Dear Friends:

Welcome to the inaugural issue of MCC's Global Justice e-Letter. Highlighted in this issue are our expanding partnerships and congregations in Jamaica and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Africa and Malaysia.
 
There is a season for everything, a time for every purpose under  heaven, the author of Ecclesiastes believed.
 
I hope as you read this, your passion for the Gospel vision of justice and peace will be rekindled, and that you will join with us in believing that now is the time for tearing down walls and building up hope.
 
The Rev. Pat Bumgardner, Chair
on behalf of
The Moderator's Global Justice Team

MCC's Global Justice Day

Mel Bryant

The Worldwide movement of Metropolitan Community Churches celebrated its first Global Justice Day with a Liturgy for Justice on Sunday, July 1, 2007 at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. Hundreds of MCCers from around the globe arrived in Scottsdale prior to the denomination's General Conference to participate in the Liturgy. From New York to Nigeria, they came to claim and to proclaim justice and equality for all of God's people.
 
The Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches, welcomed the congregation and introduced The Rev. Pat Bumgardner, Chair of the Moderator's Global Justice Team and Senior Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of New York.   
 
In her opening address, Rev. Pat said,"The issue is not whether we are 'activists' today, front-line people or behind the scenes supporters, the issue before us is whether we are a people of hope, willing to stand together in creating a future of shared promise for all of us. Maybe in the end, affirming the old, old story of Jesus and of love - maybe recommitting ourselves as disciples of that way - is what will forge a new, new world. That at least is my hope going into this day. "
 
The lessons for the liturgy were workshops on topics related to Global Justice. A Youth Panel, coordinated by Angel Collie from Imani MCC, Durham, North Carolina provided the response to the First Lesson. The panelists, including MCCers from Australia and Scotland, shared their perspectives with intelligence and inspiration. Scott Long from Human Rights Watch delivered the sermon/plenary as the response to the Second Lesson. Scott spoke with passion about the history of the Human Rights Watch and where their work will take us as a community. Scott will be honored for his work by the MCC denomination at a ceremony at MCCNY on Oct. 17, 2007. 
 
Prior to Global Justice Day, the Global Justice Team met for two days planning and strategizing the work at hand over the next couple years.  At the end, the mission statement of the team was crafted and announced (see sidebar).
 
To read more about Global Justice Day, including the Global Justice Team's meeting topics and notes, click here.

Caribbean Mobilization Effort

Rev. Canon Robert Griffin

The presence of MCC in Jamaica cannot be celebrated without the recognition of three individuals who contributed greatly early on in helping to lay the foundation.  The Jamaican quest for full acceptance of the LGBT Community is as far along as it is today thanks to these three people, and the sacrifices they made  in Jamaica.
 
Steven Lenford Harvey, was murdered at the age of 29 in Kingston, Jamaica. He spent his life working for marginalized groups such as sex workers, the hearing impaired, members of the LGBT community, and persons living with HIV and AIDS.
 
Joseph Elliot Robinson succumbed to bone-cancer on December 2, 2005. Before his death, Joseph's home was the official meeting place for members of the gay community, with weekly gatherings of up to 70 persons discussing HIV and other issues relating to gays. Before a hospice was established, several gay men who had HIV took refuge in his house, where he and other members of the community nursed them. Instrumental in starting Jamaica AIDS Support (now Jamaica AIDS Support for Life), the country's first response to HIV in the LGBT community, Joseph became the agency's first Director of Targeted Interventions, the division that managed the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Community (GLABCOM) programme.
 
Brian Williamson was murdered in his Kingston home on June 4, 2004 by someone to whom he had previously offered help. He used his Kingston home, for many years, as a safe space for weekly gatherings of the LGBT community. For most of his adult life, Brian was an activist for the rights of gays and lesbians in Jamaica, being one of the leaders of the Gay Freedom Movement in Jamaica in the 1970s and later becoming one of the founding members of the Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-sexuals, and Gays, J-FLAG, founded in December 1998. Brian was the first gay man to face the cameras and talk about being gay and advocating for the rights of gay men. For many years, his was the sole public voice and face of J-FLAG, never shying away from interviews in the press.
 
It was following the brutal murder of Brian that a member of the Jamaican community reached out to MCC for support. With the guidance of Reverend Elder Nancy Wilson, Presiding Elder/Moderator of MCC, that initial contact turned into a sustained MCC witness and presence in Jamaica.
 
The first MCC worship service was held in Kingston, Jamaica in June of 2006 with 80 individuals in attendance. This service became the spring board for a continued Inter-religious dialogue which followed the principles outlined in the MCC Statement of Vision. This clear line of spiritual communication enabled the LGBT Community of Jamaica to solidify its' relationship with MCC through the creation of Sunshine Cathedral in Jamaica as part of a multi site concept. Through this relationship there are now four parishes (cities/communities) with an MCC presence: Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Mandeville and Kingston. There are now 122 members of Sunshine Cathedral in Jamaica.
 
In April of 2007, Reverend Elder Nancy Wilson, visited Jamaica for five days.  During this visit Reverend Elder Wilson held daily interviews with print media, radio and TV. She also met with the Jamaican Public Defender (similar to the U.S. Attorney General). A request to meet with the Prime Minister went unacknowledged.  Reverend Elder Wilson also hosted an MCC Theological Discourse Breakfast where she met with several religious and community leaders from around the country.
 
On that Sunday of her visit, Reverend Elder Wilson had the opportunity to preach at Sunshine Cathedral in Jamaica and in her sermon she stated, "Staying in the closet never makes us safe; we are safer in numbers, and the important thing to remember is that MCC will always be behind you."
 
In June 2007, the Sunshine Cathedral leadership offered the MCC Caribbean Mobilization Effort Gathering in Kingston. This meeting brought together LGBT representatives from Barbados, St. Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad/Tobago, Guyana, Belize, Jamaica and the USA. For Rev. Griffin's complete report, click here.

Eastern Europe Overview

Rev. Elder Diane Fisher

Eastern Europe continues to unfold as one of MCC's emerging ministry areas.  The focus of this work has been on human rights as an initial mode of entry.  Many of the countries in Eastern Europe have no human rights protection for LGBT people.  The countries that do have it included in their constitutions have no infrastructure for support. MCC has been working with communities to ensure that human rights legislation is a priority and to assist in building an infrastructure to support the legislation. We have done this in countries where we have been invited into the process. In April 2007, we began our work in Poland, with an invitation to participate in the Krakow Festival of Tolerance. From Poland, we traveled to Chisinau, Moldova, where we were the keynote speakers at their pride activities. From Moldova, we moved to Turkey where we participated in the Anti-Homophobia Conference in Ankara. We traveled to Riga, Latvia, to participate in their first pride demonstration and attend the associated conference. We finished the trip with the third pride march and Gay Fest in Bucharest, Romania.  2007 saw unprecedented participation in Eastern Europe by a number of churches throughout the world, as well as support from local MCC congregations.
 
For full outcomes, click here.

Opportunities

We are currently working on planting churches in four countries, with the potential of planting a gay mosque. We have requests pending in several other countries (i.e., Ukraine, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Russia). We were fortunate enough to have a representative from Bulgaria at General Conference. We are partnering with Human Rights Watch to do work in Russia. We are again going to be meeting and presenting at the OSCE/HDIM in Warsaw.  We are doing a workshop at the ILGA Conference in Lithuania, as well as a worship service.

Report From Africa

Rev. Elder Glenna Shepherd

Kenya

Human Rights
Kenya has many active civil society groups and a relatively free press, despite high- profile incidents such as the government raid on the Standard Media group in March 2006. The NARC government has established a National Commission on Human Rights which has successfully raised the profile of human rights. A major reform of the judiciary, law and order and penal sector is underway. But standards of policing are variable and conditions for prisoners remain poor. Homosexuality is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Development
Kenyan economic decline has seen the numbers living below the poverty line rise from 48% in 1990 to 56% in 2002. Key social indicators - literacy, life expectancy (54.7 years), child and maternal mortality and social inequality - have all worsened. A recent Department of Health study showed under-age-five mortality at 114 per 1000 live births (up from 112), infant mortality up to 77 from 73 and maternal mortality about 400 per 100,000 live births. On the positive side, official statistics show HIV/AIDS prevalence in pregnant women has decreased for the second year running (down from 10% to 9.7%). The key challenges facing the government are to implement their Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERS), tackle corruption and respond effectively to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Journal Excerpt
After a nine-hour flight from London, we (Glenna and Katie) landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, at 6 am local time, which is two hours ahead of BST (4 am England YUK!) on August 10, 2007. No sooner had we walked off the plane than we were met by Rev. Michael Kimindu and Rev. James Mutunga, both Kenyan Anglican priests, who seemingly have had it with the Anglican stance on homosexuality and all things exclusive! Rev Michael kindly offered to lend us his car; we gratefully accepted and climbed aboard. Mike and James had yet another surprise for us - breakfast at the headquarters of the Anglican Church of Kenya, the denomination that they were about to defy! The current Archbishop, The Most Rev. Benjamin M. Nzimbi, was dining in the same room! We finally made it to the Blackrose Apartments, Nairobi. This two-bedroom apartment was truly God-sent! It had been home for the previous month to Steve Parelli and Jose Ortiz of the organisation Other Sheep. "I have other sheep that are not of this fold.  I must bring them in also." John 10:16...
 
Steve had promised to take materials to teach the Kenyan LGBT community about MCC. When I (Glenna) began to correspond with those interested in MCC in Kenya, I reconnected with Steve. Our success in Kenya was so intertwined with Other Sheep. They laid such a beautiful foundation for our work. This is a partnership that will bring the message of love and justice to many. The guys from Other Sheep open the doors of affirmation, teach our people they can live spiritual, Christian lives, and that a church exists for them. We pick it up from here:  teaching, planning, recruiting and training leadership. It's all centered in following the Spirit.
 
For Glenna's and Katie's in-depth travelogue from not only Kenya, but South Africa as well, click here. 

Ministry in Malaysia

Rev. Pat Bumgardner

On July 27, 2007, a six-member team began Phase II of a multi-year plan to open an MCC community of faith embodying the Gospel vision of social justice in Malaysia.  What we found happening in the year since our last visit astounded us. A great cloud of witnesses has arisen -- all kinds of Queer and allied people, from many walks of life, taking the risks and making the sacrifices necessary to further the vision.
 
Again and again MCCers were brought face to face with the Gospel imperative to practice what we preach -- to be a house of spiritual life and vitality for all God's people. The three-prong vision upon which MCC was founded is as urgently in need of fulfillment now as it was 39 years ago.      
 
Coming out is an on-going issue and debate among most of the people we me with.  On Saturday, August 11, about 150 people gathered in a small hotel banquet room to hear Rev. Perry share his inspiring story and to attend a workshop on the topic presented by Mary Jane Gibney.  Mary Jane held the crowd's attention for almost 90 minutes as she carefully addressed the stages of coming out, the cultural factors and the importance of self-honesty from a mental health perspective.  Her gentle, yet knowledgeable approach was quite reassuring to one young man who bravely asked if there was something wrong with him. Many of the workshop attendees returned for the foundational worship service the next day.
 
On Sunday, August 12, the first MCC service in Kuala Lumpur was held in a the Grand Olympic Hotel, Jalen Hang Jebat. One hundred ten people joined in worship, singing in English and Bahasa Malayu, the native tongue of Malaysia. Friends from FCC in Singapore traveled four hours to be present and offer musical accompaniment.
 
Rev. Perry's inspiring sermon on Luke's 4th chapter echoing the words, "The Spirit of God is upon me, for God has anointed me to preach good news" resonated deeply with the crowd.
 
To read the complete travelogue and view incredible photos, click here.  
 

We Need You!

Please help us stay on the "cutting edge" of Global Justice.
 
Forward e-mails from areas throughout the world requesting support! Send in announcements and articles that highlight MCC's global presence and work on behalf of justice! Share needs and opportunities!
 
Write to MCC's Global Justice Team at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 
 
 
Tearing Down Walls! Building Up Hope!