A group of folks from Jesus MCC attended our denomination’s triennial General Conference in Mexico the week of June 27–July 3. Our official delegation, sent by our church included Pastor Jeff and Lay Delegates Curt Pickard and Melissa Bruce. Three other folks funded their own trips: Carla Peck, and Julie and Brent Walsh.

Here’s a report on hightlights from the Conference.

• Restructuring. At the business meeting, delegates approved a reconfiguration of the governing structure of our denomination. The primary purpose was to consolidate various boards into a single Governing Board, to reduce expenses and create clarity in strategic decisionmaking.
• Progressive Evangelical Network. Pastor Jeff convened a meeting of 55 leaders from MCCs who share our church’s approach to ministry. The group decided to become an official network within MCC, and plans to meet and communicate regularly to share resources and to speak with a common voice on matters of denominational direction.
• Found Pearl Press. Our church’s publishing ministry, Found Pearl Press, was a featured sponsor of General Conference. From a booth in the Expo Hall, we offered a whole range of resources for other churches, including our newly-published Discipleship 101/102 workbooks. Our booth attracted strong interest and we sold about $1,600 of our resources to interested congregations. We want to express deepest thanks to those who volunteered countless hours at our booth: Curt, Melissa, Carla, Julie, and Brent. Pastor Jeff dialogued with renowned Christian singer and songwriter, Ray Boltz, about distributing his newest album via Found Pearl Press.
• Africa Meeting. Pastor Jeff convened a meeting of African leaders to discuss how to best share our church’s book on homosexuality and the Bible — The Children Are Free — in Africa, where the need for an affirming Gospel message is so critical. Leaders from Kenya and South Africa will be taking the lead in coordinating the printing and distribution of our book in Africa.
• Australia Meeting. Pastor Jeff met with the pastor of Crave MCC, Sydney, Australia, to discuss how we can support their growing ministry. Crave MCC is a congregation of about 60 young adults who minister in a style similar to our church and already use our Discipleship materials. Crave MCC is not only interested in broadening their use of our materials, but also contributing materials of their own to the work of Found Pearl Press.
• Partnership with The Fellowship. “The Fellowship” is a group of about 20 Christian churches that work together in coalition. Their congregations are predominantly African American and LGBT. MCC and The Fellowship are exploring forming an intentional partnership. Key leaders and many congregants from The Fellowship were present at Conference, so everyone could become better acquainted and explore what a partnership might look like. Discussions are going very well and will likely lead to some type of formal agreement in the near future.
• Award for our Church. Jesus MCC was given one of MCC’s two highest honors, the Excellence In Ministry Award, in recognition of our innovative work in creating Discipleship resources for MCC congregations.

MCC’s next General Conference will occur in Chicago in 2013.

The Moderator and spiritual leader of Metropolitan Community Churches, Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, will speak at our 6:00 pm worship service on June 29.

That same weekend, Rev. Wilson will be a featured speaker at a conference here in Indianapolis sponsored by the Evangelical Ecumenical Women’s Conference.  For more about the Conference, pick up a brochure at the Info Desk or visit the website: A Place at the Table 2008.

This report was submitted by our Lay Delegate, Curtis Boyd.

Metropolitan Community Church’s 23rd General Conference was held July 2-6 in Scottsdale, AZ at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess. Although the Princess is a very large hotel and conference center, almost all of the MCC conference events were held in one main building, thus minimizing the walking between daily events — a good thing when it is 117 degrees outside!

The conference was well attended, with about 1,400 people present. That makes this the largest General Conference to date.

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This past week, our denomination, Metropolitan Community Churches, held its triennial General Conference, with delegates gathering from across the globe in Phoenix, Arizona.

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Pastor Jeff Miner serves as Chair of our denomination’s Board of Administration (BOA).

The BOA is responsible for the financial and business affairs of MCC, and has been working hard to restructure MCC’s finances. Several months ago, they completed the sale of MCC’s headquarters building in Los Angeles, which has appreciated significantly since it was purchased about ten years ago

Selling the building has allowed the BOA to: (a) reduce expenses; (b) eliminate virtually all debt; (c) create an emergency cash reserve; and (d) establish MCC’s first-ever endowment fund. The BOA’s actions were enthusiastically received by delegates at General Conference. You can read Jeff’s full report to the Conference.

from the Weekly News, September 3, 2006

Our Church is part of a denomination called Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC). MCC consists of 240 congregations located in the United States and 15 other countries. Our denomination arose out of the gay and transgender community in the late 1960s at a time when there were no affirming churches. As a result, MCC has always had a profound commitment to “tearing down walls and building up hope.”

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