MAST continues to hear from survivors on a regular basis. We are now aware of 60 cases of “bad endings” with MCC. One theme that often emerges is the extreme pain that many feel due to isolation from their communities in the aftermath of their bad ending with MCC.

…the unquestioned loyalty to MCC in many congregations adds to a sense of shame and isolation…

One survivor shared with MAST that they had not even written about the events in their journal, even years after being fired and pressured into signing an NDA as a condition for receiving a severance package. This person says, “I hid because I was ashamed. I sold my house, left the area. I couldn’t go to church in case ___ (MCC leader) showed up. No one ever reached out to see if I was OK.”

The Executive Directors downplay the seriousness of the investigation results, making it sound like MCC’s only mistake was not to respond more quickly to concerns that, they imply, were unfounded anyway.

It is concerning to MAST that MCC continues to imply that wrongdoing or harm might not be “clear” in this case.

In response to MCC’s plans for a “listening space where further engagement can happen with those who desire it,” MAST says, “The creation of a “listening space” that is controlled by MCC is a classic divide-and-conquer tactic, and way to contain the problem so that MCC is not held publicly accountable. Such a space does not prevent abuse from continuing and can cause more harm to those who come forward.”

Guest post 2 on NDAs by Into Account Executive Director Stephanie Krehbiel.

The short version: NDAs sustain and reproduce the most spiritually violent tendencies in organizational cultures. Abuse of all kinds–sexual, psychological, financial, spiritual, physical, emotional–thrives in cultures of silence. The normalization of NDAs makes that silence feel both necessary and legally enforceable.

Guest post 1 on NDAs by Into Account Executive Director Stephanie Krehbiel.

I've been trying for years to get Mennonites to start paying attention to abuse-related NDAs, and mostly I feel like I've failed. Mennonites have so much trouble believing that their institutions are like other institutions. But that's the case for every religious group that has its own institutions… The comprehensive silence they can buy with that hush money is just far too tempting.

Are we a “peace church”? A leading producer of avant-garde “peace theology”? Founders of a globally significant “peace organization”? The ultimate apologists for Christian non-violence? I long to see “non-violence” begin to refer not only to our refusal of military service and our migrations to avoid conscription, but to the work of naming and identifying our own violence, hearing from those who have been harmed by it, confessing and rejecting it, and repairing the harm it has caused….

When stories of marginalization, betrayal and pain – carefully documented and courageously shared – can be honored and believed in our communities as part of our very “catechesis,” then our communities can become places where “harm is repaired and offenders are held accountable.”

Remembering is truth-telling, remorse is to feel the pain and the loss or the trauma that was caused. And then repent to ask for forgiveness. Our repair helps us reach out to heal and restore what was broken. And if you stumble on any of them in the process, go back! - Elona Street-Stewart

It really bothers us when MCC states or implies that we have “declined to participate” in mediation opportunities, or refers to the ongoing legal proceedings as a way to suggest that we have non-restorative intentions or are constraining MCC to communicate with us only through a legal process that we have initiated.

John Clarke and I took this opportunity to write to board members to once again clarify our motivation for filing complaints to the Quebec Labour board, and our ongoing desire for restorative conversation outside the purview of the legal process.

The bottom line seems to be something like this: “If you see anything that seems to be wrong, you must report it, but only to us, and we won’t tell anyone, including you, or even MCC leaders, what we will do with your report. If you report concerns in any other way, you will be in violation of policy and could be fired.” HR Directors will know everything, and no one else will know anything.

How is this “having our theology, alternative dispute resolution processes and restorative justice principles help inform policies, procedures and organizational culture as we care for the people who serve with us”?

Who hurt Lena? A parable about harm by institutions.