Missionary Service Committee
From BrethrenPedia
Contents |
[edit] Members
Ron Hampton - Prarie Provinces
[edit] Directors
Stephen Burnett Stephen Adams Ted Kay Kirk Dupré
[edit] Officers
President - Russell Sutherland
Vice-President - Bill Yuille
Assistant to the President - Kevin Shantz
Secretary - Patrick Long
Treasurer - Paul Stainton
[edit] Administrative staff
Kevin Shantz works at the office two days per week
[edit] History
From http://msc.on.ca/ABOUT/HISTORY.HTM
The year was 1940. There was a war on in Europe, and as a result of that war the Foreign Exchange Control Board had been set up to prevent funds from Canada being sent abroad for purposes that could be harmful to the Allied war effort. Permits were required even when funds were being sent abroad for the support of missionaries.
Since most of the missionaries commended by the assemblies to the Lord for His service abroad were not affiliated with any established mission board, these restrictions placed a severe burden on these missionaries and their service.
Elders of some of the assemblies in the Toronto area called a meeting of all the assemblies of the area, and presented the problem to them. As a result of this meeting a group of men was chosen to meet with the Foreign Exchange Control Board to see what could be done.
The Board told these men that the intention of the government had never been to prevent the support of missionaries serving abroad, and outlined the procedure needed to obtain permits for the export of funds.
As a result of this meeting a committee was formed to act on behalf of the assemblies to apply for permits, and to forward the funds to the missionaries. The committee was called, "Missionary Service Committee," and began immediately to function as a government-recognized body for the forwarding of funds to assembly commended missionaries. A side benefit was a reduced cost in transmitting funds to the missionaries since the contributions from a number of sources were now being transmitted in one sum to each of the missionaries involved. This reduced such things as bank service charges and handling costs.
When the war ended it was felt that Missionary Service Committee should continue providing this service for the missionaries and for those who support them, whether assemblies or individuals.
In October of 1959 the committee was incorporated as "Missionary Service Committee Inc." Since its beginning in 1940 the committee was recognized by the Income Tax authorities as a charity, and in 1967 registered with Revenue Canada and was granted a registration number. All donations are therefore eligible for an income tax receipt. More recently the name of the committee was legally changed to MSC Canada.
