What happens to a church’s property when it is removed from membership in a provincial Mennonite Brethren conference?
That was the question I was asked after Southridge and Freechurch were expelled from the Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (ONMB).
I didn’t know the answer. So I reached out to Michelle Knowles, Chair of the Board of ONMB.
She replied: “In Ontario, our Conference does not hold titles to any local church property or assets. The only exception may be a short-term arrangement to support a new church. So, in the case of FreeChurch and Southridge, property remains with each of the churches.”
I reached out to the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba (MBCM) with the same question. I received no response.
A check of MBCM’s constitution shows the “real property of all congregations shall be registered in the name of THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH OF MANITOBA.”
It goes on to say that “upon disassociation of any local member church from the Manitoba Conference, legal and equitable ownership in all real and personal property of such church shall immediately vest in The Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba, subject to any recommendations by the Leadership Board to the Manitoba Conference and any decision of the Manitoba Conference relating to the same.”
When MBCM holds its assemblies, those assemblies “shall be entitled to deal with all property of the congregations as such Assemblies of Congregations may deem advisable, subject only to the provisions of any trust under which such property may be held.”
In B.C., the British Columbia Mennonite Brethren Conference (BCMB) also holds title to all church property.
As its constitution states: “Title to all property, whether real or personal, at Recognized Church sites, is held by the Society (BCMB), except for such other arrangements as may be made by the Executive Board and ratified by the Society.”
It goes on: "Upon dissociation of any Recognized Church from the Society, ownership in all real and personal property of such Recognized Church shall remain in the Society, subject to such recommendations of the Management Committee as may be accepted by the Executive Board.”
(Update: It was noted that a growing number of Mennonite Brethren churches in B.C. have taken titled to their properties, the result of a decision made some decades ago to give churches in that province that option.)
I was not able to find out how this works in Alberta of Saskatchewan. Anyone have any information on that?
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