Our celebration of 44
years of Metropolitan Community Churches during the month of October continues.
The final selection of MCC's early history...commitment to equality.
Equality is a core
commitment within Metropolitan Community Churches, and the journey from vision
to reality has been both fascinating and hopeful. Women participated in the
first General Conference in 1970 as both deacons and attendees. The following
year, two women, Rev Alice Naumoff of San Francisco, California, USA, and Rev
Ruth (Rob) Shivers of Dallas, Texas, USA, attended the General Conference as
"licensed ministers," a position that, at the time, had much less
authority than it carries today.
By 1973, the number of
women in leadership had grown significantly. Rev Freda Smith made a major
impact on the 1973 General Conference, where the number of women attending had
grown to 10 percent.
An outgrowth of Rev
Elder Freda Smith's leadership was a Women's Commission report to the 1974
General Conference. The commission's work resulted in a recommendation that
every church work toward the use of inclusive language. The inclusive language
debate climaxed at the 1981 General Conference, when the report of the Task
Force on Inclusive Language was approved.
The first General
Conference action on behalf of transgender members came in 1979, with the
adoption of a denominational resolution.
Throughout its
history, MCC has increasingly challenged itself to achieve equality by race and
ethnic background. More than a dozen people of color attended the General
Conference in 1971, including those of Latino, African and Asian heritage.
Today, MCC continues to
embrace and live the words of Galatians 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for
you are all one in Christ Jesus."