Board of Faith and Life

BFL statements on divorce, baptism

The Board of Faith and Life came with four recommendations to be voted on (see reports MBH, May 21, pages 14–18). Delegates were asked to accept statements on spiritual warfare, divorce and leadership ministry, baptism and church membership as well as the pastoral covenant document. (The latter was not brought to a vote, however. Chair Walter Unger said it would be included in Following the Call, the MB leadership manual.)

The other recommendations, to which some slight changes for clarification had been made, were approved. Room for discussion was given in an afternoon breakout session.

The statement on divorce/remarriage of leaders generated a good deal of discussion. Several delegates thought that the definition of “leadership in ministry” was used loosely and should be clarified. The response was that the statement on divorce/remarriage of leaders pertains to the pastoral and/or teaching ministry but that in the end the local churches will decide how far down the line they would like to go. It was also made clear that a divorce does disqualify for ministry, with a “faint hope clause” for restoration in case of desertion and unfaithfulness of the partner. However, the life of a leader who wants to get back into public ministry would need to be dealt with, and re-entry into leadership would not be an automatic process.

Heinz Ratzlaff expressed the concerns of his church council about the issue of re-entry into the ministry after divorce. “Pastors are models and are teaching about these matters.” Greg Wiebe challenged the notion of leaders being censured for divorce when nothing was done to keep the marriage in order before the breakdown.

BFL’s statement on baptism and church membership was revised somewhat; delegates received the amended statement. The revisions pertained to clarifications of the Board’s summary of the study conference, not the conclusion. The discussion was, in many ways, a repeat of points raised at the study conference. The contentious issue was membership and its meaning. Walter Unger commented that in baptism and membership we do not just express our relationship with Jesus, but also demonstrate a connection to other brothers and sisters. “We come together vertically and horizontally.” Vidya Narimalla spoke from his experience as a church planter in Toronto with people from other nationalities and how they very soon realize that membership means belonging. Discipleship continues to happen after that.

Dan Unrau commented on the difficulty 30–40 year olds coming from other traditions where infant baptism is observed have with rebaptism, whereas the young people off the street want to be baptized before they even believe. They just want to belong. John Unger addressed concerns regarding the pain families experience when family members decide to be rebaptised. Rebaptism is not a rejection, he said, but rather a completion of the parents’ desire to have the faith of their child become real.

David Wiebe concluded the discussion by asking delegates to do what the BFL statement asks, which is to “revisit, reconsider and recommit to the Confession of Faith’s teaching on believer’s baptism,” but also deepen and broaden their teaching on the meaning of believer’s baptism and church membership.

—md

Still – or again – on women in ministry leadership

Some 150 people packed a breakout session Friday morning on the topic of women in ministry leadership. There was no recommendation or vote; the meeting was for information and discussion only.

BFL chair Walter Unger reprised the reason the issue was back on the agenda – a request from the Manitoba MB Conference that individual churches be allowed to make the decision about women in the senior pastorate. He said that BFL had received 34 “remarkable” letters to their invitation for response, 19 written by women and 12 by men. All but three supported removing restrictions from women in ministry leadership.

Unger also reported on the Learning and Listening symposiums planned for the provinces. Mark Johnson and MaryLou Burkard, both of Kitchener’s Glencairn MB Church, shared their enthusiastic impressions of how the first one of these, held in Ontario, had gone. (See also report, MBH, June 11.)

“It was the first time I was in a study that looked at what the Bible says on this,” said Burkard.

The subsequent discussion ranged widely. BFL’s approach in holding the symposiums was affirmed, as was the Ontario event, though it was noted that the percentage of pastors attending had been low.

Several women recalled “how far we’ve come” or thanked those who had encouraged them. Naomi Enns said she hopes her daughter, who wants to be a pastor like her father, could do so in the MB Conference.

Whether in favour of lifting or retaining the current restriction, there was a sense of impatience that MBs are still – or again – discussing the issue. “I thought we settled this in ’93,” one delegate commented.

Mission as priority was raised on both sides of the argument. “We are wasting time on this,” Lorna Boge said, “let’s resolve it one way or other and get on with fishing for people.”

No solution emerged about how to proceed with the obvious diversity around this issue in the Conference. Asked what leadership the BFL was offering, chair Unger remarked, “We see it as a secondary issue. We may have to move to letting churches decide.”

—dd