In November 1936 representatives from five newly formed churches of General Conference Mennonite Church (GCM) background met in the First Mennonite Church of Sardis to establish the Conference of United Mennonite Churches of British Columbia. From this small body of 5 churches with 266 members, the conference, renamed Conference of Mennonites in British Columbia, grew to 34 congregations with 3,711 members in 2007. The conference's stated threefold purpose was to be a united force in the cause of Christ, to serve as guardian of the faith in the Anabaptist tradition, and to be a beacon to attract and draw together the many lost and straying members of the family of faith.

The following have been or still are major programs and institutions of the conference. A "girls' home," for women working in the city of Vancouver, was established in 1935. A Bible school, started in the Coghlan area of what is now known as Aldergrove in 1939, later moved to Abbotsford as Bethel Bible Institute and amalgamated with the Mennonite Brethren Bible Institute to become Columbia Bible Institute in 1970 and Columbia Bible College in 1985. A Mennonite high school operated at Sardis, 1947-51. Camp Squeah, nestled in the coastal mountains, has served the churches as a year-round retreat center. The conference has emphasized Sunday School teacher training throughout the years. Mission endeavors have included church planting and cross-cultural ministries with Chinese, Laotian, and Indo-Canadian ethnic groups. Peace and justice issues and care for underprivileged people have largely been relegated to Mennonite Central Committee (B.C.) of which the conference continues to be an integral part. The youth organization, Women in Mission, and the Ministers and Deacons conference have played a vital role in the life of the Conference of Mennonites in British Columbia. In 1976 the conference opened an office in Clearbrook (now Abbotsford) with a full-time conference coordinator, later referred to as the conference minister.

The conference continued to maintain close ties with the Conference of Mennonites in Canada and the General Conference Mennonite Church of North America until the transformation of the General Conference Mennonite Church and Mennonite Church into Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada. At that time the conference's denominational ties transferred to the new Mennonite Church Canada. In 2001 the Conference of Mennonites in British Columbia changed its name to Mennonite Church British Columbia as a symbol of the new Mennonite Church denominational structure in Canada, and its relationship to the new Mennonite Church Canada.

On 27 May 2007 a renewal covenant was signed by thirty of the thirty-four member congregations. The covenant dealt with the local congregations’ mutual relationship within MCBC and covered six areas of commitment to: essential doctrine and practice; meaningful worship and fellowship; shared ministries; discernment; mutual accountability; and service. Those congregations signing the renewal covenant were:

The following congregations did not sign the covenant: Abbotsford Mennonite Fellowship (Abbotsford), First Mennonite Church (Burns Lake), First Mennonite Church Greendale (Chilliwack), and Olivet Church (Abbotsford). East Abbotsford Community Church (Abbotsford), a daughter congregation of Eben Ezer Mennonite established in 2003 that had associated with MCBC, also chose not to sign.

Bibliography

Additional Information

Mennonite Church British Columbia website

Mennonite Church British Columbia Executive

Table 1: Mennonite Church British Columbia Executive
(To sort the table click on a heading)

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, pp. 181-182. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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