As the holidays approach, just like everybody else, Milwaukee’s LGBTQ community is in a frenzy of celebrations. There’s so much to get done: baking cookies, gift shopping, party planning and all the rest. The bars are decorated with care and homes, often, with over-the-top abandon.
For many of us there’s also a spiritual component. But, since many mainstream religions reject LGBTQ people outright, we’ve had to seek other means to keep that particular light in our lives. Some have turned to alternatives like the Winter Solstice. Others put an LGBTQ take on their traditional religious celebrations.
One church, the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), has been serving the spiritual needs of the LGBTQ community for almost half a century. MCC was founded in Los Angeles in 1968 by clergy who were defrocked for coming out as gay. They created their own denomination, unaffiliated with any other church. Today MCC serves 300 congregations in 22 countries. It is also credited with having inspired the very first LGBT Jewish synagogue, Beth Chayim Chadashim. Always on the forefront of issues and social justice, during early years of HIV/AIDS it was one of few faith traditions that did hospital visitations, funerals and burials.
The Milwaukee MCC was established in 1971. It is the city’s third-oldest LGBTQ organization. Its history is one of slow but sure growth and progress. Over its first 25 years, it held services in various locations, changing pastors and its name a couple of times before taking its current name in 1993. Five years later, it purchased a building on the South Side at 12th and Mineral streets (an offer was made on another location but the owner declined the sale when he found out who the prospective buyers were, saying he’d rather torch the building than sell it to gays). It was the first community organization to own property. A simple, no frills church, it still has the classical amenities of any house of worship with stained glass windows (created by a parishioner) framing an altar and lectern.
Installed in June 2016, MCC’s pastor, Reverend Tory Topjian is working to develop his congregation and raise its profile. “The mission is to minister God’s will, magnify God’s dominion, celebrate God’s love and cherish God’s people and vision,” he explains, adding that “being part of a non-dogmatic faith tradition, but following lines of Christian teaching, we’re religious and spiritual. Everyone is welcome as they are. The congregation represents a full spectrum, LGBTQ and straight, embodying that sense of equality. It is a vibrant, inclusive, progressive community of faith.” In keeping with that mission MCC hosts POZ Spirit, a monthly gathering for HIV/AIDS-positive men as well as offering a TransMKE ministry.
For the holidays, Topjian admits, “On a whole, the MCC worship service is not going to be your grandmother’s. It is a blend of the old and familiar with the new.” For Advent and Christmas, his preaching series includes topics like “Christmas: It’s not your birthday” and “Giving up on Perfection.” On Christmas Eve there’s a candlelight service themed “Heaven’s Light Shines—Celebrating the Entry of Christ.”
Particularly in these stressful times, a certain LGBTQ fellowship might be just what we need.
