Metropolitan Community Church - History

History

The first congregation was founded in Los Angeles by Troy Perry in 1968, a time when Christian attitudes toward homosexuality were almost universally negative. The MCC has grown since then to have a presence in 37 countries with 222 affiliated churches. The largest presence is found in the United States, followed by Canada. The denomination continues to grow: In 2010, El Mundo reported that the first MCC congregation in Spain would be established in Madrid in October. It would be the first church to recognize and perform religious same-sex marriages in the country, as the Roman Catholic Church (the former state church) refuses to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies or adoptions.

Perry served as moderator of the Fellowship until 2005, when Nancy Wilson was elected moderator by the General Conference; she was formally installed in a special service at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. on October 29, 2005.

The denomination has had a few news-making controversies. In 2002 it was revealed that the Black Hills MCC congregation had knowingly hired convicted child molester James A. Forsythe, a former Catholic priest who had ministered with MCC from the early 1990s on the condition that he was forbidden from working with minors. The denomination claims it did not ask for Forsythe to resign, as he was neither accused nor charged with any crime in Black Hills other than failure to register as a sex offender, which he did after the story broke and which was then treated by authorities as an oversight. Nevertheless, Forsythe chose to leave the church, having lost his two day jobs as a result of the story's publication and knowing the MCC could not support him financially and wishing to spare them negative publicity.

In 2003, a scandal occurred involving the flagship of the church, as well as the largest gay church in the world, Cathedral of Hope when former board member Terri Frey accused minister Michael S. Piazza of financial impropriety, an accusation that prompted the UFMCC to open an investigation. However, the investigation ended when the Cathedral's membership voted to disaffiliate from UFMCC with 88% support. The split cost UFMCC 9% of its membership, and 7% of its annual operating budget. Church members, including copastor Mona West, claimed that the vote was less about the investigation and more about the congregation's long-simmering frustration with the denomination, including the opinion that the denomination was focused too much on gay issues and hampered their desire to reach out to Dallas residents disaffected by conservative churches; as church member Michael Magnia explained: "The tie with MCC was more about gays and lesbians. You're going to have a difficult time getting even progressive heterosexuals to come to a church that is anchored to a gay and lesbian church."