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Welcome!
The MCC Moderator’s Corner is a place for you to connect with
the ministry and vision of Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson (bio), Moderator of
Metropolitan Community Churches.
Search this page for Nancy’s Sermon Archive, Nancy’s
Calendar, and News Releases from the Moderator’s office about the
business and ministry of MCC.
If you would like to access this page directly, you may enter www.mccchurch.org/moderatorscorner
in your browser or, better yet, make this page a favorite now!
MCC is on a mission. We are called to tear down walls and build
up hope. Learn how we accomplish this through the ministries
linked to this page!
Welcome to
MCC!
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A Letter from Nancy
April 2008
Forty Years of Faith, Hope and Love!
2008: is it really forty years since our beginnings in 1968?
I have had the joy several times this year to
be with Rev. Troy Perry, Founder of MCC, at various conferences and
church services. Each time, there is a moment of wonder between us, as
we take in that it has, indeed been forty years. We look at our
faithful, long term pastors, lay leaders and staff; our considerably
younger, diverse, gifted staff, and a whole host of young seminarians,
and we say “wow!”
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What on Earth is
MCC Doing
About…
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What does forty years mean to our church and our global movement?
Forty years of tearing down walls and building up hope!
The number 40 is a Biblical number, after all. Noah sailed on the ark
for 40 days and nights. The Israelites wandered 40 years in the desert.
Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness wrestling with the devil and
the future of his ministry.
I suppose ministry in MCC has been a wilderness – as
we have wrestled through our vocation as a movement, as we have tried to
really hear the Spirit’s call. What is it we came into the world
to do? Have we done it in 40 years? What have been our distractions and
temptations?
And are we ready to move into the Promised Land, to come out,
as Jesus did? Well, yes and no!
We have labored, we have succeeded, and we have failed sometimes. We
have been the gay church, the church with AIDS, and, more recently, the
Human Rights church. We have stood up to some
pharaoh’s of our day, and said, “Let our people go!”
We have crossed seas and been fed manna in the wilderness. Sometimes we
didn’t know where the resources or support was going to come from,
but God provided.
And, I have no illusions that suddenly, after 40 years, we will
magically be in the “Promised Land.” But, I do
believe there is such a land – of freedom from
homophobia, of spiritual empowerment, justice,
the end of poverty, war, racism, disease, and fear. That land
exists in the spiritual imagination of every person of faith. And it
exists, in glimpses, now and then, in our churches and communities, in
our people, in our hearts. It exists certainly in the Heart of
God. It exists in that “kingdom” that realm of God
that Jesus preached – that is here, right now, and yet to
come.
So, on we travel, together, 40 years and beyond. There are so
many who still do not know the life giving, life-transforming message of
the inclusive gospel of Jesus that we were given 40 years ago. Today,
life is still difficult and dangerous for homeless gay
youth, for people with HIV/AIDS, transgender brothers and sisters, for
lesbians and gay men in many countries in the world. Human rights
are not celebrated or honored everywhere. Churches in many places in the
world do not embrace everyone with the love of Christ.
Forty years later, in some places in the world, we are
just beginning. In other places, we are reaching new
levels of maturity and depth and commitment to our next generations. We
have made an impact – tens of millions have now heard our message,
and been influenced by our courage and vision of hope. We have imitators
and detractors!
Most of all, we have an incredible, global network, community that is
on the move and getting ready for the next forty years. I have been
spending time trying to learn about what MCC might need to be in
2048, wrestling with a vision to move us forward.
Know this: our greatest challenges and opportunities are
yet to come. We are a people of destiny, and, as the great theologian
Martin Buber said, “We must believe in Destiny, and that it stands
in need of us!”
I want you to know I welcome hearing from you, and invite you to make
use of the resources on this site. We hope that whether you are a
regular MCC member and attender, or are just checking us out, we want to
know you, and connect with you. There is room for you in our
hearts, our churches and our movement.
Grace and Peace,
~ Nancy
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