MCC Statement of Faith
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A Companion Guide to the MCC Statement of Faith Contents The MCC Statement of Faith ......................................................................................................................... 5 MCC Statement of Faith ................................................................................................................................ 6 Preamble ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Our Faith ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Commentary on the MCC Statement of Faith ............................................................................................. 7 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 8 About the name "Statement of Faith" .................................................................................................. 8 Preamble ................................................................................................................................................... 8 Metropolitan Community Churches is one chapter in the story of the Church, the Body of Christ. ... 8 We are people on a journey, learning to live into our spirituality, while affirming our bodies, our genders, our sexualities. ....................................................................................................................... 9 We don't all believe exactly the same things. And yet in the midst of our diversity, we build community, grounded in God's radically inclusive love for all people. .............................................. 10 We are part of an ongoing conversation on matters of belief and faith, shaped by scripture and the historic creeds, building on those who have come before us. ........................................................... 11 Our chapter begins when God says to us: "Come, taste, and see." ................................................... 12 Our Faith ................................................................................................................................................. 12 "Come, taste, and see." Jesus Christ, You invite all people to your open table. ................................ 12 You make us Your people, a beloved community............................................................................... 13 You restore the joy of our relationship with God, even in the midst of loneliness, despair, and degradation. ........................................................................................................................................ 13 We are each unique and we all belong, a priesthood of all believers. ............................................... 14 Baptized and filled with Your Holy Spirit, You empower us to be Your healing presence in a hurting world. .................................................................................................................................................. 15 We expect to see Your reign on earth as it is in heaven, and we will work toward a world where everyone has enough, wars cease, and all creation lives in harmony. ............................................... 15 We affirm Your charge to all of humanity to care for the land, sea, and air. ..................................... 16 Therefore, we will actively resist systems and structures which are destroying Your creation. ........ 17 With all of creation we worship You—every tribe, every language, every people, every nation. ..... 17 We know You by many names, Triune God, beyond comprehension, revealed to us in Jesus Christ, who invites us to the feast. ................................................................................................................. 19 Historical Texts that have Shaped MCC Identity ......................................................................................... 21 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 22 The Historic Creeds ................................................................................................................................. 23 The Apostles' Creed (end of second century CE) ................................................................................ 23 The Nicene Creed (381 CE) ................................................................................................................. 23 The Definition of Chalcedon (451 CE) ................................................................................................. 24 The Athanasian Creed (c. 500 CE) ....................................................................................................... 25 Historical MCC Documents ..................................................................................................................... 26 MCC Doctrine, Sacraments, Rites (1970) ............................................................................................ 26 MCC Doctrine, Sacraments (1973) ...................................................................................................... 28 MCC Doctrine, Sacraments (1990) ...................................................................................................... 29 Other Historic MCC Documents .............................................................................................................. 31 A Three-Pronged Gospel (6 October 1968) ........................................................................................ 31 At the Crossroads (3 September 1972) .............................................................................................. 31 Purple Grass (1972) ............................................................................................................................. 32 MCC/NCC – And the Ecclesiology Issue (1987) ................................................................................... 39 MCC Core Values (2005) ..................................................................................................................... 48 Books Produced by or about MCC .......................................................................................................... 48 The Lord is My Shepherd and He Knows I'm Gay: The Autobiography of the Reverend Troy D. Perry by Troy D. Perry. .................................................................................................................................. 48 Don't Be Afraid Anymore: The Story of Reverend Troy Perry and the Metropolitan Community Churches by Troy D. Perry with Thomas L. P. Swicegood. .................................................................. 48 Our Tribe: Queer Folks, God, Jesus, and the Bible by Nancy L. Wilson. .............................................. 49 Songs ....................................................................................................................................................... 49 "For those tears I died" ....................................................................................................................... 49 "I'm not afraid anymore" .................................................................................................................... 50 "Our God is like an eagle" (When Israel camped in Sinai) .................................................................. 50 "We are singing for our lives" ............................................................................................................. 50 "We are the Church Alive" .................................................................................................................. 50 "Children of the Rainbow Promise" .................................................................................................... 51 "Once we were not a people" ............................................................................................................. 51 "Joyful people, come and worship" .................................................................................................... 51 "The body of Christ, the bread of heaven" ......................................................................................... 51 2 "Bring many names" ........................................................................................................................... 52 Further Readings ..................................................................................................................................... 52 The Mystical Theology by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite ............................................................. 52 "Canticle of the Sun" – Saint Francis ................................................................................................... 52 The Shorter and Longer Catechisms of Martin Luther........................................................................ 52 Calvin's Institutes ................................................................................................................................ 52 The 39 Articles..................................................................................................................................... 53 John Wesley's Sermon #16 ................................................................................................................