History

Mennonite Central Committee was founded in 1920, primarily as a response to needs overseas. When domestic programming began in the United States, it was at first administered out of what is now known as MCC Binational. During the 1930s and 1940s, MCC Peace Section began the development of peace and justice activity in the U.S., and in particular was active in advocating for alternatives to military service for conscientious objectors to war.

In the mid to late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a flurry of activity to expand MCC programming in the U.S. In 1974, West Coast MCC was created and in 1979 was formally incorporated. In 1975, a “department of U.S. ministries” was created in MCC, and in 1979, MCC U.S. was formed to assume overall responsibility for MCC domestic programs in the U.S. MCC U.S. was responsible for the Washington Office, Peace and Justice Ministries (formerly the Peace Section), and Community Ministries (formerly the U.S. Service Program). In 1977, the North Newton, Kansas, MCC office designated itself as the Central States region and was incorporated in 1983. MCC East Coast and MCC Great Lakes were both officially formed in 1980, but neither region is separately incorporated.

In 1998, the MCC U.S. board approved a “Vision and Structure for Mennonite Central Committee U.S. and the Regions” which provided for the regionalization of Community Ministries and some peace and justice programming. In other words, regional boards were given ownership over programming within their jurisdictions. In 2000 MCC U.S. became separately incorporated. Since 1998, the four regional MCCs have expanded their programming while also continuing to generate resources for and promote the international work of MCC. An evaluation of this new structure for the MCCs in the U.S. was conducted in 2002-2003, with recommendations emerging for greater clarity about roles and accountability among the five MCCs in the U.S. In response to those recommendations, a “Memorandum of Understanding Between MCC U.S., the Regions, the Washington Office, and MCC U.S. Peace and Justice Ministries” (MOU) was developed and approved by all five MCCs in 2004 with provisions for review in 2007.

The North Group study in 2006-2007 of the way administrative functions (e.g., human resources, financial services and communications) are organized in the U.S. also recommended greater clarity on the different roles of the MCCs in the U.S. as well as a strengthened role for MCC U.S. This Elkhorn Agreement was initiated in 2007 to  clarify roles and accountability mechanisms for the MCCs in the U.S. Its structure has been modeled on the Red River Accord developed by the Canadian MCCs. The Elkhorn Agreement builds on the provisions of the 1998 Vision and Structure document and replaces the 2004 MOU.

In 2008 and 2009 the broader MCC system engaged in a visioning process named New Wine, New Wineskins. Work on the Elkhorn Agreement slowed to incorporate the changes coming from New Wine, New Wineskins.