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One question we get asked most frequently is about Homosexuality and the Bible and so, we have devoted a whole page to that topic.

The Metropolitan Community Church of San Diego

A member of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches.

Scroll down for information on and history of the denomination.

MCC Statement of Faith (adopted 2016)

Preamble

Metropolitan Community Churches is one chapter in the story of the Church, the Body of Christ. We are people on a journey, learning to live into our spirituality, while affirming our bodies, our genders, our sexualities. We don't all believe exactly the same things. And yet in the midst of our diversity, we build community, grounded in God's radically inclusive love for all people. We are part of an ongoing conversation on matters of belief and faith, shaped by scripture and the historic creeds, building on those who have come before us. Our chapter begins when God says to us: "Come, taste, and see."

Our Faith

"Come, taste, and see." Jesus Christ, You invite all people to Your open table. You make us Your people, a beloved community. You restore the joy of our relationship with God, even in the midst of loneliness, despair, and degradation. We are each unique and we all belong, a priesthood of all believers. Baptized and filled with Your Holy Spirit, You empower us to be Your healing presence in a hurting world.

We expect to see Your reign on earth as it is in heaven as we work toward a world where everyone has enough, wars cease, and all creation lives in harmony. We affirm Your charge to all of humanity to care for the land, sea, and air. Therefore, we will actively resist systems and structures which are destroying Your creation.

With all of creation we worship You—every tribe, every language, every people, every nation. We know You by many names, Triune God, beyond comprehension, revealed to us in Jesus Christ, who invites us to the feast.

Amen.

A History of UFMCC

In 1968, a year before New York's Stonewall Riots, a series of most unlikely events in Southern California resulted in the birth of the world's first church group with a primary, positive ministry to gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender persons.

Those events, a failed relationship, an attempted suicide, a reconnection with God, an unexpected prophecy, and the birth of a dream led to MCC's first worship service: a gathering of 12 people in Rev. Troy Perry's living room in Huntington Park, California on October 6, 1968.

That first worship service in a Los Angeles suburb in 1968 launched the international movement of Metropolitan Community Churches, which today has grown to thousands of members and adherents in over 200 congregations now around the globe. During the past 40+ years, MCC's prophetic witness has forever changed the face of Christianity and helped to fuel the international struggle for LGBT rights and equality

"The Lord Is My Shepherd, And Knows I'm Gay" was authored by MCC Founder and Moderator, Rev. Troy D. Perry. The book is available on-line at www.MCCchurch.org.

In Troy's words:

Our church provided a feeling of freedom to worship, to walk with God. We knew that we were on God's side because God loved us, too. We excluded no one. We welcomed everyone. We still do. Heterosexuals came to our first services. They do today. At least 20% of our congregation is heterosexual. Their involvement is as great as anyone's.

And we've never stopped growing, not since that first service. God has blessed.

I am convinced that so long as we stay faithful to God's calling and to God's word, God will continue to bless Metropolitan Community Churches. There's an old saying that goes,

"The future is as bright as the promises of God."

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Metropolitan Community Church FACT SHEET

--MCC reported an inclusive membership of over 43,000 members and adherents in 22 countries as of September 2003.

--Starting with one group of 12 in Los Angeles in 1968, MCC now has over 200 churches throughout the world.

-- MCC was founded in October 1968, one year prior to 1969's Stonewall Riots.

--MCC has been at the vanguard of civil and human rights movements and addresses the important issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, and other forms of oppression.

--MCC congregations have an aggregate annual operating budget in the millions of dollars (US).

--More than fifty percent of MCC clergy are women, a higher percentage than any other Christian denomination.

--MCC churches and groups are located in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Nigeria, Romania, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, the United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, and more all the time.

--MCC has churches in most states and there are members in every state.

--The largest MCC church is Resurrection MCC (Houston, TX), with a membership exceeding 600. Among our other largest churches are ones located in Toronto, Fort Lauderdale, Washington DC, Indianapolis, and San Diego.

--MCC holds observer status in the World Council of Churches, participates in the programs of the National Council of Churches -- and has full membership in four U.S. state councils: California, Colorado, Hawaii, and North Carolina.

--AIDS has dramatically affected MCC churches. Since 1982, an estimated 6,000 MCC members have died of AIDS and related diseases, yet the epidemic has also brought many new members who are facing questions of life and death.

--MCC clergy are trained by numerous seminaries of mainline Christian denominations that accept MCC students.

--An increasing number of the children of lesbian or gay parents are active in MCC, and many congregations offer specialized ministries to meet the spiritual needs of these children.

--MCC clergy bless same-sex couples with Marriage and Holy Union ceremonies. MCC clergy perform hundreds of same-sex weddings annually.

--Elected leadership of the denomination consists of a Board of Elders composed of the denominational Moderator, Vice-Moderator, and Regional Elders. Though still active, Rev. Troy Perry has retired as the Moderator of the denomination. A Board of Administration oversees administration, finances, and policies for the denomination.

--MCC follows a congregational form of church government with self-governing local congregations. Local churches are represented in an international General Conference that meets once every two years.

--MCC Interim Moderator, Reverend Rachelle D. Brown began her tenure after the last General Conference failed to reach a decision for moderator, in 2016. She is is a ministry leader who addresses challenges through strategic planning and brings creative energy that fuels action. Her interdisciplinary education and experience includes communications, marketing, systems theory, theology, and ethics. Rev. Brown employs a collaborative team-building model that inspires transformation. She uses both metrics and relationships to evaluate strategies and actions that emerge from clear objectives.

--MCC Founder, Reverend Troy D. Perry, is an internationally recognized human rights activist and has received honors from many human rights organizations, including honorary doctorates from Episcopal Divinity School, Samaritan College and Sierra University along with awards from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign, the Lazarus Project, and the Gay and Lesbian Press Association. Reverend Perry attended the first ever White House meeting of gay and lesbian leaders during the Carter presidency, was the first openly gay member of the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission and was appointed as a delegate to the White House Conference On Hate Crimes by President Bill Clinton.

--MCC is the largest international vehicle for public education about homosexuality and Christianity.

--Twenty-one MCC congregations have been victimized by the antigay hates crimes of arson or fire-bombing.