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dlwickham

(3,316 posts)
Sat Feb 16, 2013, 07:30 PM Feb 2013

Are gay-centered churches relevant anymore?

On that Sunday in 1968 when Troy Perry borrowed a minister's robe and started a church for gays in his living room, the world was a very different place.

Perry's Metropolitan Community Churches was then a lone spiritual refuge for openly gay Christians, an idea so far from the mainstream that the founders were often chased from places where they tried to worship. Four decades later, some of the most historically important American denominations, which had routinely expelled gays and lesbians, are welcoming them instead.

MCC now has a presence in dozens of U.S. states as well as overseas, reporting a total membership of more than 240 congregations and ministries. But as acceptance of same-sex relationships grows -- gay and lesbian clergy in many Protestant traditions no longer have to hide their partners or lose their careers, and Christians can often worship openly with their same-gender spouses in the mainline Protestant churches where they were raised -- the fellowship is at a crossroads.

Is a gay-centered Christian church needed anymore?

http://www.thetranscript.com/religion/ci_22603347/are-gay-centered-churches-relevant-anymore

5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Are gay-centered churches relevant anymore? (Original Post) dlwickham Feb 2013 OP
As long as gay-centered Churches... DonViejo Feb 2013 #1
Well said mwrguy Mar 2013 #5
Saying a gay church is irrelevant is like saying because Obama was elected... Agnosticsherbet Feb 2013 #2
I went to an MCC church a few times here in NYC. hrmjustin Feb 2013 #3
If the congregants want it, who's to argue with them? MADem Feb 2013 #4

DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
1. As long as gay-centered Churches...
Sat Feb 16, 2013, 07:39 PM
Feb 2013

attract parishioners/members, those Churches are needed. MCC is a place of healing and growth for many in the GLBT community, to include the parents of GLBT community members.

Agnosticsherbet

(11,619 posts)
2. Saying a gay church is irrelevant is like saying because Obama was elected...
Sat Feb 16, 2013, 08:00 PM
Feb 2013

there is no racism.

However, personally, a gay church is relevant if gays want their own church, even if anti-gay religious zealots had a conversion on the road to Damascus, which they haven't.

 

hrmjustin

(71,265 posts)
3. I went to an MCC church a few times here in NYC.
Sat Feb 16, 2013, 08:08 PM
Feb 2013

I have to say it was an experience. You got the feeling they were a family that needed one another. Whether they are needed or not they are desired.

MADem

(135,425 posts)
4. If the congregants want it, who's to argue with them?
Sat Feb 16, 2013, 08:11 PM
Feb 2013

Alternatively, if the congregants feel that the special purpose that was originally the founding bedrock of the church is no longer needed, they could either disband or widen their outreach to other underserved communities.

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