MCC Cuts Facilitated Conversations Short, Leaving Full Story Unheard
MCC boards have ended the facilitated conversations with John Clarke and Anicka Fast prematurely, even as board members in the conversations acknowledge some harm and recognize the need for systemic change.
After three sessions of facilitated conversation (Dec. 3, 10, and 17, 2025) in which John and Anicka began to carefully share their story with two MCC board members, the MCC boards indicated their unwillingness to extend the facilitators’ contract. This meant that the conversations had to wrap up after only two additional sessions, which focused on Q&A with the board members. These final two sessions (Feb. 10 and March 2, 2026) felt much more painful than the first three because John and Anicka no longer felt safe to continue sharing their story after the withdrawal of the commitment to hear them out; the need (on which all parties agreed) to hear some response from the board members to what they had heard so far was in sharp tension with the fact that board members were responding to a very partial and truncated narrative of the events in question. Read on for details and analysis of what was discussed – which included some admissions of wrongdoing by MCC board members and some growing awareness of systemic problems inside MCC – as well as full closing statements from all participants.
Nonviolent Pressure Builds: Updates on MAST Advocacy, Letter‑Writing Campaign, and MCC Boards’ Limited Responses
In late 2025, MAST issued a general call for letters to the MCC US boards ahead of their October meetings in Akron. More than 20 people responded with public letters, urging the boards to (1) commit to an external investigation of all allegations, (2) release survivors from NDAs, and (3) accept the proposed conversation parameters with John Clarke and Anicka Fast.
MAST has learned from a source that the allegations continued to be minimized and dismissed at the board meetings, while discussion focused overwhelmingly on anger that board members’ emails had been leaked.
In the week following the board meetings, the MCC US and Canada national boards agreed to the facilitators’ proposed parameters for a conversation with John and Anicka. And in December, the West Coast MCC board chairs invited another survivor couple, Kathryn and Dan Smith Derksen, to a “listening session” to hear their story. However, MCC has offered no response to the letter-writers’ requests for an external investigation and an end to the use of NDAs.
Overall, MCC’s “listening” continues to be limited in scope and unaccompanied by action for accountability and repair. MCC continues to try to control the timeline and the process of listening to survivors.
UPDATED - MCC board chairs respond to letters from church leaders (+ responses from church leaders)
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.
Survivors Are Still Waiting. Speak Up Before MCC US October Board Meetings
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.