36
)
DAILY NEWS UPDATES ON
WWW.GSCENE.COM bisexual, lesbian, and gay friends are as holy and sacred before God as any child of God. I see evidence of it in the way that God works in their lives. I see it in the honesty and willingness to wrestle with difficult questions; and in the courage that's needed to seek truth. “I came to Brighton to lead a church that would champion the lives of LGBTQ people. Whether we're single or in a relationship, whether we are a nurse or a drag queen, whether they are extrovert or wall flowers. God loves the whole package because that's the way God made us. Claims that our sexuality or gender expression are a sin are simply a lie.
REV MICHAEL HYDES “I believe that my LGBTQ friends are as holy and sacred before God as any child of God.” ) Michael Hydes was born in 1961 to a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Newcastle upon Tyne. He spent many years in Yorkshire until his parents separated and his mum married a man who lived in Northumberland.
When the Jehovah’s Witnesses found out he was gay they disfellowshipped (excommunicated) him. Michael was 20-years-old and found it very difficult losing family, friends, home and job all at the same time. He was homeless for a while, but slowly began to create a new life for himself. He wanted nothing to do with religion or God until he was 30, when he had an experience of God that changed his life. Michael realised that God not only loved him as a gay man but that God had made him that way for a purpose. He started attending MCC North London where he found his faith, met Jesus and eventually answered a call to ministry. He studied at King’s College, London, where he graduated with a 2.1 in Theology and then spent a year working with MCC North London. In the spring of 2002 he met his husband Chris and a few months later they moved to the USA together, spending the next two years working with MCC New York, during which time he ran the Youth Shelter and was ordained.
In 2004 they were called to Hagerstown, a small rural town in Maryland, where he served as pastor for the next nine years. Michael and Chris returned to the UK in the spring of 2013, where he accepted a call to pastor MCC Brighton. After serving there for 18 months he realised that the call on his life and the vision of the Church were irreconcilably different. He left MCC Brighton and was then approached by a number of folk who shared his vision of a church rooted in the LGBTQ community, serving the LGBTQ community. From this he formed a group, that met with an MCC elder, who last year were given permission to form The Village MCC.
“Over time I connected with others that felt the same way, that had a vision for a church that wasn't afraid to identify fully with the LGBTQ community. Some simply understood the importance of a church that spoke out on behalf of the community, others wanted to be a part of it. “We formed The Village Metropolitan Community Church primarily to empower LGBTQ people, helping to create a world where all LGBTQ people live free from discrimination. We are a Christian church called to do justice and walk humbly with God, (Micah 6:8), seeking at all times to be honest, transparent, and true to our mission in the world. “We dare to seek what is real and deny what is not. We understand that belief and faith are personal journies best taken with the company of others. We are definitely not all the same, not even believing the same, but we are together. “And together we understand that it's time that a Christian voice was heard to champion, without reservation, the LGBTQ community in all its rainbow glory. I do not want to be 'accepted'. I want to be applauded, celebrated, and affirmed! And I believe that our lives deserve nothing less.”
Michael said: “I first found MCC in 1991 at London Pride. I very nervously attended their worship service the following day truly expecting to find a group of 'gay' people playing church. I didn't expect to meet Jesus there, which is exactly what happened. Over the years a feeling of being called to ministry grew stronger and stronger. Not just to be a minister, but to be an openly gay minister, working in an actively LGBTQ affirming church. “I believe very strongly that God made me the way I am, as a gay man. I believe that my transgender,
The Village Metropolitan Community Church meets every Sunday at 6pm at the Somerset Day Centre, 62 St James's Street, Brighton, BN2 1PR. For more information, visit: www.thevillagemcc.org Call: 01273 679812 / 07476 667353. Or email: pastor@thevillagemcc.org