Finding a home in the MB conference

Brent Kipfer’s Mennonite Church Canada pedigree is solid: he grew up at Poole Mennonite Church in Poole, Ontario, attended Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, graduated from Canadian Mennonite Bible College and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, and became pastor of a Mennonite Church Eastern Canada congregation.

Now, he pastors a Mennonite Brethren church and sits on the board of the Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (ONMB).

I had spoken with Kipfer before he became MB, and was keen for an update on his journey.

When he started as pastor at Maple View Mennonite Church in Wellesley, Ontario, in 2012, the church was part of MCEC. While Kipfer says the church appreciated MCEC relationships, support and resources, particularly during pastoral transitions, there were “feelings of being out of sync” with the regional church.

Those feelings were largely in the background until the Becoming a Faithful Church process. This nationwide exploration regarding sexuality between 2009 and 2016 drew Maple View into a slow, careful discernment of their future in relation to the regional church.

Several other MCEC congregations were doing likewise.

In 2017, Maple View placed an insert in Canadian Mennonite that explained their traditional view on sexuality. The insert drew some negative response.

I called Kipfer then, in my role as senior writer for Canadian Mennonite. Our conversation left me feeling I would happily sit in the same pew as him even if our views did not align on all matters.

In April 2020, Maple View left MCEC, after joining ONMB. An overwhelming majority of the congregation favoured this change, Kipfer says. “Overall, it felt natural and there was a sense of it needing to happen.” He is not aware of anyone who left the church as a result.

Similarly, Kingsfield-Zurich Mennonite Church left MCEC and joined ONMB. Ryan Jantzi, then-pastor at Kingsfield-Zurich, now serves as interim executive director for ONMB. (Canadian Mennonite contacted Jantzi for comment but he was on holiday.)

Around the same time, two MCEC congregations joined Catch the Fire—an international group of churches with roots in the Toronto Airport Vineyard church—while another joined a Pentecostal conference and one remained independent after leaving MCEC.

Kipfer says Maple View’s decision of whether to leave, and how, was done with much consideration. They did not want it to be about cutting off relationship with people in MCEC or making judgments about others’ faith, says Kipfer. 

Some people, including Kipfer, experienced considerable grief at the loss of connection to MCEC.

How has the adjustment from MCEC to ONMB gone? Kipfer says, “[We are] still in the process of getting to know our MB family [It] feels like a good fit, feels energizing. Overall, it feels like a good theological alignment, good missional alignment.”

I ask if Kipfer feels there is still a need for healing from the break with MCEC. He pauses. “Good question,” he says. “I don’t feel a sense of unfinished business.” He values ongoing connections with MCEC folks. For example, Kipfer has been available to fill in for the pastor at Poole Mennonite in case of an emergency, such as a death, when Poole’s pastor is away.

“It always feels good for me when I’m able to connect with someone from MCEC who I have known for years,” he says.

As someone with increasing interest in connecting with MBs, I ask Kipfer how different we are. He should know.

He reframes the question: “What do we need to agree on theologically to partner in mission . . . [to] function as church together?”

While he notes “different impulses” in worship styles and the role of leaders— MB pastors tend to play a more prominent role in leadership—he says, “There is a lot of commonality.”

“Being Anabaptist is important for both,” he says, noting this might look different for different people and that vies vary across the country. 

But despite similarities, the divergence between the two conferences has been highlighted by the two MB churches that were released from ONMB membership within the past year. One joined MCEC. 

“I carry a sense of pain about the brokenness in the body of Christ,” Kipfer says of division in the broader body of Christ. “I recognize the pain.”

He also says “it is important for denominational families to define theological commitments for the sake of discipleship and mission.”

Kipfer notes that the MC Canada logo—the dove and olive branch—is still visible in the Maple View sanctuary. The piece of metalwork was created by artist and former Maple View pastor Bruce Sawatzky. When the congregation left MCEC, they asked if they might keep the symbol in their sanctuary. MCEC agreed. “It represents part of our story,” says Kipfer.

He says the congregation is doing well. There are a lot of young people and good leadership among young adults. There are “folks leaning into missional relationships.” A team of 18 went to a remote First Nation this past summer at the request of the chief.

I ask Kipfer what message he wants to share with Canadian Mennonite readers. He ponders, then says, “I love MC Canada and continue to value my relationship with MC Canada brothers and sisters.”