DownloadJune 22, 2009 issue
MCC’s global future
The fact that Mennonite Central Committee is changing might not at first be welcome news. People will ask, “Have you been tampering with something we love?” said historian Robert Kreider at the MCC binational board June 6.
But the changes MCC anticipates are not meddling. Globalizing is the key word to describe them. They intend to “expand the ownership of MCC to Anabaptist churches around the world,” said John Stoesz, executive director of MCC’s Central States region.
This is a long-term goal. No one knows exactly how a globalized MCC will look. It will take years for it to evolve from a North American-dominated agency into an international one.
Yet this is the way of the future — and of the present — for the world and for the church. The transfer and sharing of power has been happening in Christian missions since the 1960s. Passing away: 20th-century colonialism and disparity. Emerging: 21st-century partnership and equality.
All of us — the givers and the volunteers whom leaders call “the soul of MCC” — can join this movement of God. We can follow MCC’s example of “openness to a future that we cannot fully predict,” Stoesz said. And what is faith but this: stepping into the unknown, believing that God won’t let your foot slip (Psalm 121:3).
It has become popular to speak of joining God’s work in the world. We are to look for what God is already doing, then find the best way to get involved. This may be just a new way of saying we should seek God’s will and do it. But it also makes us aware of God as an actor, not just a “will-er.” The psalmist says God does not “slumber nor sleep” (121:4), and surely an attentive God is no idle observer.
MCC’s move to globalize is an example of joining our actions with an active God. We will learn to look overseas and ask not what we the powerful can do for the weak. We will ask what God is already doing with God’s people there, and how we can be part of it.
Comment on the article MCC’s global future
The purpose of comments is to engage in dialogue. We expect commenters to treat authors and each other as each would want to be treated. Respectful criticism is welcomed; offensive comments or parts of comments will be removed by the site administrator. Name and comment will be posted; email address is for follow-up only and will not be made public.
Download a free PDF showing the populations of
Mennonite groups and other Anabaptists.
