Editing Cecilia Eggleston

{{Short description|English Metropolitan Community Church minister}}
{{Infobox clergy
| honorific_prefix = [[The Reverend]]
| name             = Cecilia Eggleston
| image            =
| image_upright    = 1
| alt              = A portrait of Cecilia Eggleston, Moderator of the Metropolitan Community Church.
| caption          = Rev. Elder Cecilia Eggleston
| years_active     = 1989–present
| occupation       = {{hlist|Elder|pastor|moderator}}
| religion         = Christianity ([[Mainline Protestant]])
| church           = [[Metropolitan Community Church]]
| ordained         = 2004
}}
'''Cecilia Eggleston''' is a minister and leader within the [[Metropolitan Community Church]] (MCC).<ref name="archive">[https://lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/cecilia-eggleston "Rev. Elder Cecilia Eggleston | Profile"], ''LGBTQ Religious Archives Network'', accessed July 13, 2023.</ref> She is currently the elected Moderator, CEO and chief spokesperson of MCC worldwide.<ref name="insider">[https://insidemcc.org/about-mcc/who-to-contact/ Who to contact], MCC, accessed July 13, 2023,</ref>

== Career ==
She helped create Samaritan Education in Europe and chaired its board of trustees for several years. Eggleston participated in the Board of Ordained Ministry before becoming district coordinator for MCC churches in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Denmark. Her experience as chair aided her work on the Elders Task Force on Education.<ref name="archive" />

In 2003, Eggleston was elected to serve on the board of elders during a shift in the MCC's governance. She was ordained in 2004.<ref name="archive" /> In 2005, she became the moderator of the MCC, a role previously held by [[Troy Perry]]; she is the second female moderator and the first to come from outside the United States.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fieseler |first=Robert W. |date=2019-09-01 |title=Inside The Metropolitan Community Church, Which Has Been Telling LGBTQ People God Loves Them For 50 Years |work=[[The Daily Beast]] |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-the-metropolitan-community-church-which-has-been-telling-lgbtq-people-god-loves-them-for-50-years |access-date=2023-11-09}}</ref> Eggleston retired from the Board of Elders in 2007 and became the full-time pastor of the MCC's [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] congregation.<ref name="archive" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Newcastle LGBT church celebrates 20 years |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-15495681 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=28 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Musgrove |first1=Susan |title=After my sex change, I'm now a woman in the eyes of God |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10018144/After-my-sex-change-Im-now-a-woman-in-the-eyes-of-God.html |access-date=December 16, 2023 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=April 29, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=McVeigh |first1=Karen |title=Church of England to consider transgender naming ceremony |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/21/proposal-for-transgender-baptism-to-go-before-church-of-england |access-date=December 16, 2023 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=May 21, 2015}}</ref> As part of the MCC's Strategic Review Team, Eggleston worked with the Board of Elders and Board of Administration to improve the MCC's denominational organization.<ref name="archive" /> As of 2025, Eggleston is the CEO and Chief of Staff of MCC worldwide.<ref name="insider"/>

== Views and activism ==
In 2007, Eggleston spoke at the United Kingdom's National Holocaust Memorial event. She has been involved in local efforts to combat homophobia on the [[International Day Against Homophobia]].<ref name="archive" /> In response to the [[2021 Atlanta spa shootings]], Eggleston denounced [[Xenophobia and racism related to the COVID-19 pandemic|anti-Asian racism resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Borja |first1=Melissa May |last2=Zhang |first2=Kayla |title='Please Love Our Asian American Neighbors': Christian Responses to Anti-Asian Racism during the COVID-19 Pandemic |journal=[[Theology Today]] |date=2023 |volume=79 |issue=4 |pages=370–389 |doi=10.1177/00405736221132863 |pmid=36618959 |pmc=9805921 |issn=0040-5736}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Eggleston |first1=Cecilia |title=A statement from Rev. Cecilia Eggleston on Atlanta attacks |url=https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Moderator-Addresses-the-Atlanta-USA-Attacks.html?soid=1101747410130&aid=QoCsEM2WKYA |date=19 March 2021 |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref>

In 2023, Eggleston criticized the [[Church of England]]'s decision to allow blessings of [[same-sex unions]] but continue defining marriage as between a man and a woman. She said this compromise "has gone on too long and has reached a new level of absurdity".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Zipkin |first1=Michele |title=LGBTQ rights in the UK: Challenges, yet resilience. |url=https://epgn.com/2023/02/14/lgbtq-rights-in-the-uk-challenges-yet-resilience/ |access-date=December 16, 2023 |work=[[Philadelphia Gay News]] |date=February 17, 2023}}</ref> Eggleston has criticized [[Right to keep and bear arms in the United States|gun rights]] activist and US congresswoman [[Lauren Boebert]]'s statement that Jesus should have been armed, saying that "if the congresswoman would give our scripture only a cursory glance, she would know that Jesus willingly gave His life, and wouldn't have fought back no matter how armed He was".<ref>{{cite news |title=MCC calls out Boebert for saying Jesus should have been armed |url=https://dallasvoice.com/mcc-calls-out-boebert-for-saying-jesus-should-have-been-armed/ |access-date=16 December 2023 |work=[[Dallas Voice]] |date=June 15, 2022}}</ref> Eggleston and the MCC have also opposed anti-LGBTQ+ laws in [[Florida]] and what the church refers to as [[Ron DeSantis]]'s "extreme agenda".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Andrew |title=NATIONAL Montana court, gay bishop, EEOC, Equality Forum, banned operas |url=https://www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/NATIONAL-Montana-court-gay-bishop-EEOC-Equality-Forum-banned-operas/75590.html |access-date=December 16, 2023 |work=[[Windy City Times]] |date=October 11, 2023}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Eggleston was the sixth of seven siblings. Raised [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], she [[Coming out|came out]] as lesbian at thirteen years old and joined the MCC at approximately twenty years old.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=da Silva |first1=Adriano |title=Violência LGBTIfóbica na comunicação digital: representações do jornalismo, redes sociais online e perspectivas inclusivas|trans-title=LGBTIphobic violence in digital communication: representations of journalism, online social networks and inclusive perspectives |journal=Instituto de Comunicação e Informação Científica e Tecnológica em Saúde Biblioteca de Saúde Pública (Institute of Scientific and Technological Communication and Information in Health Public Health Library) |date=2021 |pages=103–106 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356082671 |publisher=[[Oswaldo Cruz Foundation]] (FIOCRUZ)}}</ref>

== References ==
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[[Category:LGBTQ Protestant clergy]]
[[Category:Women Christian clergy]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]