Overview

In 1975, Mennonite Central Committee Canada established the Ottawa Office to monitor and interpret government policy for its Mennonite and Brethren in Christ constituency, and to undertake advocacy to government on behalf of its national and international programs. William Janzen was the first director of MCC's Ottawa Office, a position he held for thirty-three years. In this volume, he shares a rich collection of stories from those years of ""advocating for peace.""

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9781926599663

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This collection of stories by the inaugural director of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada's Ottawa Office provides a unique window into Mennonite political engagement in the Canadian context... If it was hard but possible to make a difference in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, rising political partisanship in both church and society made MCC's advocacy efforts all the more challenging toward the end of Janzen's time in the Ottawa Office (and in the years since). Yet certainly this is all the more reason for Mennonites and other faith communities to be more reflective and strategic in their pursuit of peace and justice in the political realm. Paul C. Heidebrecht The Conrad Grebel Review 39, no 1 (Winter 2021)

Author Information

William (Bill) Janzen grew up in a Mennonite community in Saskatchewan. He studied at Canadian Mennonite Bible College, aforerunner of Canadian Mennonite University, and at the University of Winnipeg. He obtained an M.A. from the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, another M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Ottawa, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Carleton. From 1963 to 1966 he worked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo under Mennonite Central Committee and from 1971 to 1976 he was a part-time minister at the Ottawa Mennonite Church where he has been a member ever since. He served as director of the Ottawa Office of Mennonite Central Committee from 1975 to 2008, albeit with several 'leaves of absence' including two years in Egypt.

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