A Resource Document on MCC’s Involvement with the World Council of Churches (WCC)
The World Council of Churches is the largest and most international of ecumenical bodies, and therefore is a very important and strategic body for MCC to relate it. The WCC brings together 349 churches, denominations and church fellowships in more than 110 countries and territories throughout the world, representing over 560 million Christians and including most of the world's Orthodox churches, scores of Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed churches, as well as many United and Independent churches. Website:
At this time, MCC is not a full member of the WCC, though we do now have observer status which allows us to attend, participate and dialogue within this body. In addition, the pastor of our MCC church in Uruguay (Diaconia Cristiana en la Diversidad MCC), the Rev. Dr. Araceli Izzatti, who has joint clergy credentials in MCC and the United Methodist Church, has been a long time participant on the WCC Commission on Faith and Order, and on a WCC team focusing on the “Decade to Overcome Violence.”
Contents on the document
(1)Introduction and brief timeline of our involvement with the WCC
(2)Message from Rev Elder Nancy Wilson on why MCC was going to the Ninth Assembly of the WCC in 2006
(3)On site report #1 from MCCers at the WCC Assembly (February 16, 2006)
(4)On site report #2 from MCCers at the WCC Assembly (February 18, 2006)
(5)A sermon from Rev Elder Nancy Wilson reflecting MCC’s participation in the Ninth Assembly of the WCC
(1) Introduction and brief timeline of our involvement with the WCC
March 5, 2007
Rev. Nancy Wilson
General Introduction:
From the time MCC was founded in 1968, ecumenism was in our DNA, even though the concept was foreign to our Founder, Rev. Troy Perry. But, from the very first day, Troy had looked to ecumenical friends, outside of MCC (UCC, Episcopalian, others) who advised him not to organize MCC on too narrow a basis, but to be ecumenical in style, format and content. From the beginning, MCC was self-consciously ecumenical internally, recognizing that MCCer’s would come from many different Christian backgrounds, and that people of different faiths, or no faith, would also be drawn to MCC.
MCC’s open communion was really born out of a reaction to the closed, or somewhat closed communion of other churches, and the need to be radically inclusive at the most critical moment in MCC worship. The fact that communion was served every week, from the beginning, was also something quite new to Rev. Perry, and yet became a powerful signal to those from a Catholic or “liturgical” church background, that they were welcome.
Also, in those early years, Jews attended MCC because there was no synagogue, and MCC was a community center as well as a church. Two years after MCC started, a group of Jews attending MCC approached Rev. Perry about starting a synagogue. He helped them find their first rabbi, and the synagogue, Beth Chayam Chadashim, met at MCC Los Angeles until the building was destroyed in a fire. They were the first LGBT synagogue in the world, and now belong to the Reformed movement. Rev. Perry’s position was not to try to convert those Jews to Christianity, but to support their religious needs. Again, this was in great contrast to his fundamentalist upbringing.
MCC enshrined in its first By-laws the desire to be in fellowship with other denominations, but made no official steps towards that until 1974, when, at the General Conference, Nancy Wilson made a motion that MCC should seek to join the National Council of Churches of Christ in the US and the World Council of Churches. The motion passed without debate, as most people thought this was impossible!
Here are some milestones, set-backs and explanations: (NOTE – subset of only the World Council of Churches items)
July 1983: Colleen Darraugh, an MCC seminarian from Toronto, Canada, becomes the first MCCer to attend a WCC Assembly as part of the youth/seminarian program in Vancouver. Rev. Wilson visits the Assembly as well, for a couple of days.
1991: MCC is given observer designation for the World Council of Churches Assembly in Canberra, Australia. MCC sends a delegation of 5 people, with Nancy Wilson serving as the observer. We sent our AIDS Field Director, Steve Pieters, and Greg Smith (new to MCC, and Sydney MCC’s pastor) spoke at the WCC as part of a panel on HIV/AIDS – he was the first person with HIV/AIDS to address the WCC, and the first MCCer to speak before the whole assembly. Nancy was invited to speak the Women’s Tent. We held an impromptu worship service with about 50 or 60 people, held informal workshops, made hundreds of contacts for MCC, got to know many from the WCC staff. Nancy and other MCCer’s help lead the US NCC delegation’s “hour” of the 24 hour prayer vigil against the first Gulf War (which was in progress during the assembly).
1998: We have a delegation to the World Council of Churches, in Harare, Zimbabwe. This was a very controversial Conference, because of GALZ (Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe) and the homophobia of President Mugabe. We offered a worship service (Elder Hong Tan preached) several workshops (official ones, on the WCC program this time!), lobbied our embassies for help with human rights and LGBT people. We held a press conference off campus with GALZ and other LGBT African activist and some of our group marched in a human rights march. We met nightly with 100 or more LGBT visitors to the assembly, organizing our presence. We did a lot of press interviews.
February 2006: MCC sent a delegation, lead by the Moderator, to the World Council of Churches meeting in Proto Alegre, Brazil. Two other Elders were part of the delegation. There were 11 people, about half of whom funded their own participation and volunteered their time. We had an excellent booth, several excellent workshops, cooperated with the European Forum on events and a daily LGBT meeting; we held a wonderful worship service, and handed out thousands of piece of literature, in several languages. We met new MCC folks from Brazil, and included them in our work. We marched with Desmond Tutu, and heard the President of Brazil speak to the Assembly. MCC got local newspaper coverage.
September 2006: Nancy Wilson and her assistant, Connie Meadows, visit the WCC headquarters in Geneva. Nancy preaches that the morning chapel service to about 150 people. We have an hour long meeting with the General Secretary, and spent the day in appointments with WCC staffers, healing them to understand MCC and our interest in the world of the WCC. We talk about the issues in Jamaica, and have a conversation with several staffers that leads us to believe they might want to help us.
(2) Message from Rev Elder Nancy Wilson on why MCC was going to the Ninth Assembly of the WCC
A Message From
The Reverend Nancy L. Wilson
Office of the Moderator
Metropolitan Community Churches
"Why MCC Is Going to the Ninth Assembly of the World Council of Churches"
World's Largest Predominantly-Gay Church Group Sending Delegation to WCC's International Gathering in Brazil
February 12, 2006
Last year, in Calgary, MCC's General Conference adopted a Strategic Plan for Metropolitan Community Churches that included the following statements of purpose:
"As God's Liberated People, We Boldly:
Reclaim our Holy Identity...
Advance our Call to Social Justice...
Tell the Story of God's Transforming Grace...
Nurture the Value of Community...
Build Bridges that Liberate and Unite..."
All of these purposes are well served by MCC's attendance and participation in the upcoming Ninth Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Brazil during February 14-23.
The World Council of Churches was formed in 1948 in Amsterdam. The international WCC Assemblies are held once every 7 or 8 years, and draw 5,000 people representing more than 347 denominations and regional and national councils of churches, along with representatives from churches that are not members of the Council (including the Roman Catholic Church and MetropolitanCommunityChurches). Most of WCC's member churches identify as Protestant or Orthodox. It is "one of the broadest global gatherings of its kind," according to the WCC.
MCC first attended as a denominational visitor to the Vancouver Assembly in 1983. I had the opportunity to attend a portion of the Assembly, and Rev. Colleen Darraugh was MCC's seminary student representative. By the time of the Canberra Assembly in 1991, MCC requested, and was granted, Official Observer status. At that Assembly, I addressed the women delegates at a special program of the "Women's Tent," and Rev. Greg Smith, then from Sydney, Australia, and new to MCC, was featured in a drama /dialogue about HIV/AIDS.
MCC took a full delegation to the WCC Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1998 -- our participation was funded in part by a grant from the Ford Foundation. It was especially helpful to have Jim Birkitt, MCC's Communications Officer, as a member of the MCC delegation. LGBT issues had exceptionally high visibility at that gathering, fueled by the international controversy over the human rights group Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) and whether they would be allowed to participate in the WCC Assembly. There were about 200 openly LGBT visitors to the Assembly and MCC presented several workshops and hosted a well-attended press conference for international media. Rev. Elder Hong Tan preached at a worship service that was organized and presented by MCC, and which generated significant interest among WCC Assembly participants.
This year, the Would Council of Churches' Ninth Assembly will take place in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and will last for 10 days -- from February 14-23. For the first time, I have been invited by the WCC to be the facilitator for one of the daily small group Bible Studies on the Assembly theme, which is "God, in Your Grace, Transform the World." The entire Assembly, as the conference program book notes, is a spiritual experience of prayer, encounter, reflection and discernment. Much like our own MCC World Jubilee, there are gatherings for morning and evening prayers, a chapel, a daily newspaper, and numerous workshops. Additionally, members of MCC's delegation will take the opportunity to worship with local Brazilian congregations on Sunday.
Reclaim our Holy Identity: In the midst of 5,000 Christians, whose points of view around homosexuality and the church diverge enormously, members of MCC's delegation will be ourselves! Our delegation will participate fully in worship and service, in study and reflection, around all the issues before the Assembly. We will meet thousands of people over the 10 day period, and we pray that they will see Christ in us as we see Christ in them. The members of MCC's delegation are wholly committed to being catalysts for changing hearts, minds and spirits, as God has called us to be.
Advance our Call to Social Justice and Action: We will bring to the table -- both to our formal and our informal conversations -- the justice needs of our communities and our concerns for LGBT human rights the world over. We will find ways to share the urgent plight of our sisters and brothers in Jamaica. We will also have opportunities to learn about social justice issues in a global context. We will hear some of the finest speakers and church leaders talk about globalization, poverty, war and peace, HIV/AIDS and human sexuality. I am especially pleased that 16 workshops will be held during this Assembly to focus on the on-going global pandemic of HIV and AIDS. And, as has been true in the past, there may again be opportunities for direct public actions to focus attention upon serious issues of global concern.
Tell the Story of God's Transforming Grace: This WCC Assembly will provide amazing opportunities to witness to thousands of faith leaders about our experience of the liberating gospel of Christ. Our delegates will lead a workshop about the story and message of MCC. We will offer a public worship service during the Assembly. We will meet scores of news media people throughout the world, who will interview us and want to learn more about MCC. We will have hundreds of opportunities, one on one, to tell our personal stories to delegates and visitors from around the world who ask, "What is MCC?" We will be bringing with us copies of our literature in English, Spanish and Portuguese, and copies of Rev. Troy Perry's new book. There will be regular reports from the MCC Communications Office on news of the Assembly and our participation, for our MCC family -- as well as regular external media updates for members of the press.
Nurture the Value of Community: We will meet daily with other LGBT delegates and visitors to the Assembly, hearing about the struggles of Anglicans and others around issues of sexuality. We will make new friends, and will find valuable new allies from all over the world who can help us in our vital mission, and with whom we, in turn, can partner and provide mutual support.
We will find ways to welcome and thank the new WCC General Secretary, Sam Kobia, from Kenya, who recently "came out" about the fact that several of his family members have HIV or AIDS. He is an advocate of open conversation about issues such as human sexuality, and is a person of courage and conviction.
We will have opportunity to meet with MCC leaders within Brazil, who will be visiting the Assembly as well, and we will meet with long time friends from Other Sheep, in Latin America, who will also be present. And as always, we will have many opportunities to meet with still-closeted LGBT Christians, clergy and laity, who are eager to learn about MCC and the inclusive gospel we preach.
Build Bridges that Liberate and Unite: At this Assembly, we will explore and be challenged about the ways in which we truly have common cause with the World Council of Churches, even with people and denominations who have not yet heard of MCC, and we will encourage and facilitate open dialogue with those who aren't sure they accept MCC specifically, or LGBT people of faith in general, "as church." We will look for ways, as we leave Porto Alegre, to follow up on the experiences we've had, and continue to grow in our relationship with the churches and the ministries of the WCC.
One of MCC's delegates, Dr. Araceli Izzatti, from Uruguay, is a highly respected, long time participant, as a Methodist, on the WCC Commission on Faith and Order, and on the team dedicated to focusing on the WCC Decade to Overcome Violence. Dr. Izzatti, who is now MCC clergy and the parent of a gay person, will be a wonderful addition to our team this year, helping us to build bridges.
I am asking for your prayers as our MCC delegation -- including Elders, staff and volunteers -- travels to Brazil for this very important moment in the life of the WCC and in the life of MCC.
Together, let us pray that God’s transforming grace will be abundantly at work within and through us all!
Grace and peace,
/signed/
The Reverend Nancy L. Wilson
Office of the Moderator
Metropolitan Community Churches
MCC'S DELEGATION:
You are invited to offer prayers for the work and ministry of MCC's delegation to the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches during February 14-23, as well as prayers for all participants who will gather from 347 different Christian denominations and councils.
The members of the MCC delegation are:
Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson
Rev. Elder Darlene Garner
Rev. Elder Diane Fisher
Rev. Jim Birkitt
Rev. Araceli Izzatti
Rev. Paul Fairley
Lynn Farrand
Connie Meadows
Gelson Piber
Hilde Scheibe
Ann Vassilaros
(3) On site report #1 from MCCers at the WCC Assembly (February 16, 2006)
On-Site Report from MCC's Delegation at the Assembly of the World Council of Churches
MCC Hosts Largest Delegation of LGBT Allies at WCC's International Gathering in Brazil
February 16, 2006
INDEX:
1. Introduction
2. Rev. Wilson Leads Bible Study For
InternationalChurch Leaders
3. What Does The MCC Delegation Do?
4. MCC Hosts Events To Build Bridges and
Foster Openness and Learning
5. Remember MCC's Delegation With Your
Prayers
6. WCC Quote Of The Day
7. Members of MCC's Delegation
1. Introduction
MCC's delegation to the Ninth Assembly of the World Council of Churches is on-site in Porto Alegre, Brazil and busily engaged in the work of the 10-day international conference.
Led by MCC's Moderator, the Reverend Nancy L. Wilson, MCC's delegation is:
-- Working to build bridges of understanding with other Christian denominations;