Readers Write: April 2025

MCC statement rings hollow for long-time MCCer

I am one of the 50-plus people who have come forward with an account of serious mistreatment by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). After 17 years with MCC, their handling of a staff conflict shattered me. This happened in recent years.

For the sake of my personal well-being, I have tried to stay quiet on the MCC HR issues, but the February 5 MCC statement regarding the settlement with Anicka Fast and John Clarke has pushed me to speak.

To me, the statement reeks of organizational spin and defensiveness. I am stunned and saddened by MCC’s inability or unwillingness to confess to having hurt people.

My story is one of seeking the restoration of a broken staff relationship. I was fully committed to restoration, and I thought MCC would be too. The reality was different. All my efforts to work toward the restoration of this relationship were rejected by MCC HR and the provincial leadership. I saw no evidence that they were interested in doing the hard work of restoration.

Punishment and arbitrary application of policies was their preferred approach.

There was no avenue of recourse external to MCC for me to pursue.

The February 5 MCC release includes these two statements:
“MCC remains committed to mediation and alternative dispute resolution when conflict and differing perspectives emerge.”

“Our vision is to see communities worldwide in right relationship with God, one another and creation. Our commitment to this vision is not just lip service. It remains a high calling—a North Star, so to speak, as we follow Jesus into the coming decades with humility, passion and faith.”

These statements ring hollow for me and many others.

How has my experience with MCC affected me? My life was shattered. I felt betrayed. The core Christian value of restoration of relationships which MCC has touted worldwide as a core value was proven to be meaningless in my case. I felt that MCC was willing to sacrifice my well-being.

At best, I am agnostic these days. My family and the few others I associate with note a dramatic personality change.

I was once outgoing, engaging and interested in many things. I am now quiet, hesitant and anxious. My life was completely up ended, and it will be a long journey back, if I get there.

For 17 years I had the privilege of travelling around the world for MCC. I met many amazing people and saw many amazing projects, a good number of which exemplified restoration and reconciliation. I would return to my home province and speak at different venues about this work. But when I asked for some of that same grace, the answer was no. Given this, I could no longer work for MCC with any integrity.

I resigned. No one from MCC ever reached out to me after that to see how I was doing or just to check in. It was as if I no longer existed.

I know that it would have been difficult for them to do that, but it felt like after a 17-year relationship I was no longer a brother in Christ to them.

– Name withheld

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Pacifist empire

What is it that drives God-fearing/loving Mennonite “pacifists” to, time and again throughout their history, accept lands liberated through the violence of the state (Russia, U.S., Canada, Mexico, Paraguay, Bolivia, etc.)?

How is it that what these pacifists subsequently celebrate is the “hardships” en route to once again having the opportunity to build empire?

– Peter Reimer (online comment in response to a documentary about Mennonite migration to Canada)

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Smacked

I am writing about this quote from Ryan Dueck’s Deeper Communion column in the February issue: “My heart felt heavy. Was it Parkinson’s? I have seen people endure this wretched disease, some for long periods of time. I know of the various ways it comes like a thief to steal, kill and destroy.”

As a person diagnosed with Parkinson’s this past year, I felt like I had been smacked upside the head when I read that.
Those of us who live with Parkinson’s know the road ahead may be tough. We do not need such a stark reminder. We also know that with the medications available, we can live reasonably well.

I am sure that, like me, many wonder and worry about what the future holds. This is what made it so hard to understand why someone would be quite so graphic when it could have been left out. I am sure that Ryan meant no harm but my heart ached after reading his statement.

Thank you for a great magazine which I enjoy reading each month. Blessings.

– Ruth Martin, London, Ontario (Valleyview Mennonite Church)

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Dangerous deprivation

Thanks again for another articulate and thoughtful editorial (“An intense editorial in three parts,” February 2025). It concludes with the challenge, “If you, like me, live without a mobile phone….” I find this problematic.

With the disappearance of public payphones, in the event of a personal or family emergency away from a land line, the absence of a mobile phone means you are severely and dangerously disadvantaged. While strangers will almost invariably loan you their cellphone, you have to first find that person, something that can be very difficult when you become stuck in the middle of a snowstorm at minus 40 degree temperatures.

And it’s not just about me: I carry a mobile phone in part so I can be accessible to those who love me and are anxious about my well-being.

– Paul Thiessen, Vancouver (Point Grey Inter-Mennonite Fellowship)