MCC Abuse Survivors Together

The June 11, 2024 open letter to the global constituency of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), detailing serious concerns about workplace abuse within MCC, has been broadly supported. Over 1500 have signed a related petition. The close relationship between MCC and Mennonite identity makes the revelations in the open letter particularly painful, while also making change complex.

So far, MCC leaders’ responses give no indication of choosing a different path. MCC leaders consistently seem more concerned about their image than about truth, justice, or accountability.

Therefore, to coordinate ongoing efforts to hold MCC to account for its abusive behaviour, the group MCC Abuse Survivors Together (MAST) launched on September 5, 2024. The MAST steering committee includes open letter signatories as well as other MCC survivors and allies.

MAST seeks justice for survivors of MCC abuse, accountability for MCC, and transparency for the MCC constituency.

In addition to our efforts to hold MCC accountable, we seek to offer a space to support survivors. We continue to invite survivors to report their stories confidentially, track and report cases of abuse, and offer platforms for survivors to publicly share their stories. We will engage in advocacy in pursuit of these goals.

We seek to expose the truth about abusive behaviour so that harm against MCC staff and partners can end. Our ultimate goal is not to destroy MCC as an organization, but to pursue justice, truth, and healing within the broader community of Mennonites who support MCC. We long to see our communities become places where survivors’ stories are believed, harm is repaired, and offenders are held accountable.[1]

[1] Judith Herman, Truth and Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice (Basic Books, 2023), 3–4; Kathryn Post, “New Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse Report from Fordham Charts a Path Forward,” Religion News Service, February 9, 2023, https://religionnews.com/2023/02/09/new-catholic-clergy-sexual-abuse-report-from-fordham-charts-a-path-forward/.