Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches issues statement on release from membership of Southridge, FreeChurch

The following was shared with churches in the ONMB conference and with this blog.

On behalf of our Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (ONMB) board, we wanted to provide a report to follow up from our 2023 Convention. We were grateful for all our pastors and leaders, from member churches, associate churches, agencies, and partners, who gathered in Wellesley, Ont. 

On Friday evening we shared a powerful time of worship, celebrating God’s faithfulness in our brokenness and struggles in song, scripture, teaching and communion. Dan Chook Reid, Bytown Community Church pastor and planter, gave a testimony of God’s transforming work in the midst of his cancer journey. You can view a recording of this service [here].

 

Saturday’s time together included a variety of breakout sessions, a time for equipping and learning from various ministries in some of our churches and agencies. We then finished with a time of important decision making, including elections, approval of our annual budget and financial statements, and approval of updates to the Camp Crossroads general operating bylaw. 

 

Finally, our members also voted on two significant decisions regarding our suspended member churches. Motions were brought for the removal of FreeChurch Toronto and Southridge Community Church from membership in the ONMB conference.

 

Two breakout sessions were held prior to the motions, one online and one in person, in which extensive questions and concerns were engaged. There was also significant discussion on the conference floor as the motions were presented to the delegates.

 

The motion regarding removal from membership of FreeChurch Toronto passed with a 96% vote in favour and the motion regarding Southridge Community Church passed with an 85% vote in favour. 

 

Our board recognizes the weightiness and complexity of these decisions and the difficult task we asked of our members and delegates. We were deeply grateful for the posture of many participants, the open and honest dialogue, the respect modelled even in a space of disagreement and pain. We understand that for many of us, these decisions come with grief and sadness, and we continue to pray for our ONMB community. 

 

Our session on Saturday closed with a laying of hands and prayer for the congregations of FreeChurch and Southridge, as we released them from membership. We invite your ongoing prayers for ONMB and for the congregations of FreeChurch and Southridge. Although we are no longer bound together in this formal way, many opportunities remain to connect and serve together as brothers and sisters in the broader body of Christ and His Church. 

 

These decisions by our members reflect our commitment as ONMB to our Canadian MB Confession of Faith, as our best articulation of scripture and the redemptive work of Jesus and as a guide for our discipleship. It is these convictions and beliefs that are to guide us in how we can best live out the ways of Jesus as his disciples, and to be an expression of His Kingdom. 

 

In light of these decisions, we also recognize there remains much learning and growth ahead for us as ONMB. In the coming season, our board, staff, and Faith & Life Team are committed to providing this discipleship, equipping and resourcing for our churches.  

 

We agree with Jesus’ call to his church to love, welcome, invite, or embrace ALL people, including 2SLGBTQ+ individuals, and we believe that the convictions expressed in our Confession give us the theological vision to live as this Jesus-centred, Kingdom of God community. In this posture, we desire to grow in how we create space for all people to experience Jesus and choose to surrender to His lordship and enter into a life of discipleship, following Jesus together. 

 

We also recognize there are definitely times when the Christian Church, including the Mennonite Brethren, have not loved people well who identify as 2SLGBTQ+. For that, we need to walk in repentance, to ask their forgiveness, and recognize that we need to do better. As we interact with and serve all of our neighbours, including the 2SLGBTQ+ community, we want to model the posture of Jesus, walking with grace and speaking truth in love. 

 

Thank you for continuing to walk this road together. We always welcome your questions and feedback and conversation. As we navigate these challenging times, may we seek Christ together in a spirit of humility and obedience, trusting that God is fully able and perfectly faithful. Again, In our brokenness, Jesus shines. 

 

With prayer, 

 

Michelle Knowles & Ryan Jantzi, 

On behalf of the ONMB Board 

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.

 

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.

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. 

Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches ousts Executive Director for holding LGBTQ+ discussion

Ed Willms had high hopes when he organized a September 13 event for about 45 pastors and other leaders from the Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (ONMB) to talk about LGBTQ+ welcome and inclusion. 

Willms, then Executive Director of ONMB, wanted to provide a “safe place to listen, learn and hear from each other on a topic we all know needed more discussion, and reflect together on what type of family of churches we envision growing into in the days ahead.”  

Regrettably for Willms, his effort resulted in his being terminated without cause by the ONMB board. His last day was October 31.

Read about it in Anabaptist World.

 

Ontario Mennonite Brethren Conference suspends two churches over LGBTQ+ welcome and inclusion

Two churches in the Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (ONMB) have had their membership in the Conference suspended over LGBTQ+ welcome and inclusion.

In a message to ONMB churches on November 7, board Chair Michelle Knowles said the Southridge Community Church in St. Catharines and the Toronto FreeChurch had been been placed under suspension.

In the case of Southridge, it was suspended for publicly communicating its intention to invite members of the LGBTQ+ community into all levels of participation, leadership and decision-making within the church.

This would include full inclusion “under a framework of disputable matters, which demonstrates convictions and actions which are outside the articulation and application of our MB understanding of scripture, as expressed in the Canadian Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith,” Knowles said.

The decision to suspend Southridge was made “after more than a two-year journey of engagement” with the church by the Conference, she said, noting the suspension was effective as of November 5.

Also suspended was FreeChurch Toronto, effective as of October 14, based on their “articulated position on full inclusion and their desire to be a fully affirming church, which is also outside of our Confession,” Knowles stated.

On its website, FreeChurch says "we value the inclusion, dignity and flourishing of all people, and there welcome LGBTQ+ folks to fully participate in church life, including membership, leadershop and as staff members."

It goes on to say it supports LGBTQ+ people whether they choose celibacy or marriage.

The suspensions of the two churches are effective until the ONMB convention in February, 2023, at which time the ONMB Board will recommend revocation of membership unless a resolution is achieved with either church before that date.

Suspension or revocation of membership by ONMB automatically results in suspension and revocation of membership in the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.

“The purpose of suspension is to address issues of compliance with our Confession and bylaws, while allowing room for dialogue in good faith as we seek a resolution together,” Knowles said in the message to the churches.

“As we interact with and serve all of our neighbours, including the LGBTQ+ community, we want to model the posture of Jesus, walking with grace and speaking truth in love,” she added.

Opinion: In praise of the Ontario Mennonite Brethren Conference for talking about LGBTQ+

Earlier, I praised the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches for publishing critical comments on its story in the MB Herald Digest about the censoring of On Holy Ground.

Good on them, I said for allowing people to post criticism about the decision—not censoring comments about censorship. 

Time now to praise the Ontario Mennonite Brethren Conference for hosting a meeting of pastors and others on Sept. 13 to talk about LGBTQ+. 

It was not, the Conference said, to be a meeting where theology would be debated. Instead, it would be “an intentional time to hear from each other. The stories of how God is leading you and your church at this time is what we want to mine into.” 

It was to be a safe space to talk and ask questions, in other words. And that should be commended.  

Did the meeting fulfill that promise? I don’t know. Conference leadership isn’t able to talk to me about it yet. But I hope that happened. And I hope they will tell me at some point. 

The fact of the matter is this: The topic is being talked about in Mennonite Brethren churches across the country, whether leadership in provincial conferences or the national conference condone it or not. 

Church basements, Zoom meetings, home fellowships, friendship groups—it’s on people’s minds. 

Some want to explore it out of interest. But others do so because they have a gay child, sibling, relative or friend who loves Jesus as much as they do. 

They need safe places to talk about it—the very thing some leaders are unwilling or afraid to do. 

The only question is: Do conference leaders want to be part of the conversation, or not? Because it is happening, with or without their participation. 

So again, good on the Ontario MB Conference. Maybe the next meeting, or set of meetings, they hold will be for all members, not just leaders.

 

 

Ontario Mennonite Brethren Conference holds meeting to discuss LGBTQ+

Mennonite Brethren church leaders in Ontario met September 13 for a day of discussion about LGBTQ+.

In arranging the meeting, conference leadership said it was not to be a day “where we will be debating theology—although our conversation will certainly be theological in nature.”

It was also not to be about changing the MB “confessional perspective on human sexuality.”

Instead, it was to be “an intentional time to hear from each other. The stories of how God is leading you and your church at this time is what we want to mine into.”

According to the Ontario MB conference, “it is becoming apparent that in our varying contexts we are navigating the inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community in different ways. This is causing tension and in some cases a loss of trust among us. So, we need to hear from each other, pray together and seek God's design for our family of churches.”

In some ways, the conference said, “the stakes could not be higher.”

At the same time, it said there are “similarities to the Jerusalem Council gathering in Acts 15. We are at an inflection point as a family of churches and the choices we make at this time will significantly impact our unity and our missional effectiveness in the days to come.”

When asked about the event, Executive Director Ed Willms said he was not able to share more details at this time.