A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

an Education. 20 390 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH IV. Cooperation on a Continental Level The vision of Mennonite Brethren has been broadened and their mission has been strengthened by their association and cooperation with other groups on a continental (North American) level. In Ministries of Compassion 2 ' Of greatest significance for Mennonite Brethren in all their inter-church relations during the past fifty years has been their involvement in the work of the Mennonite Central Committee. Organized on July 27, 1920, in response to a "Macedonian call" from the starving and suffering Mennonites in Russia, this inter-Mennonite agency has truly been "a Christian resource to meet human need" during a period of unprecedented world upheavals and human suffering. The desire to respond to man's need with a witness of Christian love and peace grew in vision and compulsion as various emergencies were faced both within and without the brotherhood. Through the MCC the M.B. constituency has served and been served in ministries which it could not have carried on alone. As Marion W. Kliewer expressed it in 1960: "Together with other Mennonites we have been able to reach out to help many needy peoples and to witness of our faith to the world." 22 In God's providence, a Mennonite Brethren educa- tor and leader, P. C. Hiebert, was destined to play a key role in the founding and expansion of this relief and service agency. For thirty- three years (1920-53) Hiebert served as chairman of MCC. The services of MCC have been administered largely through five main sections: Foreign Relief and Services, Voluntary Service, Peace Section, Mennonite Mental Health Services and Mennonite Aid Section. 23 In addition, a number of subsidiary or related organizations have operated under the MCC umbrella: Mennonite Indemnity, Inc., Menno Travel Service (MTS), and Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). In reflecting on fifty years of MCC work and witness, long-time executive secretary William T. Synder made the following observations at the annual meeting in Chicago in January, 1970: These have been years of terrific upheaval world-wide, but they have also been years of forward movement on the part of Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches. Slightly over 4500 persons have served under appointment of the Mennonite Central Committee for longer or shorter periods of time during the past fifty years. Our service has been in areas of strife, rapid social change, and outright weir. I believe that the Mennonite Central Committee has maintained its service stance during the past fifty years that have also seen the growth in mission and service thrusts for the individual conference programs. Our people have not been on the barricades in the political and social revolution, but there has been a quiet revolution in our churches with greater numbers of people getting involved in the acute problems of our ti