What is MCC?
MCC members come from a wide variety of faith background and, sometimes, from no faith background at all.We embrace and celebrate racial, cultural, linguistic, sexual, gender and theological diversity. MCC believes in the priesthood of all believers and almost all of the Churche's rights and sacraments are open to lay people as well as to clergy. Over half of our clergy are women - more than any other denomination.
Metropolitan Community Church was founded in October 1968, one year before the Stonewall Riots which gave birth to the modern LGBT liberation movement.
Troy Perry, a young, gay, former Pentecostal Pastor, decided to organise a worship service in his home in a working class district of Los Angeles. 12 people turned up.
Among those 12 people at the first worship service were represented different faith traditions, different ethnic groups, men and women, gay people and heterosexuals foreshadowing the diversity that was to be rooted in the movement in the years to come.
The first Church, MCC Los Angeles moved from location to location as it grew until it eventually became one of the first LGBT affirming organisation in the United States to own a building. That building was subsequently burned down in an arson attack, one of twenty one MCC buildings around the world to have suffered this fate. MCC Los Angeles now worships in a prominent worship centre in the heart of gay West Hollywood.
MCC came to Europe in 1973 when Troy was invited to speak in London in his capacity as a Gay Rights Activist. A small group of LGBT Christians who had been meeting for prayer under the name Fellowship of Christ the Liberator met with Troy and decided to form a MCC congregation in London. One of their number, Rev Elder Jean White, still ministers in London as Senior Pastor of MCC South London , one of three thriving MCC congregations in London.
12 MCC congregations currently worship in the UK.
MCC has Churches and groups in Scotland, England, Germany, France, Denmark, the United States of America, Nicaragua, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Venezuela, Argentina, Romania, South Africa, Nigeria, Russia, Uruguay, Mexico, Cuba and Brazil around 300 in total.
MCC has Official Observer Status at the World Council of Churches.
