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Akron, Pa.
New MCC meeting and orientation centre dedicated


A gravel path leads you to a brightly-painted building with rough stucco walls and a corrugated metal roof. The floor is cool concrete. A ceiling fan purrs over your bed. The towel rack is bamboo, from Vietnam; the mirror, bedspread and curtains are from India.

No, you’re not in a developing country. Welcome to the Welcoming Place.

When Mennonite Central Committee began developing ideas for its new meeting and orientation centre, it asked planners to focus on the values of simplicity, frugality and hospitality, with an international flair.

The first guests to sleep at the Welcoming Place. In front is Herb Heppner from MCC Canada. Behind, left to right is: Angelika Dawson from MCC BC, Bruce Hildebrand and Carol Thiessen from MCC Canada. All four stayed in the Africa House from June 9 to 13th, and participated in the Communications Meetings, which preceeded the Annual Meeting. MCC news photos by Tony Siemens

A fifth key concept, creativity, came into play as the Welcoming Place was built this past year. Its first visitors, members of the MCC board of directors, celebrated the centre’s completion with a dedication service June 15.

As facilities committee member Dave Cressman explained, the little village of the Welcoming Place represents in many ways what MCC is about – in its design, materials, furnishing, decor, even heating and cooling.

Visitors will find the Welcoming Place’s global emphasis most immediately apparent. On a hill above a multipurpose building called the Meeting Place, four structures, each housing 22 people, represent four regions of the world – Asia, Africa, the Middle East/Europe, and the Americas. Each is decorated with designs and cultural artifacts from its corresponding continent.

In addition to items like Bangladeshi rattan furniture obtained through Ten Thousand Villages, gifts to MCC from international partners may be found, such as an Egyptian Coptic Orthodox cross in one conference room in the Meeting Place. A batik wall hanging in the Africa house was brought by Siaka Traore of Burkina Faso, a guest at this year’s MCC annual meeting.

The Welcoming Place offers hospitality to visitors by providing spaces both for group interaction and privacy. A shared living area and efficiency kitchen in each housing unit give places for people to gather informally, along with porches and indoor and outdoor fireplaces. Secluded corners with comfortable chairs invite restful solitude.

Although frugality is less apparent to the eye, it can be found everywhere. Donated wood from old barns is used throughout the centre as steps, doors, shelves, desks, tables, wardrobes and trim. Large rocks, unwanted at other construction sites, give interest and dimension to the landscaping. Local churches contributed mattresses, and individuals gave countless hours of volunteer labour. In all, the Welcoming Place cost $5 million US, although as Bruce McCrae, director of administration and resources, noted, “There were many bills we never saw.”

Such functionality infused with meaning doesn’t happen by accident. Four planners and builders, including architect Gregory Scott, began the design process with a trip to Egypt and India. They met MCC workers and craft producers, and saw for themselves what life in developing countries is like. This journey laid the groundwork for the tasks ahead and forged a bond between the group members, said Sue Shirk, MCC administrative service director.

For many of the workers, the centre became not just a job but a mission. How many bed frames are put together – by volunteers – with the words, “God bless you,” written in carpenters glue between pieces? Excavators agreed to the job with a handshake, not a contract.

The biggest debate about the facility was whether to install air conditioners in the housing units (they weren’t). And would fireplaces be used enough to make them worth the cost?

The architect, Gregory J. Scott from Lancaster, Pa.

(Judging from the first use of the facility, in 800F weather, the answer is yes.)

Although the extensive and unusual use of concrete was encouraged – including concrete kitchen countertops – planners nixed the idea of concrete bathtubs. The bright colours brought concerns; the interior of one house was painted three times.

There is not an Amish quilt to be found.

“MCC takes some pride in taking risks – perverse pride, maybe,” said Paul Quiring of the facilities committee, drawing laughter at the dedication service. “They like to champion the underdog, take positions that aren’t popular. Well, this is a risky venture. It is not Lancaster County out there.”

What the Welcoming Place does show, he said, is “respect for the cultures and places MCC has been and where it is going in the future.”

MCC executive director Ron Mathies told of a former MCC worker who slowly and nostalgically walked through the Africa house. “This,” she said afterwards, “has been a spiritual experience.”

 – Cathleen Hockman–Wert for Meetinghouse

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Last modified October 10, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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