Mennonite Central Committee

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Mennonite Central Committee logo.

The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a relief, service, and peace agency representing 15 Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and Amish bodies in North America. The U.S. headquarters are in Akron, Pennsylvania, the Canadian in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

[edit] History

MCC was founded in Chicago, Illinois, and held its first meeting on September 27, 1920.^[1] Its original goal was to provide food for Mennonites starving in Russia. MCC soon realized that it could not help only their Mennonite brothers and sisters and began to help anyone in need. MCC (Canada) was founded in 1963.

Mennonite Civilian Public Service worker Harry Lantz distributes rat poison for typhus control in Gulfport, Mississippi.

The initial work of MCC focused on:^[2]

1920-1925: famine work in Russia.

1925-1930: inactive

1930-1937: colonization of Russian Mennonite refugees in Paraguay and Brazil.

1939-present: relief work; initially in Poland, then (1940) England and France.

1941-1947: administration of Civilian Public Service (CPS) as part of National Service Board for Religious Objectors.

1950s: administration of 1-W service, the replacement of CPS, for draftees classified as conscientious objectors.

As CPS was winding down in 1946, MCC began exploring a peace-time service program that would continue the types of projects performed by CPS. The new program, Voluntary Service, had several aims.^[3] It would provide young people a way to voluntarily perform Christian service for up to a year as a means of testifying more widely to the gospel and its way of love and nonresistance. Projects were to help alleviate human need in a culturally sensitive manner. The program would be an internship in Christian service, developing the workers' service motivation, witness and religious conviction. It would provide Mennonite young people an opportunity to express appreciation for the material blesssings, religious and other national liberties and to contribute to the well-being of the nation. Finally, it was hoped that some individuals would decide to devote their careers to full-time ministry or missionary service.

The first Voluntary Service unit started during the summer of 1946 in association with the CPS unit at Gulfport, Mississippi .

[edit] Activities

Akron, Pennsylvania headquarters, August 1982.

MCC was an early proponent of fair trade through its Ten Thousand Villages program.

One of the ways MCC raises funds for its worldwide relief and service projects is through Mennonite Relief Sales. Around 45 sales are held throughout the United States and Canada, raising US$5 million annually. Many of these sales feature quilts handmade by Mennonite and Amish volunteers, auctions, artwork, crafted woodwork, homemade foods, antiques, crafts, plants, children's activities, and musical programs. Most of the goods and labor are donated, and 88% of the funds raised go directly into the field.

MCC focuses its development efforts in areas such as health, education, peace and justice, and fair trade. It responds to disaster situations, as well as focusing its efforts on the longer-term issues of economic and social policy.

MCC maintains offices in both Washington, D.C., and Ottawa to advocate to the American and Canadian federal governments, respectively.

[edit] Peacemaking

MCC also takes an active role in advocating for peace both in North America and around the world, seeking "to be a witness against forces that contribute to poverty, injustice and violence."^[4] In North America, MCC established the Mennonite Conciliation Service (MCS) in 1979 to encourage Mennonites and others to actively pursue peaceful resolution of conflicts. MCS was a pioneer in the burgeoning field of conflict resolution in the 1980s and director Ronald S. Kraybill led early mediation workshops in Northern Ireland which eventually led to the establishment of the Northern Ireland Mediation Network. John Paul Lederach took over MCS in 1989 when Kraybill moved on to South Africa, and in the years following, MCC moved active peace building into the forefront of its work abroad.

Responding in part to the establishment of active Mennonite-led peace centers that had emerged in the 80s and 90s, such as the Conflict Transformation Program at Eastern Mennonite University, the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center in Lombard, Illinois, a group of peace builders at Fresno Pacific University, the Peace and Justice Network of the Mennonite Church and other activities, MCS was discontinued in 2004. But the Peace Office of MCC continues to advocate peace interests broadly in the US and in MCC programming abroad. Internationally, MCC partners with local organizations to reduce violence in the aftermath of conflict or war.

Perhaps one of MCC's more controversial activities is in advocating military exemption or alternative service for conscientious objectors in times of war. MCC runs a "conscientious objector registry" in Canada, taking statements from Canadians in the hope that they will be recognized by the Canadian government should the government restart drafting citizens into the military.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Gingerich p. 16.
2. ^ Gingerich p. 17.
3. ^ MCC Headquarters Letter, No. 90, November 1946 as quoted by Haury pp. 13-14.
4. ^ Integrating peacemaking into relief, development and service

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Web Site
• MCC Relief Sales, Official Site
• MCC Relief Sales, Additional information including maps
• Mennonite Central Committee in Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online