentions.

One thing it couldn't be was Southridge and FreeChurch members voting.

As a result of their suspension in November 2022, those two churches were ineligible to send representatives to vote according to the ONMB constitution—they were no longer “in good standing” with the Conference.

Their membership rights, including voting on Conference resolutions, were lost once the churches were suspended.

Update: Another source also heard the 87 percent figure for the Southridge vote.