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MCC of the Spirit is a part of the
Universal
Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), an
international Christian denomination with a primary ministry
to the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgendered communities.
UFMCC was founded October 1968 by Rev. Troy Perry in Los
Angeles, CA. Our denomination currently has about 250
churches in 25 different countries.
MCC of Harrisburg, as it was known then,
began in November 1980 as a parish extension of Metropolitan
Community Church of Philadelphia by Rev. Bruce Hughes and
Gary Norton. From the very beginning, the church was very
involved in the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered
community. The church and Dignity helped to begin the local
Gay and Lesbian Switchboard. A volleyball tournament hosted
each year by the church provided major funding for the
Switchboard. Rev. Pat Lichty came in 1983 and taught the
church about the importance of inclusive language. She taught
that it not only meant the inclusion of other terms for God
other than the typical male language so many of us grew up
with, but we needed to be sensitized culturally, racially,
aware of people with disabilities, and so much more. There
were some very lean years, when the church almost closed from
1984 to 1986. If it had not been for a strong leadership team
of David Leach, Tom Prokob and Shari Gackstatter, the church
would not be what it is today. It was during this difficult
time that MCC Harrisburg decided it needed a more appropriate
name, let the Spirit move, and became MCC of the Spirit.
As the District considered closing the
church, Rev. Karon VanGelder realized a call to ministry and a
vision for MCC of the Spirit. She became the pastor in 1986
and stayed until 1991. The church grew to about 40 active
members in this time and really began to reach out to needs in
the community. She began a ministry called “Eagles Perch”
which was an outreach to gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and
transgendered youth.
In the fall of 1991, when a conflict
arose in the church, the District appointed Rev. Eva O’Diam to
begin on November 1, 1991 as interim pastor for 6 months.
During that time, much attention was given to healing the
conflict and learning how to better communicate with one
another. At the end of the 6 months, Rev. O’Diam was voted in
as the pastor of the church and has continued as pastor to
this day.
For 16 years, MCC of the Spirit met in
the Quaker Meeting House at the corner of 6th and
Herr Streets. The church’s office was originally on Front
Street, and then in 2 different locations on Green Street. In
1996, MCC of the Spirit became the first primarily GLBT
non-profit organization in Harrisburg to purchase their own
building at 2973 Jefferson Street.
MCC of the Spirit has had many successful ministries in its
life. We are a teaching church, training future clergy for
UFMCC. (We have trained pastors serving in Florida, Virginia,
and West Virginia and several chaplains.) We have hosted the
AIDS quilt. We offer Renaissance space. When Matthew
Shepherd was killed, we hosted a community rally downtown at
the Capitol. We began the Silent Witness program at the PRIDE
Festival. We trained others to carry out this ministry when
Fred Phelps first came to town. We have performed countless
same-sex unions in our history. We have helped to raise funds
for the Gay Lesbian Switchboard of Harrisburg, the Equity for
Gays and Lesbians fund, AIDS education, Common Roads and
Sharing Our Caring, to name a few. As the Quakers opened
their doors to us, we open our doors freely for meeting space
in the community for others to meet. We have tried to change
our worship to meet the changing needs in the community. We
have led off PRIDE celebrations with music and marriage
ceremonies. We grow our faith so it becomes our action in as
many ways as we can.
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