Gays, lesbians form own church

Several gays and lesbians in Quezon City have opted not to push for their acceptance in major churches in the country and have instead put up a chapter of the 40-year-old American church for their kind, the Universal Fellowship Metropolitan Community Church (MCC).

Banking on the belief that some Catholic saints were gay, members of the MCC congregation see nothing wrong in practicing religious services and ceremonies they refer to as “ecumenical or fusion of religions.”

TJ Agbayani calls himself a pastor of the MCC. Like a Catholic priest, he shares thoughts on the Holy Bible wearing a pink shawl and gives communion to members during service held every Friday at a house in Project 6.

He leads communion and offertories with the Holy Cross as the backdrop.

However, the praise and worship in MCC are similar to those in Christian churches – usually longer than the Catholic Mass and filled with many inspirational songs.

Agbayani prefers to classify their church as “Christian in denomination with special ministry for gays and lesbians.”

“The main tenet of our church is that every member of the community can serve God through holy service. It was stated in the Holy Gospel of John that God loves whoever believes in Him. It didn’t say that His love is for heterosexuals only,” he told The STAR in an interview.

The MCC pastor believes a few Catholic saints were bisexuals, or those whose sexual preference cater to both men and women. One of them, he alleged, was St. Paul.

“They were actually historically documented of having partners. The public is just not aware because Rome doesn’t want to reveal their real orientation – that they were gay,” he alleged.

“We show pictures of these gay saints in our services. We don’t worship them; we just want to remind our members that the Lord will bless you regardless of your gender,” clarified Agbayani.

In MCC, there’s “freedom and open atmosphere” in interpretation of passages in the Bible among members.

“Our concept of Bible study is not the scripture catechism type of preaching. Here, you are free to interpret the Bible the way you understand it. But there are absolute guidelines. Usually a member shares a specific part of the Bible that he or she can relate to and then explain how it could apply to life,” the church’s pastor said.

He said they believe that the traditional catechism is “not enough to help deal with so many spiritual issues.”

Agbayani admitted that their chapter had already administered 12 “holy unions or marriages” between gay or lesbian members since it was established in September 2006 as the church’s first local chapter in the country.

Troy Perry founded MCC in the US on Oct. 6, 1968 when movements against discrimination of gays and African-Americans were at their peak.

According to the church’s website www.ufmcc.org, Perry was an ordinary gay from Los Angeles in California who tried to commit suicide after discovering that his lover was cheating on him.

He realized that punishing himself was not right and so he went soul-searching, specifically to figure what his role was as a homosexual.

Perry then put up a small group and led Bible studies until a formal religious organization was established.

After four decades, the MCC expanded not only in the US but also in Canada and Australia.

In Washington, for instance, over 400 members normally attend a church service of MCC.

American MCC pastor Richard Mickely brought the MCC to the Philippines in 1991.

The biggest congregation of this church is in Southern metropolis with most members from Makati and Muntinlupa.

It was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a religious group on Sept. 7, 1991.

Agbayani said their Quezon City chapter now only has 20 active members as many others often “come and go.”

“We really don’t know why the church is not growing that fast. This is the case in other chapters in other countries. Maybe, people still can’t believe that there is already a church for gay and lesbians – just like there was a church for African-Americans,” he stressed.

Apart from Bible studies every Fridays, the group has also started holding services two Sundays a month in a bid to expand their membership.

“Usually our members invite friends to attend our church services. We’re not exclusive to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders.

There are also heterosexuals who join us as observers,” he explained.

“We also don’t forbid our members from attending their other churches. We in fact have members from Iglesia ni Cristo, Methodist and even Episcopalian churches,” he added.

The MCC pastor said they sustain their finances through funds collected during offerings in services. Their church also conducts seminars on homosexuality and had also workers with other organizations for various causes like AIDS awareness.