about the metropolitan community church

In 1968, a year before New York's Stonewall Riots, a series of most unlikely events in Southern California resulted in the birth of the world's first church group with a primary, positive ministry to gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender persons.


Those events, a failed relationship, an attempted suicide, a reconnection with God, and an unexpected prophecy led to MCC's first worship service: a gathering of 12 people in Rev. Troy Perry's living room in Huntington Park, California on October 6, 1968.


That first worship service in a Los Angeles suburb in 1968 launched the international movement of Metropolitan Community Churches, which today has grown to thousands of members and adherents in over 200 congregations now around the globe. During the past 40+ years, MCC's prophetic witness has forever changed the face of Christianity and helped to fuel the international struggle for LGBT rights and equality.

statement of faith

Metropolitan Community Churches is one chapter in the story of the Church, the Body of Christ. We are people on a journey, learning to live into our spirituality, while affirming our bodies, our genders, our sexualities. We don't all believe exactly the same things. And yet in the midst of our diversity, we build community, grounded in God's radically inclusive love for all people. We are part of an ongoing conversation on matters of belief and faith, shaped by scripture and the historic creeds, building on those who have come before us. Our chapter begins when God says to us: "Come, taste, and see."

What is the metropolitan community church?

This video by YouTube channel Ready to Harvest discusses MCC's history

and what makes it distinct from other denominations.

Logo for Metropolitan Community Churches

Fact sheet

  • Starting with one group of 12 in Los Angeles in 1968, MCC now has over 200 churches throughout the world.
  • MCC was founded in October 1968, one year prior to 1969's Stonewall Riots. MCC has been at the vanguard of civil and human rights movements and addresses the important issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, and other forms of oppression.
  • More than fifty percent of MCC clergy are women, a higher percentage than any other Christian denomination.
  • MCC churches and groups are located in 33 countries.
  • MCC holds observer status in the World Council of Churches, participates the National Council of Churches and has full membership in four state councils: California, Colorado, Hawaii, and North Carolina.
  • AIDS dramatically affected MCC churches. Since 1982, an estimated 6,000 MCC members have died of AIDS and related diseases, yet the epidemic has also brought people together in support and advocacy.
  • MCC clergy perform hundreds of same-sex weddings annually.
  • MCC follows a congregational form of church government with self-governing local congregations. Local churches are represented in an international General Conference that meets once every three years.
LGBTQ activists in 1968 advocating for inclusion in the church. A man holds a sign that reads "Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual We are Already in the Church/Let Us Be Open, Free"
Photo of Rev. Troy Perry smiling. A cross is in the background.
  • MCC is the largest international vehicle for public education about homosexuality and Christianity.
  • MCC Founder, Reverend Troy D. Perry, is an internationally recognized human rights activist and has received honors honorary doctorates and awards from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign, the Lazarus Project, and the Gay and Lesbian Press Association. Reverend Perry attended the first White House meeting of gay and lesbian leaders during the Carter presidency, was the first openly gay member of the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission and was appointed as a delegate to the White House Conference on Hate Crimes by President Bill Clinton.


Denominational Bylaws

We invite you to explore our denominational bylaws to gain deeper insight into the broader framework that shapes our church's identity and practices. Understanding these bylaws can help you appreciate the values and beliefs that unite us with fellow congregations, and how we collectively uphold our faith tradition.