NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Metropolitan Community Church

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. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1050x600, 84 KB)Modern logo of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1050x600, 84 KB)Modern logo of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. ... A fellow in its broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... A congregation is the group of members who make up a local Christian church or Jewish synagogue (or those who are present at a service thereat), as opposed to the building itself. ... In the United States, the mainline (also sometimes called mainstream) denominations are those Protestant denominations with a potpourri of conservative, moderate, and liberal theologies. ... A religious denomination, (also simply denomination) is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name, tradition, and identity. ... A lesbian is a woman who is romantically and sexually attracted only to other women. ... Homosexuality refers to sexual interaction and / or romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Transgender (IPA: , from trans (Latin) and gender (English) ) is an overarching term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at birth, as well as the role traditionally held by society. ... The World Council of Churches (WCC) is an international Christian ecumenical organization. ... The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (usually identified as National Council of Churches, or NCC) is a religious organization currently (2006) consisting of 35 Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, African-American and historic Christian denominations in the United States, and is widely regarded as a leading force... The word ecumenical comes from a Greek word that means pertaining to the whole world. ...

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 celebrate 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. Theology (Greek Î¸ÎµÎ¿Ï‚, theos, God, + Î»Î¿Î³Î¹Î±, logia, words, sayings, or discourse) is reasoned discourse concerning religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... The Apostles Creed (Latin: Symbolum Apostolorum), sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or symbol. ... Icon depicting the Holy Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea holding the Nicene Creed. ... For the death metal band from Sweden, see Eucharist (band) The Eucharist (or Communion or The Lords Supper etc. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... For the death metal band from Sweden, see Eucharist (band) The Eucharist (or Communion or The Lords Supper etc. ... Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... In religious organizations, the laity comprises all lay persons collectively. ... A pastor is a minister or priest of a Christian church. ... Doctrine, from Latin doctrina, (compare doctor), means a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system. ... Worship usually refers to specific acts of religious praise, honour, or devotion, typically directed to a supernatural being such as a god or goddess. ...

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. A lesbian is a woman who is romantically and sexually attracted only to other women. ... Homosexuality refers to sexual interaction and / or romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Transgender (IPA: , from trans (Latin) and gender (English) ) is an overarching term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at birth, as well as the role traditionally held by society. ... Queer Theology is exploration of the nature of God and human-kinds relationship with God through the experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people (although, as used within this field of theology, the term Queer can extend beyond LGBT people). ... Trade justice is a movement of Non-Governmental and Private Voluntary organisations that lobby for certain standards in trade that include; the adherence to human rights, the universal right to economic growth and the balance of trade and justice. ... // The Make Poverty History campaign (which is written as MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY) was a British and Irish coalition of charities, religious groups, trade unions, campaigning groups and celebrities who mobilized around the UKs prominence in world politics in 2005 to increase awareness and pressure governments into taking actions towards relieving absolute...

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. Rev Elder Troy D Perry founded the Metropolitan Community Church, a Christian denomination with a special affirming ministry amongst the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities, in Los Angeles on October 6, 1968. ... Location of Huntington Park in California Coordinates: Country United States of America State California County Los Angeles Incorporated (city) 1906-09-01 [2] - Mayor Juan R. Noguez [1] Area - City 3. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ...

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. Rev. ... In 1973, a group of individuals wrote to the head office of the Metropolitan Community Church in Los Angeles requesting that they send someone to Toronto to start a new church. ... Same-sex marriage is a term for a legally, socially and/or religiously recognized marriage in which two people of the same sex live together as a family. ...

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. The issue of Homosexuality within Christianityis that some old fuck wits think that there going 2 hell 4 being themselves, wat i say 2 them is go rape a donkey, and then someone might take an interest in them Traditionally, Christian churches have regarded homosexual sex as sinful, based on... A lesbian is a woman who is romantically and sexually attracted only to other women. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Transgender (IPA: , from trans (Latin) and gender (English) ) is an overarching term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at birth, as well as the role traditionally held by society. ... This article concerns how a man differs from women. ... Image of a woman on the Pioneer plaque sent to outer space. ... The Rev. ... Moderator, a Latin word for he who moderates, can refer to: Moderator provinciae was the title of certain Roman provincial governors Moderator is a Scots, and Scottish English, gender-neutral word that approximates chairman or convener. ...

Governance and administration

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. Moderator, a Latin word for he who moderates, can refer to: Moderator provinciae was the title of certain Roman provincial governors Moderator is a Scots, and Scottish English, gender-neutral word that approximates chairman or convener. ... Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit. ... A Christian mission has been widely defined, since the Lausanne Congress of 1974, as that which is designed to form a viable indigenous church-planting movement. ... In relation to a company, a director is an officer of the company charged with the conduct and management of its affairs. ... Finance addresses the ways in which individuals, business entities and other organizations allocate and use monetary resources over time. ... The court of chancery, which governed fiduciary relations prior to the Judicature Acts The fiduciary duty is a legal relationship between two or more parties, most commonly a fiduciary or trustee and a principal or beneficiary, that in English common law is arguably the most important concept within the portion... Executive director is a title given to a person who is the head of an executive branch of an organization or company. ... Reverend Cynthia (Cindi) Love was appointed Executive Director of the Metropolitan Community Church on 18 January 2005. ...

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, The Rev. ... Moderator, a Latin word for he who moderates, can refer to: Moderator provinciae was the title of certain Roman provincial governors Moderator is a Scots, and Scottish English, gender-neutral word that approximates chairman or convener. ... Rev Elder Don Eastman originally served as a Pastor in the Assemblies of God, leaving when he felt unable to deny his identity as gay man. ... Rev Elder Jim Mitulski has pastored within the gay affirming Metropolitan Community Church since 1983 and was appointed Elder serving the denominations Region 2 in November 2005. ... Rev Elder Arlene Ackerman has served in the Metropolitan Community Church as Senior Pastor of All Gods Children MCC, Minneapolis, MN, as pastor of MCC Bakersfield, Bakersfield, CA and Assistant Pastor and Interim Pastor of MCC Portland, Portland, OR and as District Coordinator of the then Mid-Atlantic District. ... Rev. ... A native of Columbus, Ohio, Rev. ... Rev Elder Lillie Brock is an elder in the Metropolitan Community Church and serves the denominations Churches in Western Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and the U.S. States of Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Texas (Northern), Wyoming. ... Location of Los Angeles County in California and West Hollywood within Los Angeles County Country United States State California County Los Angeles Incorporated 1984 - City Council John Heilman (mayor) Sal Guarriello John J. Duran Abbe Land Jeffrey Prang Area - City 1. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area Ranked 3rd - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 kmÂ²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 770 miles (1,240 km) - % water 4. ...

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. Two bishops assist at the Exhumation of Saint Hubert, who was a bishop too, at the Ã©glise Saint-Pierre in LiÃ¨ge. ...

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. This is about the city of Sydney in Australia. ... Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Diversity Our Strength Image:Toronto, Ontario Location. ... Calgary is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. ... Nickname: Valley of the Sun Location in Maricopa County and the state of Arizona Coordinates: Country United States State Arizona Counties Maricopa Incorporated February 25, 1881 - Mayor Phil Gordon (D) Area - City 475. ...

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. An autonomous (subnational) entity is a subnational entity that has a certain amount of autonomy. ... A tithe (from Old English teogoÃ¾a tenth) is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a (usually) voluntary contribution or as a tax or levy, usually to support a Jewish or Christian religious organization. ... Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ...

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.

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. Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northern California, in the United States. ... Disambiguation: This article is about the United States denomination known as United Church of Christ. ... The insignia of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). ...

History

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. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1500x975, 865 KB) Photo I took 2006-09-17 of the Reverend Elder Troy Perry preaching at the Metropolitan Community Church in Rochester, Minnesota. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1500x975, 865 KB) Photo I took 2006-09-17 of the Reverend Elder Troy Perry preaching at the Metropolitan Community Church in Rochester, Minnesota. ... Nickname: City of Angels Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: State California County Los Angeles County - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Area - City 498. ... Rev Elder Troy D Perry founded the Metropolitan Community Church, a Christian denomination with a special affirming ministry amongst the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities, in Los Angeles on October 6, 1968. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday. ... The issue of Homosexuality within Christianityis that some old fuck wits think that there going 2 hell 4 being themselves, wat i say 2 them is go rape a donkey, and then someone might take an interest in them Traditionally, Christian churches have regarded homosexual sex as sinful, based on... Homophobia is the fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals. ... A Jewish cemetery in France after being defaced by Neo-Nazis. ... This article is about the syndrome. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

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]. Moderator, a Latin word for he who moderates, can refer to: Moderator provinciae was the title of certain Roman provincial governors Moderator is a Scots, and Scottish English, gender-neutral word that approximates chairman or convener. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Washington National Cathedral was the site of two presidential state funerals: for Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald W. Reagan, and a presidential burial in the cathedral mausoleum: Woodrow Wilson. ... Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Federal District District of Columbia - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) - City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack Evans... October 29 is the 302nd day of the year (303rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Marsha Stevens is a Christian musician and songwriter and out lesbian. ... Reverend Delores P. Berry is a U.S. musician and Christian minister. ...

On November 11, 2006, Elton had caused quite a stir of critcism and mixed emotions as he told The Observer Music Monthly magazine and openly gay Scissors Sisters member, Jake Shears, that he would like to see all organised religion banned. "I think religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people. Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays. But there are so many Christian people I know who are gay and love their religion. I just find it more human. We should all be together. I've got this really naive idea of what life should be like. It's an idealistic idea but it's completely integrated. We can't keep thinking of gay people as being ostracised; we can't keep thinking of Muslim people as being ostracised because of the fundamentalism that occurs in Islam. Muslim people have to do something about speaking up about it. We can't judge a book by its cover. From my point of view, I would ban religion completely, even though there are some wonderful things about it. I love the idea of the teachings of Jesus Christ and all of the beautiful stories about it, which I loved in Sunday School and I collected all the little stickers and put them in my book. But the reality is that organised religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate. The world is near escalating to World War Three and where are the leaders of each religion? Why aren't they having a conclave; why aren't they coming together? I said this after 9/11 and people thought I was nuts: instead of more violence why isn't there a meeting of religious leaders. It's all got to be dialogue - that's the only way. Get everybody from each religion together and say 'Listen, this can't go on. Why do we have all this hatred? We are all God's people; we have to get along and the religious leaders have to lead the way. If they don't do it, who else is going to do it? They're not going to do it and it's left to musicians or to someone else to deal with it. It's like the peace movement in the Sixties - musicians got through to people by getting out there and doing peace concerts but we don't seem to do them any more. We seem to be doing fundraisers for Africa and everything like that but I think peace is really important. If John Lennon were alive today he'd be leading it with a vengeance. I am totally against the war but violence is part of mankind and it's going to happen, but as musicians I think we've got to step up and say 'come on'. When I first when to America it was going on and I remember playing Kent State University about six weeks after the students were killed there in 1970 and it was a really strange feeling - really odd. I came at the end of it really and my career started right at the end as Nixon was withdrawing the troops. The first track on our new album ("The Captain & The Kid") is called 'Postcards from Richard Nixon'. People don't seem to protest in the streets any more, they are always blogging on the internet. They seem to do their protesting online, and that's not good enough. You have got to get out there and be seen and be vocal, and you've got to do it time and time again. People have become apathetic. There was a big march in London when Britain decided to join the war against Iraq and Tony Blair is on record as saying 'The people who march today will have blood on their hands.' That's returned to bite him in the ass. We cannot solve everybody's fucking problems in the West. What we've done in Iraq has sped up an inevitable civil war after Saddam Hussein left power. I don't know the solution. I just know that all we can do as musicians - whether gay or straight - is to come together and promote peace. We have been promoting anti-poverty but when you do a concert sometimes they forget about their emotions: that's the power of music and sport - they are the two things that can do that. Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours. People come to me and I'm a bit like the Queen Mother. I never get those problems. I don't know what it is with me; people treat me very reverently. It was the same when Dave and I had our civil union - I was expecting the odd flour bomb and there wasn't. Dave and I as a couple seem to be the acceptable face of gayness, and that's great. I can't just sit back and say nothing. It's not a gay issue; it's a human rights issue. I'm going to fight for them, whether I do it silently behind the scenes or vocally so that I get locked up. I can't just sit back; it's not in my nature any more. I'm nearly 60 years old, after all. I can't sit back and blindly ignore it, and I won't." November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The Observer Music Monthly (or OMM) is a respected monthly music magazine found in the British Sunday newspaper The Observer. ... The Scissor Sisters are a five-piece American band strongly influenced by the gay-club scene of New York and named after a lesbian sex position. ... Jake Shears (born Jason Sellards on October 3, 1978 in Arizona) is the vocalist for the American alternative music group the Scissor Sisters. ...

In a response to his comments, Reverend Jane Clarke, pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church which in East London, England, United Kingdom, issued him a personal invitation. She said, "Before you give up entirely on religion, come and see how we do it here. As a Christ-centred church of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered communities inviting people of all religions and none to share in an adventure of spirituality and faith, we have a full time ministry to queer people, people with HIV and AIDS and anyone who is on the end of the world's boot in any way. I am certain that Elton will get a better idea of that faith can do if he came to see the love of God demonstrated for all people here at our church. We would be delighted to welcome him. We know that religions haven't always kept an unblemished record in combating the most hateful expressions of homophobia; many of our members have experienced this, which is why it's so important for us to get it right. The message that God loves all human beings equally is one that needs to be heard by all human beings and we are about letting people know that, and not about telling them they are unlovable. We think this might be an eye-opener for Elton, but we're delighted to invite him to come and talk to us." East London is the name commonly given to the eastern part of London on the north side of the River Thames. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification - by Athelstan AD 927 Area - Total 130,395 kmÂ² (1st in UK) 50,346 sq mi Population - 2006 est. ...

Notable clergy

Rev Dr Robert E. Goss, Bob Goss, was brought up in a devout Roman Catholic family and felt called to the priesthood, being ordained as a Jesuit in 1976. ... Rev. ...

Encyclopedia > Metropolitan Community Church

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