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MCC Canada Victims’ Voice Program

  • MCC CA
  • Corporate body
  • 1998-2011

MCC Canada’s Victims’ Voice program began as an initiative of MCC Canada's Victim Offender Ministries program in 1998. Throughout the 1990s, Victim Offender Ministries had developed new and innovative ways of providing support to victims of crime; in 1996, it initiated a voluntary service assignment to create a network of victims committed to restorative justice principles, working together on issues of self-help and healing, advocacy, and social and legal change. In 1998, this new initiative became known as the Victims’ Voice Program. Its mandate was to give victim-centred, emotional support programming to victims of violence while building a national network of victims committed to advocacy and social change. The program was guided by restorative justice principles, and allowed people to work together on issues of self-help, healing and advocacy.

The Victims’ Voice program attracted significant attention from government officials, community organizations, and churches. Responding to invitations from legislators, justice and corrections officials, community organizations, and churches, the program coordinator traveled across Canada presenting a victim’s perspective on criminal and restorative justice. Victims’ Voice also worked with other MCC Canada Restorative Justice programs and MCC-related agencies including prison visitation ministries, victim offender reconciliation programs, and conflict resolution agencies across Canada. A significant activity undertaken by Victims’ Voice during its mandate was its publication of the newsletter, Pathways. The newsletter's target audience included family survivors of homicide and aimed to create and maintain a support network for them. The program also published a blog titled Lemonaide, which by 2010 reported heavy user interaction.

Ca. 2000, Victims’ Voice became an autonomous program within MCC Canada’s National Program Department, acting independently of the Restorative Justice Program. The program coordinated its own activities and initiatives during this time, which included the Victim’s Companion Program and the Safe Justice Encounters Program. The Victims' Voice program also served an advisory role for various victim advocacy and justice organizations.

The Victims’ Voice program ended in 2011 when the Program Coordinator position was vacated. Although the program ended, MCC Canada continued its activities of supporting victims within the Restorative Justice program with the intention that future support would be managed through grants and new initiatives within that program.

MCC Canada Women’s Concerns Program

  • MCC CA
  • Corporate body
  • 1987-2007

MCC Canada’s Women’s Concerns program came out of the work of the MCC Binational Committee on Women’s Concerns, which was established to guide the work of the MCC Binational Peace Section Task Force on Women in Church and Society in 1973. The Binational Committee on Women’s Concerns consisted of members from the U.S. and, beginning in 1975, also members from Canada. The Canadian members reported to MCC Canada’s Peace and Social Concerns Committee, which had recently become independent of the MCC Binational Peace Section. The Binational Committee was concerned about the representation of women and their needs within MCC programs.

Following reviews of the Binational Committee in 1980 and 1982, a permanent Binational Committee on Women’s Concerns was established; it reported to and received funding from both the MCC Binational Peace Section and the MCC Canada Peace and Social Concerns Committee. A half-time staff person was appointed to the program in 1984 and the goals of the program expanded to focus on family violence, working towards more equal male/female representation in leadership positions within MCC, and greater dialogue with provincial directors in order to work together on women’s concerns.

MCC Canada’s newly established National Program Department (established in 1981 as the Canadian Programs Department) aimed to prioritize the work of the Committee on Women’s Concerns throughout the mid-1980s while significant momentum was developing for MCC Canada to establish its own program independent of the MCC Binational program. By 1988, an MCC Canada Women’s Concerns program had been established as an autonomous program under MCC Canada’s National Program Department; it worked alongside, but separately from, the Binational Committee on Women’s Concerns (which continued to exist until 1991).

In 2003, the mandate of the MCC Canada Women’s Concerns program was revised as the program began working with the Women’s Network, a network of provincial MCC Women’s Concerns Committees. The national program also officially changed its name to “Women’s Network” and began to serve as the Network’s national body. Ca. 2007, the national program was disbanded while many of its functions and activities continued within the MCC Canada Abuse Response and Prevention Network, a network of MCC abuse response and prevention programs run by MCC British Columbia and MCC Manitoba working together with MCC Canada’s Restorative Justice Program.

MCC Low German Programs

  • MCC CA
  • Corporate body
  • 1977 -

MCC’s initial relief and development work with Low German Mennonites in Mexico began in the 1950s following a drought. Relief work was handed over to other Mennonite missions and service agencies in the Cuauhtemoc area until 1973 when MCC Canada formed the Mexico Concerns Advisory Committee (1973-1975), later renamed the Kanadier Mennonite Colonization Committee (1975-1977). The Committee was active in Low German Mennonite Communities in Mexico.

In 1977, the Kanadier Concerns Program was initiated under the direction of Arthur Driedger, Overseas Director and former MCC Manitoba director, under the umbrella of MCC Binational. The program’s mandate was to address the challenges of social, economic and cultural change in Low German Mennonite colonies, support community projects and education initiatives, and to assist migrant families from the colonies as they adapted to cultural and social realities in Canada. In 1981, MCC Canada assumed control and responsibility over Kanadier programming in northern Mexico in addition to the work of the program that occurred in Canada. MCC Canada’s Kanadier Concerns Program became more independent of the Binational Kanadier Program although it continued to work under the Binational Overseas Services Department.. MCC Canada’s program’s relationship with the Akron office gradually took on a more consultative nature in the 1990s.

An early initiative of the Kanadier Concerns program was the publication of Die Mennonitische Post, a German-language newspaper printed bi-weekly in Steinbach, Manitoba, and distributed in Mexico, Bolivia, Belize, Argentina, Paraguay, Canada, and the USA. The first issue was published on April 21, 1977 with Abe Warkentin as editor, under a separate board responsible to MCC Canada. A supplemental monthly publication for children and youth titled Das Blatt Fur Kinder und Jugend was added in 1989.

The Kanadier Concerns Programs were renamed Low German Programs following a 2001 program review. Following 2012 restructuring within MCC Canada and the dismantling of MCC Binational, Low German Programs in northern Mexico became the responsibility of MCC in Mexico, and MCC Canada's National Program Department became responsible for Low German programs in Canada.

Low German Programs continue to provide services to Low German-speaking Mennonites internationally and through the provincial MCC’s in Ontario and Alberta (the MCC Manitoba and MCC Saskatchewan Low German programs ended in June 2019 and March 2020 respectively). MCC Canada’s Low German Program continues to publish Die Mennonitische Post and Das Blatt from Steinbach and distribute it around the world in Low German Mennonite communities.

MCC Voluntary Service Programs

  • MCC CA
  • Corporate body
  • 1946- ca. 2011.

MCC's Voluntary Service programs were established in the years following the Second World War. During the Second World War, MCC provided service assignments for men who were conscientious objectors through the Civilian Public Service program (CPS) in the U.S. and the Alternative Service program in Canada. In 1944, a group of women in the U.S. asked MCC to provide a similar form of service opportunity and in response two Summer Service units for women at psychiatric institutions were established. In 1946, MCC developed an ongoing voluntary service program with a set of standards and goals. In the first four years of the program, twelve voluntary service units were organized to do relief and service work with migrant workers, in mental hospitals and juvenile detention centres, to help alleviate teacher shortages, and as part of rural and community development.

In 1948, David Schroeder was appointed by MCC to extend the Summer Service program into Canada; by this point the program included both women and men. By 1959, 98 young people were involved in the Summer Service program in both the U.S. and Canada.

In 1952, Harvey Taves from the MCC Kitchener Office proposed to build on the success of the Summer Service program and developed a year-round Voluntary Service program in Canada. The first year-round Voluntary Service workers began work at the Ontario Hospital in 1953. Taves also developed Voluntary Service opportunities for teachers and nurses at an MCC-run foster home, clinics, and hospitals in Newfoundland. Voluntary Service opportunities quickly multiplied; between 1940 and 1970, over 900 Canadians served at least one year in the Voluntary Service program.

Newly established, MCC Canada assumed responsibility for administration of MCC Summer Service and Voluntary Service programming in Canada in 1965 and 1967, consecutively. The Voluntary Service program had been established as a united North American program; Canadian projects were administered from the MCC Office in Winnipeg while U.S. and International projects were administered from the MCC Office in Akron. The program operated as one until 1975, when MCC added a U.S. Ministries section to oversee programming in the U.S. The program divided by country and MCC Canada and MCC U.S. began to operate Voluntary Service separately, although they continued to cooperate with one another. In 1976, the MCC Canada Voluntary Service program was restructured to became jointly owned by MCC Canada and the five provincial MCC’s.

MCC’s Voluntary Service programs reached their height in the mid-1980s. By 1987, over 160 individuals served across Canada and more than 500 MCC workers served in 50 countries around the world. Voluntary Service workers committed to two-year terms when serving in Canada or the U.S. and three-year terms when serving internationally. MCC Canada also instituted a Local Voluntary Service option which made it possible for people who were unable to leave their homes to serve with MCC through local community endeavors. In Canada, Voluntary Service workers served in many of the national MCC programs including Handicap Concerns, Native Concerns, Women’s Concerns, and Eastern Canada programs.

In 1991, another shift was made in Canada, whereby the five provincial MCCs assumed full and sole responsibility for the Voluntary Service programs in their provinces while MCC Canada remained responsible only for Voluntary Service programs in parts of the country without provincial coordinators, like Eastern Canada. While resulting in the loss of a single national Voluntary Service program in Canada, MCC Canada’s Voluntary Service program continued to provide some overall direction and coordination to the provincial Voluntary Service programs at the national level.

Throughout and following the 1990s, Voluntary Service numbers began to fall and new shorter-term MCC service programs including SALT (Serving and Learning Together), Summerbridge, the Summer Service Program, and SOOP (Service Opportunities for Older People) became more popular both in North America and internationally.

In the early 2000s, the term ‘voluntary’ became problematic as changing government regulations required volunteers receiving stipends or allowances to be considered employees, and adjustments were demanded of MCC Service Programs. In 2003, the Canadian Voluntary Service Program dropped the word ‘voluntary’ and was thereafter known as the Service Program to align with terminology already used in the U.S. and International Programs.

The previously titled Voluntary Service Program ended ca. 2011 while MCC’s short-term service programs continue to be popular.

Meadow Lake Mennonite Brethren Church (Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan)

  • CA-CMBS-2021
  • Corporate body
  • 1930?-1994

The Meadow Lake Mennonite Brethren Church was first organized as the Compass Mennonite Brethren Church in the 1930s with Frank Janzen as the first pastor of a congregation of 50 people. In 1957, the church moved to Rapid View. At the same time, the Baptist church moved to Loon Lake, so some of the local Baptist members joined the Mennonite Brethren church. In 1961, members purchased a small Lutheran church in Meadow Lake and held their services in town. In 1965 and in 1978, they erected a larger building.
Since 1994, the church is known as the Northwest Community Church.

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