Historic Metropolitan Community Churches invited to Cuban seminary to discuss LGBTQ people and faith
The delegation will include MCC founder Rev. Elder Troy Perry with his husband Phillip De Blieck, as well as the Rev. Elder Dr. Mona West and the Rev. Elder Hector Gutierrez. The goal of the delegation is to discuss the ongoing global challenges faced by LGBTQ people of faith and to establish relationships with religious leaders in Cuba and explore possibilities to expand the MCC presence in Cuba.
“We were thrilled that MCC was invited to send some of our top theological and entrepreneurial minds to dialogue about faith from our history of building something out of nothing,” said global MCC Moderator, the Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson. “LGBTQ people and our allies are on a long journey; we have much to share from our successes and challenges. We know people of faith in Cuba also have so many rich stories to share with us.”
“Throughout the Americas and the world, people know that Cuba’s future will impact everyone’s future,” said the Rev. Elder Hector Gutierrez, head of the Latin American MCC Network. “I meet people in los pueblos where they live their daily lives and increasingly see families supporting each other, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. I am so hopeful about supportive relationships with our partners in Cuba.”
Rev. Elder Dr. Mona West, a leading author for the MCC Theologies Team, said, “I was ordained as a Southern Baptist before I came to MCC, and I so look forward to talking with my Cuban Baptist family in the faith. The possibilities of building partnerships that help everyone are real. We go with open hearts and open minds to learn how we can work together.”