Winnipeg church voted out of Mennonite denomination

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This article was published 01/04/2023 (969 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A North Kildonan church plans to stick to its policy of inclusion even if it means membership in their denomination will be revoked this summer.

Jubilee Mennonite Church stands by its policy to welcome people regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, ability or economic status, says moderator Chris Friesen.

“We have no intention of altering our statement of inclusion that we prepared,” he said of the process that involved several months of study and discussion.

The statement says all people are equally loved by God and all may become full members and participate in communion, baptism and marriage. The full text is posted on the church’s website at jubileemennonitechurch.ca

Nearly 75 per cent of delegates at the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba annual meeting held in Winkler on March 4 voted to revoke Jubilee Mennonite Church’s membership in the denomination by July 1, 2023, unless it returned to “an active embrace of MBCM member church expectations by June 30.”

Friesen says the main issue remains compliance with the confession of faith held by the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, the national body of the Mennonite Brethren churches. That document says marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman and sexual intimacy “rightfully takes place only within marriage.”

The congregations belonging to the denomination have committed themselves to this national confession of faith, conference minister Jason Dyck wrote in an email response to a request for an interview.

“Our task, as MBCM leadership on a provincial level, is to maintain theological alignment among member churches,” he writes.

Dyck declined any further comment or explanation of a three-paragraph statement on the decision, which also says that the denomination’s leaders recognize that LGBTTQ+ people have experienced exclusion and rejection in churches.

“While this is not everyone’s story, we understand that it is the story of many. We as MBCM leadership are committed to a future where better stories are experienced.”

Last month’s decision sends a clear message that queer people are not welcome in Mennonite Brethren circles, says Christopher Neufeld, a lay leader at another Winnipeg church in that denomination.

Neufeld says people in leadership at his church know he is queer and requested him to not teach against the confession of faith, but because he is married to a woman, he says the church has no problem with how he is living.

Although he has many queer friends who have left the church, the St. James resident and father of two says he would prefer to remain to advocate for change from the inside, something he fears may not be possible.

“I go back and forth in being loving and trying to accept the differences and thinking it’s time for a schism because there doesn’t seem to be room for difference,” he says.

The Mennonite Brethren Church was formed by a schism or break from the larger Mennonite church in Ukraine in 1860, influenced by a 19th century pietism movement which emphasized discipline, prayer and Bible study. Later, members of the new church emigrated to North and South America and formed congregations in their communities.

Neufeld posted his disappointment with the denomination’s decision on a Twitter thread viewed more than 7,000 times.

“While the majority might still be voting for exclusion, the minority is growing and we will affect change,” he wrote on Twitter.

“We will carve an ever-growing space that is welcoming and safe and show that God’s love is bigger than their outdated Confession of Faith and bigoted beliefs.”

Friesen says his congregation of about 60 was prepared for the outcome of the March 4 vote and recognizes that people within the denomination hold a variety of perspectives. The congregation is in the process of searching for a new pastor and has welcomed some new attenders since they issued their statement, he says.

“We’re confident that the process we went through was good,” he says.

“We’re comfortable where we landed and we’re looking forward to what the future holds.”

He says the congregation will remain a member of Mennonite Church Manitoba, another Mennonite denomination. Since 1995, the congregation held membership in both Mennonite Church Manitoba and the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba.

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