Justice and accountability will happen when enough people make their voices heard, and when those in positions of power listen and act to change the culture within MCC that has allowed abuse of workers and partners to happen.
Let your voices be heard!
Below are letters which have been sent to MCC Board members and MCC Executive leadership calling for change ahead of the Oct 17-18 board meetings in Akron. Add your voice to the call for justice by sending us a copy of your letter (see full instructions here). Be sure to tell MCC you are permitting MAST to publish it here on the website. Your personal voice and the way you choose to tell your story online can make all the difference.
Help lead the movement toward change and healing within MCC and for the many silenced survivors. We need your support!
For other statements and letters of support, see https://www.mccabusesurvivors.org/supporters
Read the form letter that MCC board chairs have been sending to the authors of these letters, and some of their responses.
Kim Thiessen
I have written numerous letters to MCC Canada and US leadership staff and boards regarding the open letter, and the call for an independent external investigation into MCC's handling of abuse allegations. Only an external process can provide the credibility, transparency, and impartiality needed to begin rebuilding MCC into the organization it purports to be.
Sylvia Shirk
I write also as a daughter of parents who met and married in 1948 when my father was an MCC worker and my mother an MCC program participant. Without MCC, our family would not exist, and I truly wish for MCC to thrive as it carries out its mission. I believe the best way forward is to directly address the concerns raised by MAST.
Mennonite congregation in Bussum-Naarden (Netherlands)
We think it is time for the MCC board to make a courageous decision to resolve this problem, which appears to be systemic. After all, the longer this issue simmers, the more people and sponsors will resent MCC for waiting so long to take action.
Eric Massanari
Executive Conference Minister, Pacific NW Mennonite Conference
The most important thing to highlight here, and what I find most alarming at this stage, is that the victims and survivors of abuse and trauma who have brought these allegations forward have yet to feel heard or validated in their concerns and their pain. Instead, they are feeling silenced by formal tools like NDAs and a more general culture of disregard for their stories.
Lynda & Rod Hollinger-Janzen
We want to believe that MCC can continue to play a vital and life-giving role in the Mennonite community and beyond as we move into the future. But this is dependent on maintaining the trust of donors, volunteers and other supporters. You have lost our trust.
Dwight Krehbiel
The response to this abuse crisis is a critical test for MCC. The financial threat alone appears significant. However, a much more fundamental challenge is at stake, for surely an organization that is willing to deny and cover up behavior that is so clearly at cross purposes with their own vision and mission has adopted a perilous path.
Amy Epp
I will not be silent. I will listen to, believe and support survivors. I long for MCC to do the same. MCC's witness as peacemakers is weakened without a good faith attempt to center survivors, their stories and their needs.
Kerry Fast
By now you have received many other letters written by church leaders, respected MCC workers, pastoral care givers, leaders in the Mennonite community, and concerned individuals. Collectively, we are asking MCC to change course. As I said in my previous letter, you as governing boards have the power to do so.
Karla Morton
Moderator, Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference
It is long past time for reparations and restoration to take place. I urge you, I strongly urge you, to do the right thing and enter into a process of reconciliation and taking accountability. I know that it isn’t easy to do, but it is necessary so that MCC may continue to serve “In the Name of Christ”.
Marj Mobley-Oorthuys
What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 As humans, we all make mistakes. It is better to admit them and respond justly than think we can continue to cover them up…continuing to hurt people. We cannot hide our mistakes from God.
Tim and Suzanne Lind
We call on MCC to commit to a truly independent process, acceptable to both MCC and the former employees or service workers involved, to establish the facts of what transpired and to negotiate paths forward. This needs to be done with full transparency, shared decision making, and without explicit or implicit threat by either party.
Judy Friesen
It was with disbelief that I sat as a member of our Abuse Prevention committee of our church and listened to the heart-rendering story of one of our attendees, employed by MCC, as she shared the extremely abusive “mediation” that she endured, in our church building, at the hands of mediators hired by MCC to address a conflict situation. I thought surely this was an aberration. But as our committee explored further, we discovered this was not an isolated experience, but that many other MCC workers in the past few years had very negative ending experiences with MCC.
Jan Lugibihl
I know the work of boards and leaders is not always easy and I pray that your upcoming meetings will be meaningful and that you may feel and follow Christ’s leading as you consider these and other matters.
Ingrid Bauman
I have been donating to MCC for many years, and for some time thought it would be best to designate the donation to where it was most needed. I am appalled to think that my donations may have been used to pay lawyers, or to pay terminated workers not to talk publicly about their abuse. I have spoken with some of my extended family members and friends (who have also donated money to MCC) and suggested that they may want to direct their donations to another organization.
Rick Sittler
As well as being a deception to your constituents. You have eyes to read and ears to listen to the 70 plus abuse accounts, so when the tide turns as it surely will, HOW WILL YOU ANSWER!! when people ask, why did you deny the problem existed for so long, before admitting it publicly?
Julene Fast
I am writing you at this critical moment to share with you my deep concern and my request that you take this opportunity to act honourably and with integrity.
Be assured that MCC constituents would value transparency, integrity and a commitment to true repentance over hiding, covering up and denying the systemic nature of this abuse.
Joanna Harader
The response of MCC leadership to reports of harm experienced at the hands of MCC too closely reflects the broader US political culture right now: entrenching in camps of “us” and “them;” being more concerned about perception than truth; treating the most vulnerable as a problem rather than as beloveds who require special care. I know that this attitude does not represent the heart of Mennonite Central Committee.
Kathryn Smith Derksen
Sexual violence and corruption happen, unfortunately. It's how you deal with them that matters. Blaming a rape victim for her rape, asking country reps to address fraud with a partner and then blaming and firing the rep for trying to push back on fraud or report it - these are abuse, and this is the reason why we speak out now.
Elizabeth & Paul Derksen Brown
We care deeply about MCC and the impact that it has around the world. As active church members committed to the values of peace, justice, and truth-telling, we write with deep concern about MCC’s ongoing response to survivor reports of harm. How can an organization that refuses to address the cancer of abuse and misuse of power hold any moral authority to address issues of justice elsewhere?
Carol Penner
I encourage MCC to hire an independent third-party to investigate how abuse allegations are handled; why are so many hurt people not finding resolution within the organization?
Perhaps you think an external investigation is too expensive. The eroding of trust from MCC donors is going to be far more expensive in the long run.
Lesley and Marianne Fast
Even when mistakes are made, and however long ago, things can be made right. Forgiveness, restoration and healing are available through, and because of, our Lord, Jesus Christ… We urge you to do all in your power to facilitate forgiveness, restoration and healing for all (former) MCC workers and their families.
Clayton Grassick
As an organization, it’s risky and frightening to hand an investigation off to a neutral and credible external investigator who could shine a unflattering light on years of practices, but it’s ultimately the best way forward.
And so, I call on MCC to commit to a full and independent investigation into this matter, with a public report and with victims having full approval of both the investigator and scope.