A Mennonite congregation has spoken out in order to call MCC to accountability through a listening process that follows stakeholder recommendations and is managed and overseen by a third party, including a “publicly available final report.”

Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church is a congregation of Mennonite Church Canada that has taken time to discern together and write a letter that comes from the entire congregation.

This letter names the fact that “many relationships have tragically been broken” following reports of abuse.

It calls MCC to “turn its vision of Restorative Justice on itself” by “honestly, transparently, and humbly address[ing] the concerns raised by many.”

The letter concludes, “As a Mennonite church, we are committed to walking this journey with you. We urge you to embrace the call to stop and pivot, to go all in, to move at the speed of trust, to seize this moment, and to increase your reach. These are not merely recommendations—they are invitations to live more fully into our shared values of humility, justice, and reconciliation. MCC can embrace this moment as a sacred opportunity for renewal. We pray that MCC will have the courage to lament, to listen, and to be transformed. We stand ready to support you in this sacred work.”

Read on for the full letter.

On Oct. 14, MCC board chairs sent the following response to church leaders and concerned individuals who had written to MCC US national and regional boards ahead of their Oct. 17-18 meetings in Akron:

“Over the past two years, MCC has worked to listen carefully and prayerfully to all individuals who have chosen to share difficult experiences directly with us. Multiple changes have resulted, including increased staff support and policy changes. At the same time, it’s impossible to respond to complaints that are anonymous or made in online public forums without situational details.”

Response from Kathryn Smith Derksen: Receiving this response to my family's trauma was disheartening, to say the least. It is clear that my story was not read, or regarded, even though I am one of the only named survivors having gone public with MAST (MCC Abuse Survivors Together). I can personally attest to you that no one from MCC has reached out to listen to our story or offer an apology… I've been hearing for over a year now that MCC is committed to listening, but I have yet to see any evidence.

Read on for the rest of Kathryn’s response, and responses from Julene Fast and Rick Sittler.

MCC US will hold its first post-COVID All Boards Meeting on October 17–18 in Akron, bringing together regional board members from across the country. MAST and its allies see this as a pivotal opportunity for MCC to commit to meaningful engagement and begin the process of external investigation.

MCC Abuse Survivors Together invites the public to engage with MCC boards by writing to national or regional board members ahead of these upcoming meetings. As letters are shared with us, we will post them on our website.

We urge all who care about MCC’s future to speak up now.

Write your letter by October 15.

MAST will post letters on our website (with authors’ permission)

Browse published letters here.

Read MCC’s response and church leaders’ response to that here.