Mennonite Central Committee
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Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a relief service, and peace agency representing fifteen
Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
,
Brethren in Christ The Brethren in Christ Church (BIC) is a River Brethren Christian denomination with roots in the Mennonite church, Radical Pietism, and Wesleyan holiness. They have also been known as River Brethren and River Mennonites. The Canadian denominat ...
and
Amish The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churc ...
bodies in North America. The U.S. headquarters are in
Akron, Pennsylvania Akron is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 4,169, History Akron was incorporated as a borough in 1895. Before this point, a small village called New Berlin sat at the center of the boro ...
, the Canadian in
Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
.


History

Founded in
Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, MCC held its first meeting on September 27, 1920. Its original goal was to provide food for Mennonites starving in Ukraine. 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. The initial work of MCC focused on: :1920–1925: famine relief work in Ukraine. :1925–1930: inactive :1930–1937: colonization of
Russian Mennonite The Russian Mennonites (german: Russlandmennoniten it. "Russia Mennonites", i.e., Mennonites of or from the Russian Empire occasionally Ukrainian Mennonites) are a group of Mennonites who are descendants of Dutch Anabaptists who settled for abo ...
and Bruderhof refugees in Paraguay and Brazil. :1939–present: relief work; initially in Poland, then (1940) England and France. :1941–1947: administration of
Civilian Public Service The Civilian Public Service (CPS) was a program of the United States government that provided conscientious objectors with an alternative to military service during World War II. From 1941 to 1947, nearly 12,000 draftees, willing to serve their ...
(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 objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
s.


Famine in Ukraine

Mennonites of
Molotschna Molotschna Colony or Molochna Colony was a Russian Mennonite settlement in what is now Zaporizhzhia Oblast in Ukraine. Today, the central village, known as Molochansk, has a population less than 10,000. The settlement is named after the Molochna ...
sent a commission to North America in the summer of 1920 to alert American Mennonites of the dire conditions of war-torn Ukraine. Their plight succeeded in uniting various branches of Mennonites to form Mennonite Central Committee in an effort to aid these
Russian Mennonite The Russian Mennonites (german: Russlandmennoniten it. "Russia Mennonites", i.e., Mennonites of or from the Russian Empire occasionally Ukrainian Mennonites) are a group of Mennonites who are descendants of Dutch Anabaptists who settled for abo ...
s. P. C. Hiebert of the
Mennonite Brethren Church The Mennonite Brethren Church is an evangelical Mennonite Anabaptist movement with congregations. History The conference was established among Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonites in 1860. During the 1850s, some Mennonites were influenc ...
initially chaired the organization, with secretary Levi Mumaw of the (Old) Mennonite Church and attorney Maxwell Kratz of the
General Conference Mennonite Church The General Conference Mennonite Church (GCMC) was a mainline association of Mennonite congregations based in North America from 1860 to 2002. The conference was formed in 1860 when congregations in Iowa invited North American Mennonites to join ...
. Other Mennonite conferences joined later. The new organization planned to provide aid to Ukraine via existing Mennonite relief work in
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
. The Istanbul group, mainly
Goshen College Goshen College is a private Mennonite liberal arts college in Goshen, Indiana. It was founded in 1894 as the Elkhart Institute of Science, Industry and the Arts, and is affiliated with Mennonite Church USA. The college is accredited by the High ...
graduates, produced three volunteers, who at great risk entered Ukraine during the ongoing
Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
. They arrived in the Mennonite village of Halbstadt just as
General Wrangel Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel (russian: Пётр Никола́евич барон Вра́нгель, translit=Pëtr Nikoláevič Vrángel', p=ˈvranɡʲɪlʲ, german: Freiherr Peter Nikolaus von Wrangel; April 25, 1928), also known by his ni ...
of the
White Army The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв ...
was retreating. Two of the volunteers withdrew with the Wrangel army, while
Clayton Kratz Clayton Kratz (November 5, 1896 – presumed 1920) was a Mennonite relief worker from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania,
, who remained in Halbstadt (Molotschna) as the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
overran the village, was never heard from again. A year passed before official permission was received from the Soviet government to do relief work among the villages of Ukraine. Kitchens provided 25,000 people a day with rations over a period of three years beginning in 1922, with a peak of 40,000 servings during August of that year. Fifty
Fordson Fordson was a brand name of tractors and trucks. It was used on a range of mass-produced general-purpose tractors manufactured by Henry Ford & Son Inc from 1917 to 1920, by Ford Motor Company (U.S.) and Ford Motor Company Ltd (U.K.) from 1920 to ...
tractor and plow combinations were sent to Mennonite villages to replace horses that had been stolen and confiscated during the war. This relief effort cost $1.2 million.


Voluntary service

As Civilian Public Service started to wind down in 1946, MCC began exploring a peacetime service program that would continue the types of projects performed by CPS. The new program, Voluntary Service, had several aims. It would provide young people with 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 Nonresistance (or non-resistance) is "the practice or principle of not resisting authority, even when it is unjustly exercised". At its core is discouragement of, even opposition to, physical resistance to an enemy. It is considered as a form of pri ...
. Projects were to help alleviate human need in a
culturally sensitive Cultural sensitivity, also referred to as cross-cultural sensitivity or cultural awareness, is the knowledge, awareness, and acceptance of other cultures and others' cultural identities. It is related to cultural competence (the skills needed fo ...
manner. The program would operate as an internship in Christian service, developing the workers' service motivation, witness and religious conviction. It would provide Mennonite young people with an opportunity to express appreciation for the material blessings, 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 Gulfport is the second-largest city in Mississippi after the state capital, Jackson. Along with Biloxi, Gulfport is the co-county seat of Harrison County and the larger of the two principal cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolit ...
.


Activities

MCC was an early proponent of fair trade through its
Ten Thousand Villages Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit fair trade organization that markets handcrafted products made by disadvantaged artisans from more than 120 artisan groups in more than 35 countries. As one of the world’s largest and oldest fair trade or ...
program. Funds for MCC's worldwide relief and service projects are raised through independent 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 A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding, a ...
handmade by Mennonite and Amish volunteers,
auctions An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
, artwork, crafted woodwork, homemade foods, antiques, crafts, plants, children's activities, and musical programs. Most of the goods and labor are donated, and 78.2% of the funds raised go directly into the field. MCC focuses its
development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...
efforts in areas such as health, education, peace and justice, and fair trade. It responds to
disaster A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...
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. MCC also has an international advocacy office at the United Nations in New York City. As of 2015, Ewuare Osayande served as the group's Anti-Oppression Coordinator.


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." 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 Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information abo ...
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 John Paul Lederach is an American Professor of International Peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, and concurrently Distinguished Scholar at Eastern Mennonite University. He has written widely on conflict resolution ...
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 Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) is a private Mennonite university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The university also operates a satellite campus in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which primarily caters to working adults. EMU's bachelor-degree holde ...
, the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center in Lombard, Illinois, a group of peace builders at
Fresno Pacific University Fresno Pacific University (FPU) is a private Christian university in Fresno, California. It was founded as the Pacific Bible Institute in 1944 by the Pacific District Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. The university awarded its first Bac ...
, 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 War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
. MCC advocates for exemption from military service. Alternative service for
conscientious objectors A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to objecti ...
is promoted as their witness to New Testament Scriptures. MCC keeps 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.


Affiliated organizations

*
Beachy Amish Mennonite The Beachy Amish Mennonites, also known as the Beachy Mennonites, are an Anabaptist group of churches in the Conservative Mennonite tradition that have Amish roots. Although they have retained the name "Amish" they are quite different from the O ...
Churches *
Brethren in Christ Church The Brethren in Christ Church (BIC) is a River Brethren Christian denomination with roots in the Mennonite church, Radical Pietism, and Wesleyan holiness. They have also been known as River Brethren and River Mennonites. The Canadian denominat ...
*
Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches The Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (CCMBC) is a Mennonite Brethren denomination in Canada. It is a member of the Mennonite World Conference and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. Offices of the Canadian Conference of Men ...
*
Conservative Mennonite Conference The Conservative Mennonite Conference (CMC) is a Christian body of Mennonite churches in the Anabaptist tradition. Its members are mostly of Amish descent. Despite its name, the Conservative Mennonite Conference is not generally considered to ali ...
* Mennonite Church Canada *
Mennonite Church USA The Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the United States. Although the organization is a recent 2002 merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church, the body has roots in the Ra ...
*
Mennonite Disaster Service The Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) is a volunteer network through which various groups within the Anabaptist tradition assist people affected by disasters in North America. The organization was founded in 1950 and was incorporated as a 501(c ...
*
U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches The US Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (USMB) is an association of Mennonite Brethren Churches in the United States. Background On January 6, 1860, a small group of Mennonites in Ukraine, influenced by Moravian Brethren and Lutheran Pieti ...


See also

* '' More-with-Less Cookbook''


Notes


References

*Gingerich, Melvin (1949), ''Service for Peace, A History of Mennonite Civilian Public Service'', Mennonite Central Committee. *Haury, David A. (1979), ''The Quiet Demonstration: The Mennonite Mission in Gulfport, Mississippi'', Faith and Life Press. *


External links

*
Mennonite Central Committee
in ''Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online'' {{Authority control Christian nonviolence Foreign charities operating in Ukraine International charities Mennonitism in Canada Mennonitism in Manitoba Mennonitism in the United States Peace organizations based in Canada Peace organizations based in the United States Religious service organizations Anabaptist organizations Russian Mennonite diaspora in Canada Russian Mennonite diaspora in the United States Russian Mennonite diaspora in Manitoba Companies based in Winnipeg