When Mennonite Central Committee Canada (MCCC) was formed in December 1963, the need for peace education was already part of the thinking, and in October 1964 a temporary Peace and Social Concerns (PSC) Committee (briefly known as "The Peace Committee") was appointed. The areas of responsibility included: peace witness (within the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ constituency, and also to government, other churches, and the world at large), labor relations, social concerns, government contact and alternatives to military service. In 1967, Daniel Zehr was appointed as part-time staff person for the PSC Committee. A full-time staff person was first appointed in 1976.
Since its inception, the "social concerns" have varied and have frequently given rise to new programs, e.g., Native concerns, the Ottawa office (lobbying), and women's concerns. Peace education has, however, remained central to the mandate of the PSC Committee.
Staff members write and speak about peace and justice issues within the Canadian context, and work cooperatively with MCC (International) Peace Section in planning events such as meetings of the Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship and several "peace theology colloquia." They also act as consulting editors for the MCC Peace Section Newsletter and cooperate with other MCC departments and provincial MCCC offices and peace committees.
The committee has occasionally commissioned people to work at projects such as Where We Stand, a collection of peace and social concerns statements made by Canadian Mennonites and Brethren in Christ, 1787-1982, compiled by Bert Friesen; Responses to Militarism, a study packet on militarism in Canada; and The Warman Story, a story of a Mennonite community's response to a proposed uranium refinery. The Peace and Social Concerns Committee has continued to carry out a broad mandate for education and other activities on peace and social concerns with the long-term objective of helping to identify, understand, and assess current issues of peace and justice.
 Additional Information
Mennonite Central Committee (do search for Peace and Justice on MCC search page)
 Cite This Article
Penner, Peter. "Mennonite Central Committee Canada, Peace and Social Concerns Committee." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1990. Web. 18 Jan 2017. http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mennonite_Central_Committee_Canada,_Peace_and_Social_Concerns_Committee&oldid=89685.
Penner, Peter. (1990). Mennonite Central Committee Canada, Peace and Social Concerns Committee. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 January 2017, from http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mennonite_Central_Committee_Canada,_Peace_and_Social_Concerns_Committee&oldid=89685.
©1996-2017 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.