Founders Metropolitan Community Church (MCCLA) is colloquially known as the Gay Church. Part of our series on religious creativity, this video captures how the church’s ethos of radical inclusion has changed lives and affected religion:
Founded in 1968 by Rev. Troy Perry, the Los Angeles church is a progressive and inclusive Christian community focused on the principles of justice and equality for the LGBTQI community. It is the mother church of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, with more than 200 affiliated and emerging churches in 33 countries.
More than being an LGBT-oriented church, Founders MCC is a key institution in its Los Feliz community. The church recently renovated its 97-year-old building making it ADA-compliant and available for community groups to use. The church holds three Sunday services each week, hosts 20 recovery and other community group meetings, a preschool program with a current enrollment of 25, and Bible study classes for community residents.
MCCLA might be best characterized by its “radical inclusion,” extending its welcome not only to the LGBTQI community but also to an increasing number of visitors and attenders from the “straight” community, representing an important form of religious innovation.
This video is part of CRCC’s “Reimagining Religion: Stories of Religious Creativity in L.A.” series, part of the Religious Competition and Creative Innovation project. The project was made possible through the support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.
