THE METROPOLITAN
COMMUNITY CHURCH
AND HOMOSEXUALITY
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The Universal
Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) is commonly called the Metropolitan
Community Church. It was founded by Troy Perry, a Pentecostal minister, in 1968 as a
Gay and Lesbian positive religious institution. It is basically indistinguishable from
other Evangelical Christian churches in terms of their beliefs, sacraments, order of
service etc. One significant difference is that they have a ritual which recognizes
same-sex committed partnerships. They regard St. Paul's statements against homosexuality
to be "cultural accretions", similar to his belief that women should not speak
in church.
There are about 35,000 members in about 230 congregations. Groups are found in most
large cities. Their clergy are composed of both men and women. Most of the membership and
of the clergy are gay, lesbian or bisexual.
They have greatly suffered from public hatred of homosexuality; they lost four churches
to arson in 1973 alone.
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