December 1972 - In Unity by MCC Churches

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make me an instrument of thy. peace. Where there is hatred. let me sow love; where there is inL jury. pardon; where there is doubt. faith; where there ORD.

is despair. hope; where there is darkness. light; and where there is sadness. joy. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. in forgiving that we are ourselves forgiven. and in producing good will toward others that thy peace comes to us. Amen. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

~HIS ~

EDITION OF IN UNITY COMES TO YOU in slightly different format.

last meeting of the General Conference of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches,

magazine,

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those endeavoring

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it was decided to publish IN UNITY as a quarterly

containing articles of interest to the homophile

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to live Christian

lives!

It reflects many points-of-view,

realizes that the Fellowship

quality of the contents of this magazine--which what you submit for our consideration.

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which is not surprising when one

is comprised of people from many denominational

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community--especially

To this end, this first edition has

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Its future development,

and the

is your magazine will depend upon

We endeavored

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possible cost, thereby making some sacrifices in make-up and eye-appeal; but hoping that the publication would be self-liquidating.

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"THE NATIVITY" from a woodcut by Albrecht Duerer ••••••••COVER

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TROY PERRY, Founder & Moderator of the Fellowship Speaks • Page 3 REV. TONY CROSS, Pastor and leader of our MCC study group writes for us, LONDON CALLING. page 4 THROUGH A STRANGER'S EYES presents an interesting study of a visitor to one of our Parishes ••••• page 10 MCC ON THE MOVE news and views about what's happening in the FELLOWSHIP, Elders, Churches ••••• page 11 NARROW IS THE WAY in which Rev. Lee Carleton, pastor who is now the Assistant Pastor of MCCLA speaks anent the Gifts of the Spirit--a sermon •• page 12 RESOLUTION presented in the legislature of the State of California, in honor of and paying homage to the 4th Anniversary of MCCLA • • . • . • • page 14 CONFRONTATION IN DENVER, courageous pastors Harrison and Carnes take on the Baptists, Presbyterians and the Denver Hilton •••••••••• page 15 INSPIRATION FOR THE YULETIDE with thoughts from here and there about this and that •••••••• page 16 DIRECTORY OF THE MEMBER CHURCHES of the UNIVERSAL Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches page 19 0

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page 13

London

Calling A paper delivered to the Ministers Conference held at Northern Baptist College, Manchester, 18th-20th September 1972 Since I call myself a "Unitarian" and a "Christian," I had better explain very briefly what I mean by those terms--otherwise, as I have good reason to know, stereotypical beliefs may well be attributed to me. As I wish to present a plea for aspects of Christology which have been grievously under-developed in "official" theology, you had better know roughly where I stand. As a Unitarian I belong to a religious community which has no agreed standard of theological orthodoxy and which has never given or withheld membership on theological grounds. We have traditionally dissented and we still do dissent from what may be called "classical" Trinitarianism. If to reject the terminology of hypostasis and ousia puts one beyond the pale of Christianity, then that is where I must be. Nevâ&#x201A;Źrtheless, I affirm that the God who meets me in Jesus Christ is known to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I willingly use the threefold name of God. God, our Father, I know in Christ and under the guidance of His Holy Spirit. If that will pass for an affirmation of Christian faith, I am glad--if it won't, then it cannot be helped for there stand I. But at least you have some idea of where I stand. This God whom Christians encounter in Jesus Christ and who makes his saving presence known to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, restores our broken relationship with him and with one another by revealing himself as Love which seeks us out, is involved with us, is truly vulnerable and shares our deepest human experience of rejection and alienation. I was delighted to read Jurgen Moltmann's words in a recent article in Concilium (June 1972, p. 35) entitled "The 'Crucified' God": he claims that "In the history of Christianity, the God of the poor, the sick, the oppressed has always been the suffering, persecuted and oppressed Christ, whereas the God of the rich and ruling classes is and always has been the Pantokrator." One recalls the experience of Simone Weil on holiday in Portugal when she recognised in the poignancy of the hymn sung by the women of the fishing village that "Christianity is pre-eminently the religion of slave" (Waiting on God). Indeed, the God who meets us in Christ is He who has put to rout the arrogant of heart and mind, who has torn imperial powers from their thrones, lifted high the humble, satisfied the hungry with good things, but sent the rich empty away. Only a Christology which takes a proper account of the figure of the suffering God who enters into the anguish of the under-privileged will afford sufficient grounding for a theology of .L10era"tlon. The neglect of such an account in "official" theology has produced those distortions of the Gospel by means of which comfortable men down the ages have equated Christianity with the conventions, styles and mores of their society. So, at the beginning, as at the conclusion of what

I want to say, I must express

my ardent conviction that the Gospel cannot be other than good news for the alienated and the oppressed and a fearful warning to the comfortable and the arrogant. If it be counter-claimed that my interpretation also distorts the Gospel, I can only retort that I find such a Christology at the deepest level, the inner core, of the New Testament. Christ crucified and raised from Hell on the third day is at the centre of the Gospel. As Moltman says in that important article which I have already cited: "The cross is either the Christian end of all theology or it is the beginning of a specifically Christian theology." As preachers of the Word of God we must proclaim Him who meets us in our experience of abandonment because he too has loved and suffer-

continued

page 5

ed for it. All our relationships, has so costingly redeemed us.

then, must be set in the light of "that LOve which

HOIDSEXUAL

RElATIONSHIPS AND THE CHRISTIAN ETHIC

How then are we to evaluate homosexual relationships? It has been traditionally maintained in Christian morality that homosexual acts are sinful and displeasing to God. Indeed, as late as 1956 Dr. Sherwin Bailey, a comparatively enlightened moral theologian, maintained that "Considered, then, in terms of objective morality (my underlining), it is evident that homosexual acts are contrary to the will of God for human sexuality, and therefore sinful per se." (Sexual Offenders and Social Punishment, APPENDIX 1, p. 75, published by the Church Information Board). Bailey's "objective morality" would deny homosexuals any mode of relationship which involved what he quaintly and unfortunately calls the "venereal expression" of their love for one another. It is a matter for considerable rejoicing that, since 1956, Christian moralists have become increasingly embarrassed with the idea of "objective morality" and a situationist approach has become acceptable as "legalism" has become the dirtiest word in Christian ethics. Situationism may be "No New Morality," understood in a certain sense, but it tends to look so little like the Old Morality that the layman may perhaps be forgiven for thinking that little short of a bloody revolution has taken place. There is vigorous and powerful resistance to situationism and it would be exceedingly rash to suppose that the old "objective morality" has been swept away by permissiveness and liberality. Let us be careful not to assume that the majority of church people have read and assimilated what the situationists l~ke Fletcher were saying in the sixties. I believe that most church members still believe that "homosexual acts are contrary to the will of God for human sexuality, and therefore sinful per se." One of the chief hazards of being a homosexual and a Christian is that the already considerable burden of irrational guilt is made to weigh all the more heavily by the load of disapproval of this "objective morality". Not only does the homosexual Christiah have to struggle for sufficient self-esteem and a sense of personal authenticity against the distaste which society feels and expresses for his sexuality, but he has to fight against the clearly articulated disapproval of his religious community. I expect .that everyone of us here has attempted to lift some part of this crippling burden of guilt which the Christian moralists and preachers of "objective morality" have helped to lay upon the bowed shoulders of homosexuals. There has been, in the past, little care not to break the bruised reed or quench the smoking flax when a homosexual sought pastoral help. It is still, alas, simply not to be recommended that a homosexual in distress should go to his minister--unless he has good reason to expect a sympathetic hearing. The scars of mishandling by ill-informed and incompetent ministers remain upon many a Christian homosexual. How often one finds homosexuals who were once church members and who now profess to hate the clergy, the churches and even Christ, and who are still strangely fearful of the disapproval of the God they deny--men and women who have rejected the God who has rejected them as homosexuals but a God whose judgement is still a distant menace. So often the "objective morality" and the Pantokrator who was highly displeased by any wilful infringement of it, compelled the homosexual Christian to choose between authenticity of being and continuing in church membership. Since he was told, and still is told, that he is permitted to love one of his own sex but never express that love in any sexual intimacy, he either left or was excluded from his church or he developed a schizoid attitude. This lamentable condition is all too common among homosexuals who continue to belong to the churches. We must all have known ardent church members whose homosexual behaviour seems in no way distinguishable from non-Christian homosexuals of the same age and social milieu. These homosexuals can hardly be severely blamed. Their spiritual pastors and masters have usually counselled a life time of chastity which they themselves would amost certainly never have

continued page 6

had the strength to maintain. Since to most of these homosexual Christians it is unthinkable that they should quit their churches or give up their sexual activities, membership of the churches has had to co-exist with membership of some stratum of the homosexual sub-culture. It is hardly surprising that level of maturity in homosexual relationships, even where professing Christians are involved, is deplorably low. HOMOSEXUALITY

IN THE RANKS OF THE MINISTRY

What then of the homosexual Christian who is a minister? It is important to state the obvious here: the minister is firstly a Christian and secondly a Christian who is called to this particular office in the church. He feels therefore all the tension of that struggle for authenticity because of his illicit sexuality. The concealment of his sexuality is even more important to him as a clergyman than it is if he were a layman. Should he openly acknowledge his homosexuality or the nature of his most intimate relationships, he knows that his congregation or his ecclesiastical superiors will probably conclude that he is unfit to be a minister. It is an unhappy situation in which he feels himself compelled to play a life-long game of being a heterosexual like all respectable Christian people must be. A minister lives more in the public eye than the layman. It is immeasurably more difficult to live in union with another homosexual in the Manse or the Rectory. Is the minister compelled to stay singe? What kind of celibacy is that? Being a minister involves the homosexual in a highly precarious balancing act in order that he may keep the esteem of those to whom he ministers. It is a highly unsatisfactory state of affairs, but I see no viable alternative. In these days of decline of the churches and demoralisation among the clergy, ministers write books in which they agonise over the role they are called upon to play and what it does to them. As Karl Barth asked (with considerable rhetorical force in the twenties): "Why did we take up this work, and why do we keep at it? What do the people who support us--or at least tolerate us--really expect us to do? And if they begin to feel they have been deceived in their expectations, what does their growing contempt for us indicate?" (The Task of the Ministry in The Word of God and the Word of Man, p. 186). Now I am not one of those men who finds that the role is gradually destroying him or corrupting him and I am not in doubt as to what I should be doing--though I am, of course, in a state of perpetual self-questioning as to how I should be doing it. I see my task as a minister as that of bringing the men and women to whom I serve, together with myself, to a realisation of the presence of the living God who meets us in "Christ nailed to the cross; and though this is a stumbling-block to Jews and folly to Greeks, yet to those who have heard his call, Jews and Greeks alike, he is the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:23 f.). Whatever else I may have to do as a minister, all is peripheral to this central task. Many of those who appear to be disturbed about the nature of their calling as ministers seem to me to have a somewhat naive understanding of it. After all, the minister is by no means the only professional person who is called upon to play a role and who has to battle against the unrealistic expectations of those he serves. Being a minister is not the only (highly serious) game that people play. I know well enough that it is foolish to suggest that a minister should be holier than most of the members of his congregation--but how can he expect not to have to be a great deal more careful in his public and private life? The old adage, "Don't do as I do, do as I tell you!" has always had a hollow ring. If the minister is not a man of prayer, how can he encourage his people to pray? If he himself is a castaway, how shall he preach salvation convincingly to others? He may not be (almost certainly is not) a saint, but he shouldn't be too surprised if his people grow contemptuous of him if he is an obvious and scandalous sinner. continued page 7

Here the minister who is a homosexual needs to be specially careful. I have spoken of the level of maturity in homosexual relationships, even where professing Christians are involved, as "deplorably low." But there can be no getting away from it--as Christian ministers, we must not treat men and women as objects; we must not abuse them; we must reverence them and worthip that of God in them. Sexual activity which trivialises the gestures involved and dehumanises by its casualness is not for Christians and, a fortiori, not for Christian ministers. If we profane the image of God in the person of our neighbour, how can we teach others that reverence in loving, that spirit of caring, which as Friedrich von Hugel so rightly discerned is what Christianity is about. For homosexuals as for heterosexuals in the ministry there is no escaping the implications of Chaucer's portrait of the poor parson (Coghill's translation): This noble example to his sheep he gave First following the word before he taught it, And it was from the gospel he had caught it. This little proverb he would add thereto That if gold rust, what then will iron do? If the role of being a minister involves so precarious a balance, so careful a public life, so inhibited a private life, should homosexuals be encouraged to become ministers? Should we not counsel those homosexuals who are already ministers to withdraw? ••• To put the matter rather bluntly: such a withdrawal would involve a very shocking depletion of numbers in the fast-dwindling ranks of the ministry. An American writer estimated in 1960 that a high proportion of homosexuals were to be found in the ministry. Of a large sample of homosexuals interviewed in New York, 1.6% were clergy, whereas the percentage of clergy 'among the male population of the city was only 0.2%. My impression is that the proportion of homosexual clergy is very much higher than 1:26. Can the churches afford to lose these men? Have they even begIn to understand the tremendous contribution made by homosexual ministers from the earliest days of the Christian church? But are there not special contributions which the homosexual minister brings to his work? Let us set aside all the high camp accomplishments, the amateur dramatic aChievements, overlook the skills in flower arrangement and the cut of vestments-these are contributions valuable and appreciated even by those who don't understand or don't wish to understand what the particular flair portends. If he is really self-aware, does not the homosexual minister bring to psycho-sexual counselling very considerable skills based upon that very self-awareness? There are, of course, important differences between a homosexual union and a heterosexual marriage (and the term "marriage" should be carefully avoided in the case of homosexual unions), just as there are important differences between a homosexual union involving two men and one involving two women, but there is a uniting or common factor which makes it possible for a self-aware homosexual to counsel a heterosexual and vice versa. There never was a more mischievous half-truth than the canard of the homosexual subculture that "only gay people can help gay people'" If we have a Christian reverence for each other, we seek (as Helmut Thielecke puts it) the wholeness or totality of the other human being, his or her authenticity of being, without which tender consideration we tend to use or abuse one another. (The Ethics of Sex), It is this way that all our relationships, and homosexual unions and friendships among them, are in process of maturation. NON-SUPPORTIVE

ENVIRONMENTAL

FACTORS

Obviously homosexual relationships are subject to crippling handicaps in this maturing process. They are denied a socially supportive framework or environment-and this goes for the homosexual sub-culture as well as heterosexual SOCiety.

continued page 8

Homosexual relationships are often without benefit of courtship, compelled to sustain a fragile union with little additional reinforcement than the circumstances of a shared domicile. To give pastoral help and to clarify this pitifully under-researched area, much more study is needed. What study I have been able to do in this field leads me to declare by a reversal of the homosexual canard, that it is mischievous nonsense also to claim that "only straight people can help straight people." Surely it is within the counselling experience of every unmarried minister here that a distressed person has with some surprise and relief exclaimed, "But how do you know that? You're not married are you?" Well, of course, he knows that because he is a human being with some achievement and much failure and suffering in loving. Above all, or rather underlying all this, I must assert as emphatically as I can that the homosexual minister has a way into the heart of the Gospel which is peculiarly his and through which (if he will enter upon this stony narrow way) he is able to draw close to God our Saviour. For just as that great Shepherd of the Sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ, "learned obedience in the school of suffering," the homosexual finds himself enrolled in the same stern place of learning and by fulfilling the command to love, he will draw near to the heart of God through his sharing of the Divine vulnerability. There is but one proviso, and it is a singularly important one, and that is that the command to love must not be evaded. Many homosexuals have been so severely bruised by the suffering involved in their early attempts at loving that they try to render themselves invulnerable--often with an appalling degree of success. They grow a kind of carapace which shields them with its armour-plating and so they no longer are exposed to the risk of anguish in loving. But if men and women play safe in their relationships, they are bound to become strangers to love and therefore strangers to God. As ministers, we must recognise the truth of this so that we may be able to build up in those we serve sufficient confidence to put themselves again at risk in relationships. Homosexual Christians who are ministers should never seek to escape the additional disciplines which must be theirs in the present state of society and the churches, but let them keep ever before them the example of Jesus: who "suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing abuse for him. For here we have no abiding city, but we seek the city which is to come" (Heb. 13:13). Throughout the testimony of the early Christian communities, it is this Jesus who meets us among the outcast, the deprived, the alienated, the sick and the under-privileged. It is the whole, the healthy, the normal, those who think they have no need of the phySician, who have no time for this Son of Man who keeps such bad company. In the end, he dies a criminal's death, between criminals, outside the walls of the citadel of respectability and establishmentarianism. Should homosexuals repine if they are aSked to share the sufferings of Jesus when they have to bear mockery, abuse, to suffer alienation and are excluded from the city? Surely they should count themselves privileged to bear some of the sorrow of Christ that they may ultimately be partakers of his triumph. Homosexuals should be among the first of the disciples of Christ to recognize that it is foolish to depend upon the earthly structures, that the people of God must always be moving on, travelling light, their eyes fixed upon Jesus. Far more valuable than any other gift which the homosexual may bring to the work of the ministry is this penetration through his own sufferings into the very heart of the Gospel. Self-pity and paranoia have no place in this "pelping to complete, in our poor human flesh, the full tale of Christ's afflictions still to be endured" (Col. 1:24). For too long the Gospel has been distorted by the need of many Christians to conform to the prevailing social ethos. The homosexual minister has the right to proclaim that the Gospel is about liberation, that it offers all men and women, homosexual or heterosexual, authenticity of being. He needs to warn others that God is to be found among those who are denied status and rights. This is the source of his happiness--to be right there where God is. The suffering of being there is

continued page 9

inescapable--it is the only true way of maturation. "For I reckon that the sufferings we now endure bear no comparison with the splendour as yet unrevealed, which is in store for us .••• With all this in mind, what are we to say? If God is on our side, who is against us? . • .1 am convinced that there is nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8)

About

TONY

THROlJ£.fl A. STRlIJVGER'S

Lord's Supper. We went forward to the rail, knelt as space was available, and the pastor distributed the elements by infusion; that is, he dipped a wa~ fer in a chalice of wine, then placed it on the tongue of the communicant. (Proper terminology for this method of distribution is "intincture"--Eds. note.) There were dignity and beauty seen throughout the service, but along with them went friendly op~nness and sensible religious attitudes. I found the service to be meaningful and tastefully conducted. I was happy that the two extremes of pompous formality and boisterous informality were avoided.

[yLS •••••••••••••••

Oftentimes it is helpful, when trying to learn about a place or group, to get the impressions of someone who is not a part of the place or ~roup b~t who has visited it. Of course, such

lmpresslons

are lacking in depth, but they may

reveal broad truths. I have become interested in MCC's outreach, and on Palm Sunday I was privileged to be able to visit Good Shepherd Parish in Chicago. There is no MCC church in my area, so this was the first time I had attended one of its services. My impressions were favorable, and I would like to report them to the readers of IN UNITY who are not Chicagoans.

Pastor Arthur Green's sermon was well organized and he related basic Christian concepts to the problems of real existence for his congregation. There was no doubt that he stands for the fundamental theological concept of salvation by faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, ·the Son of God, and for teaching love of God and neighbor. At the same time he concerned himself with the daily life situation of the parish and its individual members. I went away feeling that this man is probably one who is beloved by those who have personal contact with him in the pastoral-counseling-teaching aspect of his ministry. His quiet love for people comes across during the service, but even more distinctly when he meets the people afterwards.

Good Shepherd Parish meets in an attractive and well-appointed church building (Methodist) on Sunday evenings, at a time that the host congregation does not have services. The church is in a crowded neighborhood of apartment buildings with no garages, so the visitor with a car is warned to give himself time to hunt for a rare parking place. Mention was made of a parking lot, but I did not see it, and cannot report on it. When I entered, the choir of eight men was engaged in practice with the organist-choirmaster. Bot the organist and the choir were obviously very good, and during the course of the service this proved to be an accurate observation. The ministry of music that evening was exceptionally fine, and I was dismayed to learn that the organist was going to be leaving soon to fulfill ot her commitments. May the Lord provide a suitable replacement for him, because the contribution of good music to Worship services adds immeasurably to the ease with which the worshiper in the Pli!W can adjust his attitude to worshiping. We often give too little credit to the musicmakers in the church.

Deacon George Hanley and layman David Lichard had p~ominent roles of assistance in the service, and both did very creditable jobs of serving the Lord. A social hour in the basement of the church followed the service. Coffee, tea, and cook~es were served, and there was a book table with various items for sale. The people who stayed for this social hour acted like people do in any church. They stood around and talked. Some gathered in little groups for a While, then the groups shifted character as individuals circulated. Some of the conversation was light and irrelevant to church: some of it was an informal accomplishment of church business. As a stranger, I was approached three or four times by different members, and was introduced to others. I was made to feel welcome and at ease. I enjoyed the contact with the people who were there.

As the Congregation assembled, it proved to be overwhelmingly Caucasian and male, although there were a few female couples present and a very few non-Caucasians. All told, there were ;1bout 75 people in attendance, and I understand that this was considered to be below average for the parish. Many of the people entering came in pairs or small groups, but there were also many arriving singly. Friendly greetings were exchanged by some as they came into the church.

So ends my report on a visit of a stranger to Good Shepherd. May the Lord bless the people of this parish, for they are serving Him. I hope other strangers in other parishes will write in about their experiences, because I would like to hear about them.

The format· of the service was typical of many Protestant churches: hymns, scripture readings, offering and sermon, with short-form Communion at the end. All people were invited to take part in the

MCC

on the move

tt E'RE

MOVING!!! THIS IS OUR big news, and we"re excited 8bout it. The reason we are moving is that we got too big for our church. We have been holding our services at 10th and San Carlos, The Campus Christian Center. It had a seating capacity of 100, and we need more room so we're going to 160 Third Street in San Jose.

God has been working wonders here in San Jose. It was on March 26, 1972 that we were chartered as a church. We then had 25 members and an average attendance of 35. At that time, we had 2 Deacons, and they took care of our services. Today we have 60 members with an average attendance of over 100. Y'e now also have our own minister, Rev. Bill Chapman, 3 exhorters, plus 10 deacons, of whom 5 are Ordained. All this has happened in just over six months. There are enought activities so everyone is busy doing God's work. We have Bible study, prayer meetings, rap sessions, plus a women's rap group, drama club, and an activity and hobby club. Along with this there are the social activities. We are a truly involved congregation! We have so muc ahead of us. By this time next year, our goal i9 to triple our membership. God--yes, God, not us-has been working in San Jose, and as Rev. Perry would say, he has blessed us real, real good! --Submitted by Neil Kramer PEAKING OF MOVING, or being "on the move"-take your chOice, things are happening all ~ over the country. Quarterly District Conferences have been held in several areas, the new Target Cities Program for '72-73 is under way, and the Board of Elders has named the Rev. Lee Carleton, Assistant Pastor of MCC Los Angeles to serve as the Executive Director for the National Board of Home Missions and Evangelism. On this committee are Rev. Ron Carnes, Denver, and Rev. Ted Calloway, Ft. Lauderdale with lay member representation set from Atlanta and Philadelphia.

Nashville itself , Tenn. which proudly proclaims " as the "buckle on the Bible belt got off to a roaring start with a visitation from Papa John Hose, Elder elder, on the last Sunday in October. Not only had the study group found a place to worship in the Edgefield Methodist Church; but had arranged for an interview for P. J. on the CBS television station in Nashville. The headlines of the 10 o'clock news that Sunday were: TWO PLANES ARE HIJACKED, AND NASHVILLE GETS A NEW CHURCH! They were constituted as a Mission group with Terry Whitwell, a Senior student.at Scarrett College, Nashville, named as Inter1m pastor. Attendance has gone steadily upward each week, and they are now negotiating to purchase a fine church on 3 acres of land on a lease-option basis. Rev. John Gill, District Coordinator for the Southeast District Conference chartered the Mission, and has given counsel and guidance to the fledgeling group. During the visit of Rev. Hose to the East, he proceeded to Washington, D. C. to preach three nights of Spiritual Renewal Conference, and to partiCipate in the dedication of WaShington MCC's new sanctuary. The DC congregation has move into a beautiful old Lutheran Church located at the juncture of 9th & E streets and Maryland Avenue Northeast. During the visit in WaShington, a seminar was conducted by Papa John for the ministerial staffs of the Washington, Philadelphia and Baltimore churches. Under the dynamic leadership of the Rev. Jim Huff, the Baltimore mission is off to a great start. For the past two months, the Mission has been meeting in the Baltimore YWCA, but will be if} their new church home by the time this edition of IN UNITY is in your hands. Jim Huff comes from the Full Gospel Fellowship, and served as minister of Music of the Fort Wayne temple. The new mission in Baltimore will be known as Calvary Temple, MCC of Baltimore.

IGH ON THE AGElIDA of upcoming activities, representative of the "forward action movement of the UNIVERSAL FELLOWSHIP are the pastor's conferenCes planned for East and West coast convening early in 1973. The Conference of Pastors for the East Coast will be held in Atlanta on the weekend of February 16, 17 and 18th. The host church will provide housing and make travel arrangements to meet planes and buses. The four elders of the Fellowship, Revs. Perry, Ploen, Hose and Loynes will conduct training Seminars and Discussions in theology and practical social counseling, as well as church administrative practices.

Already underway since the general Conference are new and active groups in Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tenn., and Baltimore, Md. The new Boston mission was instituted under the direction of Rev. Howard Wells and the New York church. In The GAY CHRISTIAN, voice of MCC, New York we read that under the direction of Exhorter Larry Bernier, MCC Boston has a full program of outreach underway. Services are being held in the Hummewell Chapel of the Arlington Street Unitarian Church at 355 Boylston St. in Boston.

]}f 'J

The Austin, Texas mission was begun in September with Rev. Robert H. Bogarte serving as interim pastor. Bob visited on the West Coast in both Los Angeles and San Diego, and a very bright future is predicted for the Austin Mission. Rev. Ron Carnes, District Coordinator visited and chartered the group as a mission in November.

The West Coast Conference will be held in San Francisco on the weekend of March 16, 17 and 18, with the same agenda in effect. Pastors, Asst. pastors, as well as Deacons and Exhorters should plan to attend if possible.

flllNJFESTIIIJON

OF TIiE. GJFT5 OF TIiE. SPJRJTJ5 Tli£RE. A NE.1ff'RAL GROIJiViJ?

ESUS SA~D, ::NARROW is the way W~iC~ leadeth unto l1fe. (Mat. 7:14). He d1dn t say ••• hard is the way. He said it was narrow. On the other hand, he also said, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Mat. 11:30). And, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give to you the Kingdom." (Luke 12:32) Nothing can be more delightful than walking the King's highway. If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sins. (I John 1:7). The Christian way isn't difficult in itself. It is made difficult by the attacks of Satan, the enemy, who wants to push us off the track. Jesus said, "In the world, you will have trouble; but be of good cheer, I have conquered the world." (John 16:33). The difficult things don't come from God, but from the challenges of the world ••• the flesh, and the Devil. If we stay on the narrow way, and we are not frightened by his attacks. If we don't listen to the lies of the enemy, we will have no difficulty in applying the victory of Jesus to every situation.

2. BOOSTER: "I'll help you," he says; and trys to give you such a boost into the saddle that you falloff on the other side and bump your head. In other words, he sees that you are going to try God, so he arranges for you to encounter peculiar things at the beginning. Perhaps a.meeting where they are not observing decency and order; where there are false teachings and strange people. If however, you get firmly seated in the saddle, his next gambit is to send you in the wrong direction. 3. NEW GOSPELS: Especially when people are new in their journey in the narrow way, the enemy tries to get them involved in New Gospels or in strange doctrines. He loves to say, "Look at the people in your church, in your prayer group. They are not good strong Christians, they are just milk and water Christians. They are just babes in Christ. You'd better go and join Brother X's organization, they are teaching some new doctrines. The Lord is really moving over there. They are special people. They are going to get to heaven first! And get a higher seat than anybody."

When Jesus speaks of the narrow way, He means that the true path is a very thin line between two extremes. The example of a pilot who has to constantly correct his course in flying from California to Hawaii. The narrow way is that correct road--that correct heading that leads to heaven. In order to stay on that heading, we have to be continually correcting our course by the chart. That is by the Word of God, and by the sightings we take. That is by our experience of God.

4. JUDAISERS: If he can't get you involved with strange doctrine. If he can't get you to join some separate brethren, then he will send you some Judaisers. That is some folks who are like the early Christians, who troubled the Gentile converts. "We are glad you've met Jesus and received the Holy Ghost. You realize however,that Jesus was the Messiah of the Jews and you Gentiles now have to keep the Jewish law." So these good people will say to you: "We are real happy that you got into the Kingdom so easily. Now that you have gotten in, you have to start keeping the laws just like the rest of us." "You haven't been properly baptized. You gotta change your manner of dress. You gotta cut your hair, or let it grow. You gotta stop living your own life style."

Satan has many devices to delay us if he can. Most people are on the alert for the very obvious ones .•• like violations of moral law, murder, theft, adultery, etc. But the more subtle ones are the dangerous ones. If someone wanted to stop you from getting on a horse and riding to a nearby town; there are several ways by which he may accomplish his purpose.

5. DISPENSATIONALIST: Or, the dispensationalist may make the pass at you. "We are real glad that you had this wonderful experience of what you call the baptis~ of the Holy Ghose. But, what really happened was that you finally got saved. Speaking in tongues, healing, and all those other gifts are not for today. We will come and give you Bible lessons and explain it away for you."

1. THE DANGERS OF RELIGION: First of all, he might try to persuade you that horses are not safe. So Satan also tries to persuade us that religion in general is dangerous. "Leave it alone, you'll go off the deep end" he will say 'Why, look at so-and-so! You don't want to get like him, do you?" If he fails in this and sees you are going to get on the horse anyway, then he will change his tune completely.

6. THE STAMPEDE: But if you insist on riding the right way, then Satan's last attempt will be the stampede. He will say, "good, you are going in the right directio~. Now you better not waste time--hurry up! And so he tries to get you to go overboard. "Speaking in tongues! BY ALL MEANS!" he says, "as often as possible. Interrupt the preacher at church on Sunday mornings. He doesn't believe in speaking in tongues, so you show him! Witness? By all means, tell everybody, bend ~veryone's ear at all times. Don't ever talk

continued page 13

at .the

at lJ.i..It.ect.oM

about anything else. Button hole all your friends, ask them if they are saved? and the more you embarrass them the better! That will show just how fearless you are!" If you repel this attack, then he will trot along beside you the rest of your journey, trying to renew his various attempts. NOW RESIST THE DEVIL!

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But, if you resist him, and pay no attention to his lies, he has no further power over you. Satan's power lies mainly in his lying tongue. It is through this that he gains power; first over your mind, then over your body. Shut him out! The narrow way is then a true course between two extremes. I I Timothy 2:15;. we read "study to show yourself approved unto God; a workman that needs not to be ashamed cutting the Word of the truth correctly."

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We strive in Metropolita~ Community Church for the Spirit and the Word! These must go together for equal balance. (Phil. 3:10-11). This balance cuts the way between those who want to emphasize the humanity of Jesus, and those who only want to see His divinity. It cuts between those who present the Christian life as a matter of individual salvation; only concerned with the individual's relationship, and those who focus entirely on the group--as tho~gh God dealt with people only by labels. The unity in diversity of our Fellowship is a positive we are learning the more excellent way of I Cor. 13. The Spirit of love is indicative among us! Our Gospel remains the unChanged: "Jesus came to seek and save the lost." Our mission is the same: "Go unto all the world, converting disciples."

paeaclied;

bJ.iJ.h. .the fJoMci Famous CfLVULfJcvuL

conceni:

What are some of the extremes through which we are called to cut a balanced path? Well to begin with, there is the balance between freedom and legalism. Jesus expressed the narrow way perfectly Himself, when He warned His followers to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. And of the leaven of Herod. The Pharisees were the legalists who insisted that a man would be saved by keeping every detail of the law. Herod, on the other hand, stood for co~promise and anything goes liberatarianism. It cuts between those who emphasize religious experience and those who emphasize objective truth.

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The Word will be our guide post! We MUST allow and accept ONLY and ALL that which the Scripture teaches us, and inspires His Spirit! Thus we walk the NARROW WAY!

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continued page 14

irsn.....·..... By the Honorable Walter Karabian San Gabriel Valley

RELATIVE TO COMMENDING THE METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH OF LOS ANGELES

•..\ WHEREAS, The Metropolitan Community Church of Los An!C'les is celebrating its fourth anniversary on Sunday, October 8, 1972; and WHEREAS, From a modest beginning of 12 adherents in 1968 the church, WIder the denominational banner of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, has Il'OWD to a nationwide congregation of 15,000 persons; and WHEREAS, The church teaches and practices the Christian doctrine; and WHEREAS, The Los Angeles Metropolitan Community Church proudly provides a spiritual and social ministry to the Los Angeles area, and is ranked number three in attendance of all Protestant churches in Los Angeles, with an average Sunday morning worship attendance in excess of 800 persons; and WHEREAS, The Los Angeles church wants to bring forth brotherhood and understanding among all peoples; and WHEREAS, A 24-hour telephone counseling service manned by trained persons to speale to callers and to direct them to those agencies, people and places that will furnish services to meet their needs, and a full service placement agency dedicated to placing the unemployed is maintained by the Metropolitan Community Church of Los Angeles; and WHEREAS, Sunday, October 8, 1972, will be a day of spiritual rededication of all the church's aims and purposes; now, therefore, be it Resolved by Assemblyman Walter Karabian, That the Metropolitan Community Church of Los Angeles be congratulated on its fourth anniversary, and be commended for-the important and outstanding community services it provides; and be it further Resolved, That a suitably prepared copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Metropolitan Community Church of Los Angeles.

Members Resolution No. 582

Dated: October 3,1972

Signed

/Ju&:- £"'41'. • &.0....,

Walter ~ 456 A.eInbIY DiItric:t

CfJNFPfJNTAIJON:

nuruc

nee:

OJ!. TIIXJ fla..le6 Can.'.t Dance at. .:t.h.e Denuen: 1-LUi:.on-lJ1um. .:t.h.e "Good Gu.!j4n 0A.e Ln: .town

OF THE flJNlJS IN UJ{iJERST /uVlJJ NG

BAP TJST -?RESBflIU?JAlV

T AST

YEAR TROY PERRY said that the t Ime has come for MeC to :nake i.n r-on ds into the est ab+ Ilshment church9s. At that time I never dreamed of the possibilities that would open within one year. I am still working part-time for the American Baptists, for wh~m I helped to build a church in the Southwest and for whom I served in Sweden and the U ,S.S.R, I wrote to the headquarters and described the new mission that-waited in the gay world. The special worker for "Alternative live styles" subsequently visited our fair state. Six months later he still remembered the names of the people he had met at MCCLA durino- a Costa Mesa rap session, and at a San Diego Po~luCk dinner. During the year he has been workin quietly but effectively to sensitize the ri:ht people to their Christian responsibility toOthe gay world.

.l...J

Suddenly a call came for us to appear in Denver in two days. Our MCC pastor there, Ron Carnes met me at the airport, We quickly agreed that picketing the national conventions of the American Baptists and the Presbyterians when they met in Denver in May would not be our approach. Picketing polarizes We need reconciliation. The Department for ChriStian concerns would make available space for lite~ature dealing with the gay world and particularly wlth MCC activity. I would plan a workshop :1t the National Convention entitled: "A'ne rrcan Baptist Convention's Responsibility for its Gay Members." That evening, at eight, I met with Pastor Carnes and 10 of his handpicked members. We then went over to the First Baptist Ch~rch where we met fifteen handplcked Baptists (from Denver and from 30:.11de·· ..)

W!lO

\'1·01."'13 CCt~!llitiLted

a w'3ek,~nd

con f e r=

ence on u Lt orn at ave Ii fe--styles. Pastor Carnes made an excellent impression as he told the tenmonth story of Denver MCC. They now have one hundred six members, share the Unitarian Building, and minister to "all people." Next I was introduced as a former American Baptis Missionary who is now University Chaplain at Long Beach State College and the University of California Irvine, as well as serving as pastor of Christ Chapel MCC in Costa Mesa. I wish that you could have been there for the evening of discussion that followed. The questions were honest. One Mother in our group was worried about her teenager who could go either way. I quoted Prof. Richard Green from the UCI sexuality class saying that sexuality is determined by the time a·child is ten days old. The one straight member from the M2C group was able to give another side of our churches. I was invited to the conference because I am a bridge between the establishment church and MC~. I came away from nineteen hours in Denver feeling I had experienced God's love in action and glad to have lived into this new age of honest confrontation between the worlds. About two weeks later I had an opportunity to look over the evaluations of the three phases of the confernce: the gay world, women's lib,

and communes. All of the c~mments concerning the gay woild were positive. One older, straight gentleman worte, "I'd rather live with a homosexual than a feminist." On Monday morning, May Sth , Air West was again taking me to Denver. Pastor Carnes again met me at the airport. But this time it would be different. There was no handpicked group that might be open to MCC. There could be eight or nine thousand Baptists milling around the convention complex and the major hotels. My job for MCC was to meet friends I hadn't seen for five or ten years and tell the story of MCC. It was so much easier than I had imagined. Friends came up and said, "What are you doing now?" I told them! I was on a Jesus-MCC high all week long. How easily we become provincial and think that God is only working within MCC, that we have the only truth about gay Christians! No one put me down. A few Side-stepped the issue. One senior minister from a prestigious church said, "Come to my city and I'll give you the money and the people to start an MCC!" Exactly one week later there was a letter on my deSk asking details about the MCC that is even now being formed in his city! This is a more efficient follow-Up than we might expect to find within MCC, and it is from a straight man who wants to put his people and his money where his mouth is. One of the high points of the week was meeting John Preston who came down from Minneapolis to help me in the workshop and to be a resource person for the United Presbyterians the next week. John has worked with "Gay House" in Minneapolis and with the Minnesota Council for the Church and the Homophile. Quite unexpectedly something happened, and the following leaflets were handed to Baptists as they returned to the Hilton Hotel:

lMPTJSTS iJO ;r' 11Il11 R[lJLLU 6C OlRU

John. j>JLeOi.on, lJ.iA.e.c.i.oJL 01- .th..e f1.i.n.n.eooi:a. CoIUl.Ci.1 f.o//. .:t.h.e Guutch and .:t.h.e Ho~ .to Derurea: a.6

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continued page 16 .

J'f} WIVED}. WRlJ ••• One important American Baptist official stepped into a crowded elevator where a group of people were reading this leaflet and making jokes. He said in a loud, firm voice, "This is very serious." Everyone in the elevator fell quiet and had a chance to think about the message of the leaflet a second time. A press release went on to say, "Preston intends to return to the Hilton Hotel this evening with a partner to challenge the expulsion." I was with John that evening. We found that the only place to dance in the Denver Hilton had disappeared! Tables had been now moved in to cover the spot where the two men had danced the night before. The Church Editor for the Denver Post and the Rev. Lester Kinsolving sat at our table and interviewed those involved. The next day the Denver Post carried the story of the two men being kicked out of the Hilton Hotel for dancing. John was incensed because same-sex dancing is an accepted thing in Minnesota these days, and in Chicago the Hilton Hotel runs a gay bar! Before the week was out he had the assurance that the United Presbyterians would deal with gay rights on their convention floor and would check for gay prejudice in future hotels. On the last evening of the American Baptist Convention I heard something I have never heard before at any national or international meeting. A college student aSked the Baptists to be sensitive to the homosexuals in our ranks. "Imagine what it must mean to have to hide your true self all of the time," he said. Later the lights dimmed a a ~71's voice prayed for all who are oppressed, ·for those who experience any kind of prejudice, for the blacks, and for our gay men and women. A new day is coming for MCC and the straight church. --Rev. Rodger Harrison Pastor, MCC Costa Mesa

I'm so damn lonely at times that I don't feel that I can survive the impersonal world for another day. Yet, somehow

do •••

You know, each time I go to the bars, I'm always looking for someone ••• and if I really think about it, I know that it's not just for sex ••• it's for companionship. People smile and cruise in the bars, Lord •• and they laugh ••• and swing with the music. And they are crying on the inside, just like me ••• they are just as lonely as I am. What keeps us apart? The tragic thing is that I know what the results of my search will be, even before I hit the bars.. .at best, a trick for the night; at worst, a terrible sense of dispair ••• and always, loneliness. And even if I score, that ache in my heart, that feeling of meaningless existence still lingers on; in fleeting moments I realize that my life is like an endless treadmill that's going faster and faster ••• and going nowhere. Oh, God!

Is this all there is to life?

Isn't there any alternative to this empty, superficial existence? Is there any escape from my life of quiet desperation? Jesus, You were lonely, too, when You were dying on the cross; yet, You aren't lonely now. • .BECAUSE YOU DARED TO LOVE. Is that the problem? Am I more concerned about being loved than to love? Am I more interested in passing myself off as a commodity to be caressed and held than to be willing to hold ••• and comfort ••• and love?

Place yourself in the presence of God Ask him to inspire yo ••

Send me ••• send me nest door, into the next r~om, to speak somehow to a human heart beating alongside mine. Send me to bear a note of dignity' into a sub-human, hopeless situation. Send me to show forth joy in a moment and a place where there is otherwise no jo~ but only the will to die.

give me good work to do that I may forget O myself and find peace in doing it for thee. Though I am poor, send me to carry some gift to those who are GOD,

poorer, some cheer to those who are lonelier, since they have not known the friendship of Jesus. Grant me the chance to do a kindness to one of his little ones, and light thou my Christmas candle at the gladness of an innocent and grateful heart. Strange is the path where thou leadest me, but let me not doubt thy wisdom, nor lose thy hand today. Make me sure that the eternal love is forever unveiled in Jesus, thy dear Son, to save us from sin and solitude and death. Teach me that I am not alone, but many hearts, all round the world, join with me through the silence while I pray in his name: "Our Father which art in heaven." Amen.

Send me to reflect Your light in the darkness of futility, mere existence, and the horror of casual human cruelty. But give me Your light, too, Lord, in my own darkness and need, and I won't be lonely anymore.

HENRY VAN DYKE

The Lord Is My Shepherd and He Knows

J'mGay

ByFounder, Reverend TroyPerry Metropolitan Community Church With Charles l. Lucas

of a church, lover of God ... and also a homosexual. It is a searching account of the plight of homosexuals in this world that scorns, condemns and harasses them while no one dared to cry out in protest - till now!

"I am not a creature from the outer darkness! I am a homosexual, a man of flesh and blood. And, I have a few things to say .... " This is the frank and revealing portrait of a man, the Reverend Troy Perry, pastor and founder 17

--COME

WORSHIP WITHUS--

Universal Fellowship 01 Metropolitan Community Churches National Headquarters: 2201 S. Union Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90007 (213) 748路0123 National Prison Ministry: 4650 Irving St., San Francisco, CA 94122 ~

ARIZONA Metropolitan Community Church 1426 E. Maricopa Freeway Phoenix (602) 271-0125 Sunday: Worship 11 AM Wednesday: Worship 8 PM CALIFORNIA East Bay M. C. C. (Han's Bar--Upper Room) 316 14th St. Oakland (415) 839-2646 Rev. Peter D. Wilson, Pastor Sunday: Worship 7 PM Trinity Metropolitan Comm. C. (Unitarian Church) 7th & Lemon Sts. Riverside (213) 874-8135 Rev. H. S. Young, Pastor Sunday: Worship 7 PM Metropolitan Community Church .1535 Santa Barbara St. Santa Barbara (805) 965-4804 Rev. Ronald T. Pannell, Pastor Sunday: Worship 8 PM Metropolitan Community Church Venice Mission 2900 Main St. Venice, California Rev. Bonnie Daniel, Pastor Sunday: Worship 1:30 P. M. Metropolitan Community Church 1105 Raymond Ave. Long Beach (213) 434-1944 Rev. Robert Cunningham, Pastor Sunday: Worship 11 A. M. 7:30 PM

NATIONAL

CHURCH DIRECTORY

Metropolitan Community Church 1221! 20th St. Sacramento Rev. Ralph Gordon Sunday: Worship 7:30 PM Metropolitan Community Church 2201 So. Union Ave. Los Angeles (213) 748-0123 Rev. Troy D. Perry, Pastor Rev. Lee Carleton, Asst. Pastor Rev. Richard Ploen, Dir. of Ch. Ed. Sunday: Worship 11 A. M., 7:30 PM Wednesday: Worship 7:30 PM Metropolitan Community Church 906 North 47th St. (Hilltop) (Chollas View Methodist) San Diego (714) 264-7351 Rev. John H. Hose, Pastor Rev. Howard Williams, Asst. Pastor Sunday: Worship 7:30 p. M. Wednesday: Prayer Meet 7:30 PM Metropo~itan Community Church 1074 Gerrero St. San Francisco (415) 431-6836 Rev. James Sandmire, Pastor Sunday: Evening Worship 7:30 Metropolitan Community Church Mission ( Unitarian) San Fernando Valley Rev. Howard Williams, Interim Pastor Services: Sunday 11 AM Christ Chapel MCC 1259 Victoria St. Costa Mesa (714) 548-5046 Rev. Rodger Harrison, Pastor Sunday: Worship 7 PM

<>Metropolitan Community Church (First Unitarian Church) 1400 Lafayette St. Denver (303) 244-1110 Rev. Ronald Carnes, Pastor Sunday: Worship Service 7:30 PM FLORIDA Church of the Holy Spirit MCC SW 12th Ave. & 2nd Court Ft. Lauderdale Sunday: Service 6:30 PM Christ MCC 3901 NW 2nd Ave. Miami (305) 576-0708 Rev. Frank D. Crouch, Jr. Pastor Sunday: Worship 11 AM and 7:30 PM Metropolitan Community Church 2904.Concordia Ave. Tampa (813) 839-5939 Rev. Charles W. Larsen, Pastor Sunday: Worship 7:30 PM GEORGIA Metropolitan Community Church 527 N. McDonough St. Decatur (Atlanta) (404) 378-6736 Rev. John Gill, Pastor Sunday: Worship 11 AM HAWAII Metropolitan Community Church 2500 Pali Highway Honolulu (808) 538-7940 Rev. Timothy Earhart, Pastor Sunday: Worship Service 7 PM ILLINOIS

Metropolitan Community Church Fresno Mission (Christian Ch.) 1632 N St. Fresno (209) 237-3111 Metropolitan Community Church 160 Third Street San Jose (408) 226-7872 Rev. William Chapman, Pastor Sunday: Worship 7:30 P. M.

COLORADO Metropolitan Community Church (All Souls Church) 730 N. Tejon St. Colorado Springs (303) 598-5857 Rev. Bradley Wilson, Pastor Sunday: Worship 1 PM

Good Shepherd Parish .1IICC (Broadway Methodist) 3342 N. Broadway Chicago (312) 248-1525

continued back cover

LOUISIANA Metropolitan Community Church 1375 Magazine St. New Orleans (504) 821-8647 Sunday: Worship 11 AM

Metropolitan Community Church (First Unit~rian Church) ,4015 Normandy St. Dallas (214) 823-6279 Rev. Richard Vi~certt, Pastor Sunday: Worship 7:30 PM

MASSACHUSETTS WASHINGTON, MCC Boston Mi-ssion (Hunnewell Chapel--Arlington St. Ch) 355 Boylston St. Boston (617) 723-3418 Rev. Laurence Bernier, Pastor Sunday: Worship 7:30 P. M. MICHIGAN Metropolitan Community Church (Trinity Methodist CNurch) 13100 Woodward Ave. Highland Park (Detroit) Rev. Anthony Clemente, Pastor Sunday: Worship 7 PM NEW YORK Metropolitan Community Church 360 West 28th Street New York City (212) 866-0265 Rev. Howard Wells, Pastor Sunday: Worship 4 PM OKLAHOMA Metropolitan Community Church (Highland Hills Christian Church) 3501 NW 63rd St. Oklahoma City (405) 848-5066 Rev. Bob Evans, Pastor Sunday: Worship 6 PM PENNSYLVANIA

D. C.

Metropolitan Community Church (Capitol East Foundation) 9.th& Maryland Ave. NE Washington, D. C. (202) 547-2773 Rev. Paul Breton, Pastor Sunday: Worship 2 PM Friday: Prayer fellowship 6:30 WASHINGTON Metropolitan Community Church (Capital Hill United Methodist) 16th & E John Sts. Seattle (206) 325-1872 Rev. Robert A. Sirico, Pastor Sunday: Worship 2 PM and 7:30 PM WISCONSIN Prince of Peace Parish MCC 2024 W. Highland Ave. Milwaukee (414) 964-4733 Rev. Paul Sydman, Pastor Sunday: Worship 7:30 PM UTAH Metropolitan Community Church 740 S. 7th St. East Salt Lake City (801) 328-1517 Rev. Richard L. Groh, Pastor Sunday: Worship 11 AM and 7 PM

Metropolitan Community Church (First Unitarian Church) 2125 Chestnut St. Philadelphia (215) 222-2647 Rev. Keith Delano Davis, Pastor Sunday: Worship 7 PM TENNESSEE MCC Mission (EclgehillMethodist Church) Edgehill Drive nr. Vanderbilt Univ. Nashville Rev. Terry W. Whitwell, Pastor Sunday: Worship 2 PM TEXAS MCC Mission Austin - POBox 1256 Rev. Robert H. Bogarte, Sunday: Worship Wednesday: Worship

Pastor

"-&ยง