MCC History

What Follows is a summary of MCC’s EARLY history through the eyes of our founder, Rev. Troy Perry.

Introduction

In 1968, a year before New York’s Stonewall Riots, a series of most unlikely events in Southern California resulted in the birth of the world’s first church group with a primary, positive ministry to gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender persons.

Those events, a failed relationship, an attempted suicide, a reconnection with God, an unexpected prophecy, and the birth of a dream led to MCC’s first worship service: a gathering of 12 people in Rev. Troy Perry’s living room in Huntington Park, California on October 6, 1968.

That first worship service in a Los Angeles suburb in 1968 launched the international movement of Metropolitan Community Churches, which today has grown to 43,000 members and adherents in almost 300 congregations in 22 countries. During the past 36 years, MCC’s prophetic witness has forever changed the face of Christianity and helped to fuel the international struggle for LGBT rights and equality 

These edited excerpts are from “The Lord Is My Shepherd, And He Knows I’m Gay” authored by MCC Founder and Moderator, Rev. Troy D. Perry.

Prelude

In the early 1960s, Rev. Perry was defrocked as a clergyperson by a Pentecostal denomination because of his homosexuality. He spent the next several years struggling to reconcile his sexuality and his Christian spirituality.

In Part I, Rev. Perry describes the events that preceded the first worship MCC service:

• A failed romance.
• An attempted suicide.
• A reconnection with God.
• An unexpected prophecy.
• And the birth of a dream…

Use the slider below to select between parts 1-4 of MCC’s rich history.