Recent News

What is complementarianism?

Words have meaning and must be defined. Clarity is kindness. Many use the term complementarian but what does it mean, especially as related to the pastoral office? Originally coined in 1988, it was a one word link to the recently published Danvers Statement (1987), which our '97 position statement affirms. Broadly it means that men and women are equal in value and complementary in role. Specific to governance and teaching "some governing and teaching roles within the church are restricted to men" (Danvers 3.6).  While there is variation amongst complementarians, this website, in keeping with the original meaning and biblical basis of the word, has consistently maintained that the office of pastors/elders/overseers is restricted to biblically qualified men as is preaching/teaching to mixed-congregations.

Articles and Resources

Why is it so Hard to Reform Baptist Denominations? (Paul Carter)

Baptist denominations in North America appear to be navigating through some very choppy waters at the moment. Some of the concerns have to do with doctrine, others have to do with practice, but all of them are complicated by polity.

One of the challenges with Baptist denominational polity is that the people on the governing boards and committees are often chosen on the basis of representative criteria, which means they tend to represent the problems and divisions plaguing the fellowship in roughly the same proportion as the general constituency. This leaves the leadership group doubly disinclined to pursue reform.

A: Because all organisms have an instinct toward self-preservation.

B: Because for a significant proportion of the leadership to vote for reform would be to vote against their own interests.

What this means effectively, is that efforts to reform have to come from below, but being Baptists, and particularly if those Baptists are Canadian, this will always be labelled as either “bad process” or “bad manners”.

Usually both.

Continue reading here: https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/ad-fontes/why-is-it-so-hard-to-reform-baptist-denominations/

Another Three Bite the Dust

Yesterday at the Prairies regional convention for the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Canada (FEB) our church, along with two others (Fellowship Baptist Church, Edmonton and Park City Gospel Church, Winnipeg), were voted out. Our 66 year membership in the Fellowship was terminated. We were told this was not because of our beliefs but because of our behavior.

The conflict began over gender roles in the church…

To continue reading click:
https://www.fairviewbaptistchurch.ca/another-three-bite-the-dust/

FEB Prairies’ Leadership Moves to Remove 3 Churches on April 30 (en français aussi)

Another 3 churches dismissed on April 30

lire aussi en français ici: LA DIRECTION DE FELLOWSHIP PRAIRIES TENTE D

In 2024, the Fellowship Prairies Regional Board attempted to discipline three churches that privately questioned their complementarian standards and leadership ethics (lying, abuse of authority, slander) going back to 2016. When the 2025 Regional Convention ordered a third-party investigation into the Board’s conduct, the Board refused to comply. Instead, they unilaterally appointed Brent Chapman—who was already in a public dispute with these prairies churches—to lead binding arbitration. After a process which included neither the churches nor several key witnesses, Chapman recommended their expulsion. This underscores a breakdown in transparency and the Board’s defiance of Convention authority and impartial oversight. It provides a public demonstration of their perceived right to require both more (submission to Regional leaders) and less (doctrinal standards) than Convention has ruled as the bounds of fellowship.

Prairie motion to expel three churches: Motion for Fellowship Prairies Inc. 2026 AGM

Three churches’ response to Prairies’ motion: Submission in Response to Motion to Expell. April 2026

For a step-by-step overview with supporting documents of this wider process see: www.fairviewbaptistchurch.ca/to-fellowship-prairies-churches

CCT Assurances to FEB Central (en français aussi)

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lire en français ici: ASSURANCES DU CCT

On Tuesday March 24, FEB Central held their AGM. It was a time of encouragement as we heard reports of what Christ is doing through His churches across the region. Naturally, pastors and churches were eager to learn more about the CCT process. For this, FEBN President, Steve Jones, was interviewed by FEBC Regional Director, Tom Haines. It is equally natural for leadership to want to ‘steady the ship’ in tumultuous theological times. However, there are more helpful and less helpful ways to bring assurance. In an informal interview format Tom asked Steve some common questions about the matter.

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Firstly, words require definition. Unless he is using a very different definition, Steve cannot say we are “convictionally complementarian” when recent months have clearly revealed that we are not. It isn’t simply that we apply our complementarianism differently; we aren’t all complementarian. Organizational unity must not be sought via ambiguity at the expense of truth. Clarity is kindness.

Secondly, it is difficult to imagine that the CCT’s first round of meetings went off without a hitch when a sizeable portion are or support egalitarian practices and would not agree with our ’97 position statement.

To read the entire review: https://keepfebcomplementarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/CCT-Assurances-March-30.pdf

CCT Survey

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FEB National released its latest Complementarian Congruence Team (CCT) report on Monday March 9. It asks questions about view on Article 9 of the AoF, current church practices in relation to complementarianism, views on our bylaw and position statement, and also how your church would hypothetically relate to FEBN on gender issues given a number of scenarios. The information will be used by the CCT to present an amended draft article 9 of the AoF and any bylaws or position statements by Sept 2026.

Churches are encouraged to stress the importance of maintaining a biblical view of gender in relation to the office of pastor/elder/overseer in form and function however possible. Suggestions include that gender language should be in the AoF, that our bylaws should be updated to include elders/overseers and not just pastors, to retain something like our ’97 gender statement, that departure from the Fellowship would result should any form of egalitarianism be introduced as permissible. We strongly encourage church elderships/boards to complete the survey and have all other elders/deacons submit individual versions of that.

To access the survey: https://form.typeform.com/to/dLWUfjwm

Print survey: https://keepfebcomplementarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/CCT-Survey-Print.pdf

CCT Video

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FEB National released its latest Complementarian Congruence Team (CCT) report on Friday March 6. In the video released Mar 9 Steve Jones, FEB President, and Lillian Boyd, Executive Minister at Springvale Church and member of the CCT, introduce the CCT survey. They verbalize the story behind the survey, some of the content of the survey and what lies beyond the survey. (Hopefully the survey won’t produce compromise but biblical commitment).

While having a brother and a sister in the Lord in an info-sharing video is appropriate, it is disconcerting that FEBN chose to feature a female ‘minister’ while at the same time assuring churches of FEB’s complementarianism and it seems to preclude the view that all ministers and pastors should be men, a view held by many churches.

To access the video: https://vimeo.com/1171873778

TGC Canada: Is a Pastor the Same Thing as an Elder?

Paul Carter, a Fellowship Pastor, writes for The Gospel Coalition Canada:

“This passage [Acts 20:7-28] is particularly helpful because it uses the word for elder, presbyteros, again in the plural form, as well as the word for overseer, episkopos, also in the plural, and the word for shepherd, poimainō, in the infinitive, which can also be translated “to pastor”[1]. The English word pastor is based on the Latin word pastor which means “shepherd”. The fact that Luke refers to the group of people addressed by Paul as “elders” in verse 17 and then subsequently as “overseers” in verse 28 indicates that these terms were considered synonymous: an elder was an overseer. That he connects the oversight office to the task of shepherding/pastoring in verse 28 suggests a tight connection between those concepts.”

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“Collectively, these five passages suggest that the terms elder and overseer should be understood as synonyms, referring to the authoritative leadership office in the church tasked with leading, feeding and protecting the flock of God. These tasks are properly understood and described in shepherding or pastoral terms. In the same way that a shepherd has a rod so as to lead and defend the flock, so too the pastor/elder/overseer is invested with authority to care for, correct and if necessary corral a straying congregant. Further, the fact that the terms presbyteros, episkopos and poimēn, when used in noun form referring to human leaders other than Jesus, always appear in the plural suggests that a plurality of oversight leaders was the norm in New Testament churches.”

To read the entire article: https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/ad-fontes/is-a-pastor-the-same-thing-as-an-elder/

Stephens, The Fellowship’s Unity Crisis

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“Now here we are 20 years later, the differences of theology remain and in fact are exacerbated. Eight faithful churches have been removed and more may be on the way. Our church has been in tension with our region for 10 years because I questioned why our region was not complying with national bylaws. Our region also has churches who have women elders, pastors, and preachers. For raising this issue our church is on the cusp of removal, accused of the same divisive spirit as the 8 faithful churches in BC. Yet, just like the 8 churches in BC that were removed, we all share the identical convictions of the majority of Fellowship churches. We’re told that we are the problem for pointing out the stark theological and practical differences that exist between churches on an issue that has been settled by passing a position statement and national bylaw more than 20 years ago. But our churches aren’t the problem, we just put our finger on the problem.

It is not that 8–10 churches in BC caused division, nor has our church caused division, it was the National Council that allowed (and continues to allow) regional leaders to defy a bylaw and refuse to respect the historic and present day majority of churches who affirm that Fellowship churches are complementarian—meaning that the pastoral office and its functions of preaching and oversight are reserved for biblically qualified men.”

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“How does this ecclesiology translate to an association of churches? I suggest that the delegates gathering at convention are the “elders” of an association. The highest authority in a Baptist association is the convention of churches when delegates gather and make proposals, bylaws, and set doctrinal boundaries. Of course, the delegates can’t do this task alone, so they delegate to the board or council—the “deacons”—to write proposals, policies, or statements that the delegates either approve or send back for refinement.

Therefore, the churches—or delegates—are the elders, and the board, whether National Council or regional board, are like “deacons” who carry out the will of the elders. When the deacons act like elders, or act apart from the elders, we’ll have conflict and a crisis in the church.”

To view the entire article: https://www.fairviewbaptistchurch.ca/the-fellowships-unity-crisis/

FEB Central Communication About Excommunication of 8 Churches

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“The result of the special convention was the removal of the 8 churches in question. Although this is not what anyone wanted, one positive outcome is that all those involved on both sides of the issue behaved in a Christ honoring manner.”
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“In recent days several pastors have asked for confirmation of the official stance of FEB Central on complementarianism. I have communicated this in the past and it is worth repeating. FEB Central is complementarian. We implemented the 1997 Fellowship National position on Gender in Ministry and abide by the National bylaws. Although the documents need further clarification, it does affirm male eldership. This is why, last Fall, we removed one of our churches and its two daughter sites for officially embracing female eldership and adopting a position that would allow for the possibility of a female senior pastor. Over the years several other churches have been removed for taking a similar egalitarian stance.”

Eight Churches Removed from FEB Pacific

“Several themes emerged in the discussion on the microphones. From the “for” side, arguing for the removal of the churches, it was emphasized that the churches continued to advocate with National—proof they had not accepted the region’s decision at IMPACT 2025. It was also mentioned multiple times that the eight churches themselves viewed that egalitarian-practicing churches were beyond the bounds of their fellowship and so removing them was precisely what they themselves had been advocating for.

On the “against” side, arguing for retaining the churches that wanted to remain [one church already removed itself since IMPACT 2025], several themes emerged. Firstly, it was noted by several speakers that theological discussion had been repeatedly requested of the Board and was denied several times. Churches were thus being removed without ever discussing the relevant theological debate underpinning the dispute. In relation to this, at least two of the defense speeches argued against the contention, made repeatedly by FEB Pac leadership, that this isn’t a theological issue. On the contrary, it was argued that it is indeed a theological question whether this is a secondary issue, the sort which defines our boundaries as a fellowship, or a minor tertiary issue one.

A couple of the speakers also pointed out that a test of “joyful fellowship,” interpreted as it was by the Board, creates a problem when it is treated like a bylaw, and that the eight churches had indeed written of their desire to FEB Pac leadership to fellowship, save only that they could not, in good conscience, refrain from taking part in national dialogue and involvement around gender-related issues.”

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“The elephant in the room during the discussion was the two-year process initiated by National Council in response to this dispute, and the call by over sixty Ontario churches to not remove churches during this process. In connection with this is the background relationship of Pacific to National and whether or not Pacific is permitted to contravene National Bylaws. Several of the churches expressed their desire to simply wait out the process. In the end, the delegates voted to remove the eight churches, with results ranging from 63 to 68% in favor. These churches are now no longer in the Fellowship, will have their benefits and licenses removed, and will no longer be able to partake in National processes on the Complementarian Congruency or Affirmation of Faith process.”

To access the entire summary: https://keepfebcomplementarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Summary-of-Speial-Meeting-to-Remove-Eight-Churches-Feb-7-2026.pdf