Last Easter Sunday, MCC Toronto in Canada had the distinct honor of welcoming Rev. Elder Cecilia Eggleston, Moderator of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. Visiting from the UK to connect with our Canadian congregations, Rev. Cecilia delivered a message that has clearly struck a chord far beyond our sanctuary walls. Since its broadcast, the sermon has gone viral across social media—amassing over 12,000 views and hundreds of reactions from a global audience moved by her words on love, justice, and the power of ‘Yes.’
Read the full preaching from Rev. Elder Cecilia Eggleston, summarized by Gemini AI:
A Global Welcome
It is my great honor and an unbelievable joy to be here. I am visiting the Canadian churches during Holy Week and have been graced to be here during Easter. I bring you greetings from the MCC Governing Board, the Council of Elders, and the staff. We are here to serve you.
MCC exists around the world, and it’s fantastic to be here with you at this time. It’s my first time being in Canada as the Moderator, and I want to thank Reverend Dina for this fantastic welcome, along with all the staff and volunteers who have welcomed me. I also want to thank John Spoil and his husband, Reverend Dr. Brent Hawks, for hosting me.
Honoring a Legacy of Deep Listening
Many of you have known Brent for a long time as your pastor, but you also need to know his breadth around the world. Brent has been part of my MCC journey since the very beginning. He was on the interview panel when I applied to be the Regional Elder for the churches in Europe and Africa.
As he approached retirement, he wrote a very powerful letter inviting the whole denomination to consider who they might choose as Moderator. The thing that struck me the most was his advice that whoever takes this role needs to listen deeply. I have tried to be a deep listener ever since. I want to honor him for helping me to become a better version of myself.
The Invisible Pew: Our Online Community
This is my first time setting foot in this building, but it is not the first time I have worshiped with MCC Toronto. You have an amazing group of people in the tech booth making sure the experience is right for those online.
To those of us in the online community: if we just wanted to watch TV, we would watch TV. When you welcome us into this worship space, you are welcoming fellow worshippers. If there is an empty space next to you in the pew today, don’t think of it as empty. Think of it as part of the online community—people choosing to worship from home, their office, or their car. There is a person sitting next to you; you just can’t see them.
Will You Love Me Tomorrow?
(Music: A snippet of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”)
I came out to my parents when I was 13, which wasn’t a rampant success. We didn’t have “LGBTQIA+” in those days; we just had “practicing homosexuals.” This song became part of the soundtrack of my emerging years.
Whether you heard that song in 1960 or 2026, if your heart is breaking or you’re unsure, the lyrics still speak. Every year, we hear the story of Easter with all its emotional complexities:
- Jesus pouring out his love through washing feet and sharing wine.
- The betrayal by Judas and the denial by Peter.
- The cruelty of the crown of thorns and the desolation of a future shattered.
The Moment of Resurrection
It is curious to me that Jesus did not appear to the disciples when they first came running to the tomb. Instead, we have that moment of desolation with Mary standing at the tomb weeping. She wasn’t expecting to see him, so she didn’t recognize him at first.
But imagine what that felt like for her. After all that grief and sorrow, she asks, “Will you still love me tomorrow?” And the answer is: “I am here. Yes.” In that moment, we know that the divine power of love has conquered death. The religious leaders and Pontius Pilate exercised power over others—oppression and winning. The divine power of love that Jesus offered is power with others: forgiveness, growth, connection, and healing.
Power, Love, and Justice
The anniversary of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. often falls near Easter, and the timing is profound. Dr. King once said:
“Power is love implementing the demands of justice. Power without love is reckless and abrasive. Love without power is sentimental and anemic. Justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”
Sometimes we feel powerless, yet we have choices every day. We can choose to be kind, to be generous with our treasure, and to rise up for those who cannot rise up for themselves.
The Challenges After the Resurrection
We must remember that no “magic switch” was turned the moment Jesus rose. The Romans didn’t suddenly leave, and the religious leaders didn’t immediately ask for a Bible study to see where they went wrong. The disciples still faced a “shedload” of challenges.
The same is true for us. Life continues to be challenging. MCC Toronto has navigated a pandemic, changes in pastoral leadership, and the unsettling (though joyful) process of building renovations. We have lost beloved congregants and we are still grieving. But in the midst of that, you have continued to live out divine love.
Answering the Demands of Justice
Justice demands that queer kids have a safe place to learn and grow. For 35 years, this church has used the power of love to create that sanctuary.
Justice demands that people fleeing for their lives find welcome and dignity. You have stood for human rights, treating every single person as a child of God. Some of those people you may never see again, but they will never forget that when they asked, “Will you still love me tomorrow?” your answer was a resounding “Yes.”
Saving Lives Through Kindness
I was speaking with a friend recently who told me about a young person whose life was saved by the “Triangle Project” here. We often think of “saving lives” as something dramatic from a movie—someone being pulled from a burning car to swelling music.
But you save lives by making sure there is a door with a rainbow on it. You save lives by making sure children are fed. The next time you don’t feel great about yourself, look in the mirror and say: “I have saved the lives of people whose names I will never know, but who will never forget my kindness.”
Closing: A Resounding Yes
Whether this is your first Sunday or your 19,000th Sunday, you are part of a life-changing movement. We need the story of the resurrection to remind us how powerful love can be when we show up as our authentic selves.
To anyone watching online, scrolling through Facebook, or walking through these doors asking, “God, will you still love me tomorrow?”—because of who you are and how you live, the answer is: Yes.
Amen.