Metropolitan Community Church of Edinburgh
Encyclopedia
The Metropolitan Community Church Edinburgh (Holy Trinity Metropolitan Community Church) met as a congregation of Metropolitan Community Church from 1995 to 2009. The church has now ceased worshipping independently and has merged with Augustine United Church, which meets at 11am, each Sunday.

Metropolitan Community Church
Metropolitan Community Church
The Metropolitan Community Church or The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches is an international Protestant Christian denomination...

 is a worldwide Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 denomination founded in 1968 to have a special, affirming ministry with the lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

, gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

, bisexual and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....

 communities.

Foundation of Edinburgh Congregation

On 17 June 1995, the first ever Pride Scotland
Pride Scotia
Pride Scotia is Scotland's national LGBT pride festival. Since 1995, volunteers have organised a Pride March and a community-based festival in June, alternating between the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow....

 March and Festival was held in Edinburgh. Rev Jim McManus (then Pastoral Team member of MCC Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

 and Rev Roy Beaney (then European District Coordinator) along with other MCC members visited Edinburgh and organised an MCC stall at the Pride Festival. The next day they held a small worship Service in the LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

 Centre in Broughton Street.

Using the contacts that were made at Pride, Rev McManus tried to get a group together of those interested. An article appeared in The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....

and Michelle Russell was interviewed on BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle...

. A meeting was arranged for Saturday 15 July in the LGBT Centre for those interested. A dozen or so attended and the decision was taken to form a congregation and the first worship service after deciding to become a congregation was Sunday 16 July (third Sunday in July), downstairs in the LGBT Centre.

A Worshipping Community

On 2 August 1995 (during Metropolitan Community Church General Conference in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

), a small group of people met and decided to form an Interim Development Group, appoint Jim McManus as Pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....

 and to meet for worship on the third Sunday of every month.

Development

After its initial formation, the congregation worshipped in the LGBT Centre, but soon found the room too small (October 1995). At the invitation of Rev Iain Whyte, Chaplain of Edinburgh University, they began to meet in the University Chaplaincy.

Two observers were sent to the European District Conference of the Metropolitan Community Church (November 1995), a sign of the church's continued growth. MCC Edinburgh continued to develop with the adoption of the Church's Constitution was adopted (17 November 1995). This established Holy Trinity Metropolitan Community Church, Edinburgh, as a parish extension of MCC Newcastle with Rev Jim McManus being elected pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....

. The first church members were formally welcomed into membership in the spring (16 February 1996).

The congregation moved again, this time to the Quaker Meeting House due to the difficulty of booking the University Chaplaincy during holiday periods (1996) and began to meet twice each month.

With the church's first anniversary approaching, the congregation took part in the second Pride Scotia with its new banner through the streets of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 (June 1996). Over the next few months there were many changes within the church as pastoral leaders and others moved away. However, the church coped well with these changes and continued to meet, with membership continuing to grow.

With the second annual congregational (April 1997) new leadership was put in place with the support of Rev Doreen Shambrook representing the European District of the MCC. This enabled the church to consolidate and continue to move forward.

After a development weekend (January 1998) at Scottish Churches House with the Rev. Kevin Dudman attending, the congregation agreed to begin holding weekly worship. That Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...

 the church held a mid-week group which worked its way through the "Believing" Group Course of the MCC and several new members were welcomed at that time.

The congregation met in Augustine United Church each Sunday at 18:00 until it merged with Augustine United Church in January 2010.

Media work and justice struggles

Over the 14 year history of the church considerable work with the media work has been undertaken. Some highlights include:

Mr Bonner-Evans has appeared on Scottish TV and the BBC. The Congregation has appeared on BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle...

 several times over the years — generally on religious or news programmes — and on Scottish Television
Scottish Television
Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...

. A high profile piece in The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....

increased membership and Ian Bonner-Evans was interviewed in the Evening News at the height of the Section 28
Section 28
Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 caused the controversial addition of Section 2A to the Local Government Act 1986 , enacted on 24 May 1988 and repealed on 21 June 2000 in Scotland, and on 18 November 2003 in the rest of Great Britain by section 122 of the Local Government Act 2003...

 debate.

The Church has been active in many social justice struggles including the campaign to repeal Section 28
Section 28
Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 caused the controversial addition of Section 2A to the Local Government Act 1986 , enacted on 24 May 1988 and repealed on 21 June 2000 in Scotland, and on 18 November 2003 in the rest of Great Britain by section 122 of the Local Government Act 2003...

, the campaign for same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....

 and Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History is the name of a campaign that exists in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark , Finland, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Romania, the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain and Ireland...

. The Church gave oral evidence and lodged a Petition to the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...

 when legislation was being considered on civil partnerships in the United Kingdom
Civil partnerships in the United Kingdom
Civil partnerships in the United Kingdom, granted under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, give same-sex couples rights and responsibilities identical to civil marriage...

. The Church was seeking the right to constitute civil partnerships in a religious context, though it was unsuccessful at this time.

In 2001, at the Metropolitan Community Church
Metropolitan Community Church
The Metropolitan Community Church or The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches is an international Protestant Christian denomination...

 General Conference in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Rev. Troy Perry
Troy Perry
Troy Deroy Perry Jr founded the Metropolitan Community Church, a Christian denomination with a special affirming ministry with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities, in Los Angeles on October 6, 1968.-Early life:...

 awarded MCC Edinburgh the Founders Award for their work on social justice issues.

External links

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