MC Manitoba partners with B.C. church

One of the latest churches to partner with Mennonite Church Manitoba is outside the province—2,047 kilometers outside of Winnipeg, to be exact.

Estuary Church, an emerging congregation in Delta, B.C., is receiving guidance and support from MC Manitoba as it gets established and finds a denomination.

MC Manitoba signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in March. It outlines a two-year agreement that sees the regional church provide partnership in a shared ecclesiology and ethos; networking for shared wisdom in congregational ministry and mission; personal support for pastors if they require it; and church administration support such as human resources advice.

In turn, Estuary is providing MC Manitoba with insight as an emerging church, and donations “as deemed mutually agreeable.”

“Geography might be important, but it’s not the barrier to connection it once was,” says Lee Kosa, who co-pastors Estuary with Darren DeMelo. “We appreciate Michael’s willingness to be creative,” he adds, referring to MC Manitoba executive minister Michael Pahl.

According to Pahl, after MC Manitoba’s board discussed the possibility of partnering with Estuary, the decision was clear. “We don’t want to leave this congregation high and dry, without denominational support, while they look for a denominational home,” he says.

On its website, Estuary Church describes itself as “an affirming community actively pursuing the development of an inclusive, trauma-sensitive, decolonizing and creation-connected body of Christ.”

Estuary meets primarily at a United Church building. It also hosts Wild Church gatherings that make use of the beautiful landscape surrounding the church’s location at the convergence of the Fraser River and the Salish Sea.

Kosa and DeMelo were formerly pastors at Cedar Park Church, a congregation in Delta that belongs to the British Columbia Mennonite Brethren Conference.

They resigned in February 2022, along with a third pastor, Megan Simpson. One of the reasons for their departures was the conference’s requirement that all its pastors reaffirm the MB Confession of Faith, with a special focus on articles dealing with sexuality and marriage. Around that time, the pastors and their congregation were interested in exploring human sexuality and LGBTQ+ inclusion.

After the pastors resigned, about two-thirds of the congregation of about 250 left the church.

Some of those people started meeting for church in a barn, which led to Estuary’s formation. Kosa and DeMelo decided they weren’t finished with ministry and offered to be the church’s pastors.

The two pastors describe themselves as convinced Anabaptists. When Estuary started seeking denominational support, it was important to look for that support in the Anabaptist church.

They looked at a few different options, including a conference in the U.S. and Mennonite Church B.C. The latter’s stance on LGBTQ+ inclusion made partnering there not an option.

MC Manitoba’s website states that “the core” of the church’s doctrine is articulated in the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective,” which says, “God intends marriage to be a covenant between one man and one woman for life.” At the same time, the regional church encourages congregations “to discern the spirit’s leading for themselves regarding their welcome and affirmation of LGBTQ+ people.”

Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg has been a formative place for Kosa, who has studied at the university’s Canadian School of Peacebuilding, which added to MC Manitoba’s appeal. Kosa and DeMelo also appreciate Pahl’s writing and online presence.

Since formalizing the partnership, MC Manitoba and some of its member congregations have offered Estuary wisdom on things like co-pastoring, consensus decision making, and abuse prevention and reporting policies.

Connecting with MC Manitoba has also provided Estuary with “a quicker bridge” to Anabaptist organizations like In This Together and the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery, DeMelo says.

“This tether to the Anabaptist stream is, I think, really helpful,” he says.

The agreement between Estuary and MC Manitoba lasts until February 28, 2025. If mutually agreed upon, it can be extended.

Both parties hope that by, or before, the end of this term, Estuary will have found a permanent denominational home.

“We’re not anxious about having a denomination,” DeMelo says. “We’re just really thankful for this official friendship with Mennonite Church Manitoba.”

The relationship is working well so far, according to Pahl.

“It’s pretty low-key and I think we both just appreciate kind of the walking alongside each other that can happen, even from a distance,” he says.

—Corrected December 15, 2023. An earlier version of this article stated that Estuary Church has "affiliated" with Mennonite Church Manitoba, when in fact "partnered" is a more accurate term for the arrangement.