Metropolitan Community Church

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Logo of the Metropolitan Community Churches

The Metropolitan Community Church (in full, The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches or UFMCC, or more commonly MCC) is an international fellowship of Christian congregations. It is considered by many to be a liberal mainline denomination or communion. There are currently 250 member congregations in 23 countries, and the Fellowship has a specific outreach to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. The Fellowship has Official Observer status with the World Council of Churches. The MCC has been repeatedly denied membership in the National Council of Churches, but many local MCC congregations are members of local ecumenical partnerships around the world and MCC currently belongs to seven state-wide councils of churches in the United States.

1 Theology and sociology
2 Governance and administration
3 History
4 Music
5 Notable clergy
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Theology and sociology

MCC bases its theology on the Apostles' and Nicene creeds, and requires all its clergy, leaders, and member congregations recognize these creeds. Every church is required to offer the Eucharist at least once a week, and to practice open communion, meaning that recipients need not be a member of the MCC or any other church to receive the Eucharist. Communion can be presided over by either a member of the clergy or by a designated lay person; in some congregations the pastor or clergy rarely preside. Beyond that MCC allows its member churches independence in doctrine, worship, and practice. Worship styles vary widely from church to church.

MCC sees its mission being social as well as spiritual by standing up for the rights of minorities, particularly those of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people (LGBT). MCC has been a leading force in the development of Queer theology. Many local churches are also involved with other national and international campaigns, including Trade Justice and Make Poverty History.

Among its social justice work, MCC has a strong commitment to marriage equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. MCC's founder, the Rev. Elder Troy Perry, performed the first public same-sex marriage in the United States in Huntington Park, California in 1969. In 1970, he filed the first lawsuit in the U.S. seeking legal recognition for same-sex marriages. Perry lost that lawsuit but launched the debate over marriage equality in the U.S. Today, MCC congregations around the world perform more than 6000 same-sex union/marriage ceremonies annually.

The Rev. Brent Hawkes and the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto were key players in the legal action that ultimately brought same-sex marriage to Canada.

For many the defining aspect of MCC's theology is its position on homosexuality and Christianity where it fully embraces and welcomes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Indeed, the majority of members are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, with many clergy being openly LGBT. MCC fully affirms the ministry of both men and women, seeing them as equal, and the recent election of the Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson as Moderator makes MCC one of a small number of communions with female senior leadership. Additionally, it is almost unique in having the majority of current senior leaders being women.

[edit] Governance and administration

[edit] Leadership

MCC is led by a Board of Elders (BOE) and a Board of Administration (BOA). The Board of Elders consists of a Moderator, Vice-Moderator, and 7 regional Elders. The BOE has responsibility for leading the Fellowship on matters of spirituality, mission development, and Christian witness. Currently 7 out of the 9 member Board of Elders are women. The Board of Administration is made up of up to seven members appointed by the Board of Elders and is the legal corporate board of the denomination, handling responsibility for financial and fiduciary matters. The two Boards are assisted by a small permanent staff, headed by the Executive Director, currently the Rev. Dr. Cindi Love.

The current Board of Elders is made up of:

Previously headquartered in West Hollywood, California, USA, all denominational offices have been dispersed to a number of strategic locations over the last 23 months. MCC can be contacted through the office of the Executive Director at PO Box 1374, Abilene, TX 79604, USA,

MCC divides the World into 7 regions each served by an elder (broadly similar to a Bishop - although the use of this term is controversial within the denomination) who has authority to affiliate and disaffiliate churches, appoint regional staff and spend funds from the regional budget. They have no direct control over the permanent election of pastors or the day-to-day operation of congregations, instead their role is to support the pastors and local congregations.

[edit] General Conference

Internationally, the government of the UFMCC is vested in the bi-annual General Conference, subject to the provisions of the Fellowship Articles of Incorporation, its Bylaws, or documents of legal organization. The General Conference is authorized to receive the reports from the various Boards, Committees, Commissions and Councils of the Fellowship. Throughout its history the General Conference has met both in and outside of the continental United States, in places such as Sydney, Australia and Toronto and Calgary, Canada. The next General Conference in 2007 will be held in Phoenix, Arizona, following which the General Conference will meet tri-annually beginning in 2010.

[edit] Local congregations

Each affiliated member church of MCC is a self-governing, legally autonomous body, is vested in its Congregational Meeting which exerts the right to control all of its affairs, subject to the provisions of the UFMCC Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, or documents of legal organization, and the General Conference. An ordained Pastor provides spiritual leadership and administrative leadership as the moderator of a local church administrative body. In the United States and Canada the local church administrative body is usually called "board of directors". Each local congregation sends a tithe of income to UFMCC, currently set at 14% of income. Each local church elects its own pastor from the roster of MCC credentialed clergy.

Each local congregation is free to determine matters of worship, practice, theology and ministry providing they meet certain basic requirements involving open access to communion and subscription to the traditional Christian creeds. Styles of worship include liturgical, charismatic, evangelical, traditional and modern - diversity is an important part of MCC.

[edit] Multi-denominational Affiliation

A recent innovation has been for some MCC congregations to explore multi-denominational affiliation. New Spirit Community Church in Berkeley, California was an outreach of MCC San Francisco, and in addition to MCC affiliation, has affiliated with the United Church of Christ and is In Care with the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ.

[edit] History

Troy Perry preaching in 2006 at an MCC Church in Minnesota.

The first congregation was founded in Los Angeles by the Rev.Troy Perry in 1968, a time when Christian attitudes toward homosexuality were almost universally negative. MCC has grown since then to have a presence in 23 countries with 250 affiliated churches. During that time many local congregations have been the victims of homophobic hate crimes and more than 6000 members were lost during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s.

Troy Perry served as moderator of the Fellowship until 2005 when Nancy Wilson was elected by the General Conference as moderator. Wilson was formally installed as moderator in a special service at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. on October 29, 2005. Photos and videos can be viewed here [1].

[edit] Music

There are a number of musicians within MCC who have explored Christian music within a LGBT context. Among the most notable are Marsha Stevens and the Rev Delores P Berry.