Editing Metropolitan Community Church (section)

== History ==
The first congregation was founded in [[Huntington Park, California]], by former Pentecostal pastor<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bOkPjFQoBj8C&dq=troy+perry+pentecostal&pg=PA942 | isbn=9781412976855 | title=Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World | date=23 February 2011 | last1=Stange | first1=Mary Zeiss | last2=Oyster | first2=Carol K. | last3=Sloan | first3=Jane E. }}</ref> [[Troy Perry]] on October 6, 1968.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bernadicou |first1=August |title=Troy perry: Interview |url= https://www.lgbtqhp.org/post/rev-troy-perry |website=The LGBTQ History Project |publisher=The LGBTQ History Project |access-date=6 February 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Troy |last=Perry |author-link=Troy Perry |title=The Lord Is My Shepherd and He Knows I'm Gay |publisher=Nash Publishing |date=1972}}</ref> This was a time when [[Homosexuality and Christianity|Christian attitudes toward homosexuality]] were almost universally unfavorable. The first congregation originally met in Perry's Huntington Park home. The church first gained publicity by ads taken out in ''[[The Advocate (LGBT magazine)|The Advocate]]'' magazine. Perry declared the church was made up of born again believers.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wMlKDwAAQBAJ&dq=metropolitan+community+church+born+again&pg=PA257 | isbn=9781469636276 | title=Devotions and Desires: Histories of Sexuality and Religion in the Twentieth-Century United States | date=6 February 2018 | publisher=UNC Press Books }}</ref>

In 1969 the congregation had outgrown Perry's living room and moved to rented space at the [https://www.gfwc.org/club-directory/ Huntington Park Women's Club]. It was at this point in time membership in the church grew to about 200 people. Due to discrimination the church was forced to move, and had a hard time finding a permanent place. During this period during the spring and summer of 1969 the church moved first to the Embassy Auditorium, and then a United Methodist Church for two weeks. The church ended up renting out the Encore Theatre in Hollywood from 1969 through 1971.

Within months of the first worship service, Perry began receiving letters and visits from people who wanted to start Metropolitan Community Churches in other cities. MCC groups from eight US cities were represented at the first General Conference in 1970: Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and [[Costa Mesa, California]]; Chicago, Illinois; Phoenix, Arizona; [[Kaneohe, Hawaii]]; and Dallas, Texas. An MCC group existed in Miami, Florida, but did not send a delegate.<ref name="ReferenceA">Four Historical Readings from 44 Years of MCC Ministry</ref>

The church had its final move to a building it purchased at 2201 South Union Avenue in Los Angeles in early 1971. The building was consecrated on March 7, 1971. MCC worshiped there until January 27, 1973, when the building was destroyed by what the [[LAFD|Fire Department]] called a fire "of suspicious origin".<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

During this early period of expansion, a congregation of the MCC formed in New Orleans. Services were initially held in the [[UpStairs Lounge]], a well-known gay bar. The church was struck by tragedy when the UpStairs Lounge suffered an arson attack in 1973. The Reverend Bill Larson and a number of parishioners were killed in the blaze.

In 1972 [[Freda Smith (clergy)|Freda Smith]] became the first female minister in MCC,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/metro_comm_church.html |title=Metropolitan Community Church |publisher=Glbtq.com |date=6 October 1968 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524234619/http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/metro_comm_church.html |archive-date=24 May 2011}}</ref> and was the first woman elected to the Board of Elders in 1973 at the fourth general conference in Atlanta, when the Board of Elders was expanded from four members to seven.<ref name=issu-1973>{{cite journal |journal=In Unity |title=The Impossible Dream |url=https://issuu.com/mccchurches/docs/june---1974---in-unity |date=June 1974 |volume=IV |number=3 |publisher=Metropolitan Community Church |pages=7, 19 |access-date=October 30, 2017}}</ref> Later MCC adopted gender inclusive language in its worship services.<ref name="has.vcu.edu">{{cite web |url=http://www.has.vcu.edu/wrs/profiles/MetropolitanCommunityChurch.htm |title=Home |publisher=[[Virginia Commonwealth University]] |access-date=15 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213142600/http://www.has.vcu.edu/wrs/profiles/MetropolitanCommunityChurch.htm |archive-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

After opening churches in [[Toronto]], [[Canada]], and [[London]], [[England]], in 1973, the association became international in 1974.<ref> J. Gordon Melton, ''Encyclopedia of Protestantism'', Infobase Publishing, USA, 2005, p. 557</ref>  The largest presence is found in the United States, followed by Canada. 

[[File:TroyPerry2006-09-17.JPG|thumb|left|Perry at an MCC church in 2006]]
Perry served as [[Chairman|moderator]] of the fellowship until 2005, when [[Nancy Wilson (religious leader)|Nancy Wilson]] was elected moderator by the General Conference; she was formally installed in a special service at the [[Washington National Cathedral]] in Washington, DC, on October 29, 2005.<ref>{{cite web|title=UFMCC Fact Sheet |url=http://mccchurch.org/files/2009/08/MCC-FACT-SHEET_2011-Craig-Suggestions.pdf |work=FACT SHEET FOR METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCHES (MCC) |publisher=UFMCC |access-date=31 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511034111/http://mccchurch.org/files/2009/08/MCC-FACT-SHEET_2011-Craig-Suggestions.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> She is only the second person, and the first woman, to serve as moderator.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mccchurch.org/overview/moderators-corner/ |title=Moderator's Corner &#124; Metropolitan Community Churches |publisher=Metropolitan Community Church |date=19 March 2013 |access-date=15 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226212444/http://mccchurch.org/overview/moderators-corner/ |archive-date=26 December 2013}}</ref>

In 2010, the first MCC congregation in Spain would be established in Madrid in October. If successfully established, the MCC would have been the first recognized church in Spain to officially solemnize same-sex marriages.<ref>Spain is country where the overwhelming majority of the population belongs to the [[Roman Catholic Church]], the former state church which refuses to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies or adoptions {{cite web|url=http://elmundo.orbyt.es/2010/07/03/elmundo_en_orbyt/1278171641.html |title=Llega a España la primera Iglesia gay |first=Olga R. |last=Sanmartín |publisher=[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]] |date=3 July 2010 <!-- 18:27 --> |language=es |access-date=1 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815074725/http://elmundo.orbyt.es/2010/07/03/elmundo_en_orbyt/1278171641.html |archive-date=15 August 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100704/lf_afp/spainreligiongaysrights_20100704123620 |title=Spain to get church for same-sex marriages: report |author=[[Agence France-Presse]] |publisher=[[Yahoo! News]] |date=4 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721191040/http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100704/lf_afp/spainreligiongaysrights_20100704123620 |archive-date=21 July 2010}}</ref> An MCC congregation was not permanently established in Madrid in 2010, it is unclear why however. In 2018, the first religiously affiliated same-sex wedding recorded in Spain was performed by a vicar of the [[Church of Sweden|Lutheran Church of Sweden]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Naylor |first=Mark |title=This European Country Has Just Had its First Gay Church Wedding |website=Culture Trip |date=30 May 2018 |access-date=27 December 2020 |url=https://theculturetrip.com/europe/spain/articles/this-european-country-has-just-has-its-first-gay-church-wedding/}}</ref> The Lutheran Church of Sweden and the MCC are in partial communion with each other and the vicar is stationed in Spain on a long term 5-year mission. Despite these facts he cannot legally officiate any wedding wherein either party is a Spanish citizen and can only perform ceremonies in which at least one participant is a Swedish citizen.<ref>{{Note|The reason for these seemingly odd regulations is that the Church of Sweden is a state entity whose ministers are employees of Sweden’s government}}</ref> Later that year an MCC congregation finally opened in Madrid. As of 2020, the MCC website describes their "emerging" congregation in Madrid as thriving and expanding. When or if this congregation has performed any LGBTQ weddings is unclear however.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mccchurch.org/overview/ourchurches/find-a-church/western-europe-church-listings/ |title=Europe Church Listings – Metropolitan Community Churches}}</ref>

In 2011 the Good Shepherd Parish of the MCC was inducted into the [[Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glhalloffame.org/index.pl?page=inductees&todo=year |title=Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame |access-date=10 January 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017032241/http://www.glhalloffame.org/index.pl?page=inductees&todo=year |archive-date=2015-10-17}}</ref>

According to a census of the association published in 2025, it would have 172 churches in 20 countries.<ref> Metropolitan Community Church, [https://visitmccchurch.com/our-churches/ Our churches], visitmccchurch.com, USA, accessed August 16, 2025</ref>