MCCSJ Announces New Provisional Pastor, Rev. Rebecca Anderson

A Message from Reverend Rebecca Anderson

Dear Members, Friends, and Visitors of Metropolitan Community Church of San Jose, 
As your newly appointed Part-Time Provisional Pastor, I am looking forward to beginning our work in ministry together soon!  MCC

San Jose has a great deal of potential and together I believe we can build on the commitment of those who’ve sustained the community at MCCSJ to this point, while opening the doors with a resounding welcome to all those, already known and as yet unknown, who will become the church with us into the future.

My first day with MCCSJ is February 1^st.  I’m planning to spend most of that day working in the church office on the second floor of Grace Baptist, where MCCSJ is now meeting for worship (in the Fireside Room) on Sunday mornings at 10 am.  Please feel free to come by and say hello if you’re in the area.  I’ll be looking for opportunities to get to know each of you in the weeks and months to come, so watch this weekly e-newsletter for invitations to join me.  I have a few getting-to-know-you ideas perking! 

I want to tell you a little bit about myself. I am a Northern California native.  Born and raised in this state, I’ve lived nearly all of my life in the San Francisco Bay Area and nearby counties, mostly in the North Bay.  So, I am getting to know the San Jose area, and I’m delighted to have this excellent reason to do so. 

I was recently ordained (2010) with the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, to a call as Volunteer Clergy (Pastor of Congregational Care) with Peninsula MCC in San Mateo.  This was soon after I completed a three month Summer Sabbatical Interim Pastorate with PMCC.  PMCC is also where I had served my Ministry Internship for two years during seminary.  I earned my Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree and Certificate in Sexuality and Religion (CSR) at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley in 2009. Since then, I completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (hospital chaplaincy training), and was certified as an Intentional Interim Ministry Specialist with MCC.

Prior to seminary, I worked for more than thirteen years as a Biologist-Educator and Director of Education for an environmental education & conservation non-profit in Marin and Sonoma Counties.  For five of those years I also served on the California State Department of Education’s Environmental Education Advisory Committee.  I have Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biology from Sonoma State University, emphasizing botany, ecology, local natural history, and environmental education, and a great deal of experience working with people who give themselves to the work of community because they share a passion for its particular mission.  It’s amazing what this kind of commitment and caring can create when we believe in what we are doing together!

Before Seminary, I had many years of leadership experience as a volunteer and member of the United Church of Christ congregation in Suisun City.  In the years I was a member there, many pastors came and went, and members of the church sustained the community throughout those transition times.  Among other things, I served on the church board, moderated the church board, served on the pastoral relations committee, the stewardship committee, many pastoral search committees, lead worship and special events, coordinated publicity for our church, sang in the choir, was a member of our small church’s renewal committee, and just before attending seminary, I represented our church at a nation-wide training on church renewal and evangelism (the good kind !).

In addition to ministry, I am also a visual artist working and exhibiting in many media (ink, fiber, collage, and photography), an avid reader (I love mysteries and good novels), a singer, songwriter, essay writer, and poet.  While I value most every aspect of ministry, I feel particularly called to share beauty, love, hope, and spiritual formation through nature and the arts in community.  I love this part of California, I am committed to ministries of inclusion, hope, justice, and joy, and I expect to be involved with vital and meaningful ministries for a long time.

At this time, I am delighted to be appointed to work with you.  I had the good fortune to be a guest preacher at MCCSJ last spring, and I look forward to seeing many of you again, meeting others for the first time, and getting to know you all.  I will be worshipping with you beginning on February 6^th.  I hope you’ll be with us that day!  I look forward to discovering how we will be the church together in San Jose in 2011!

 Much love and many blessings,

Rev. Rebecca Anderson

A Message from the Interim Pastor

To All the Members, Friends and Supporters of  MCC San Jose:

The New Year is a time of gratitude for what we have been through in the past and a time of looking ahead with anticipation and expectancy for what lies before us.

In the very brief  time that  it has been my privilege to serve as your Interim Pastor I have come to know many of you and to develop a strong affection and appreciation  for this church.

I feel sure that, with the guidance, direction and inspiration of Spirit that you will continue to create and develop the strong, spiritual community of faith that you have sustained and maintained all these years.

I also feel sure that those who love this church and are committed to its ongoing health and well-being will continue to do all they can to make sure that MCC San Jose is available for all those who seek a spiritual home that is loving, welcoming and filled with the Joy of serving God.

When I came to be with you it was with the understanding that there was a possibility that I would be called to a full-time pastoral position.  There was no way of knowing when or even if that call would come. 

After meeting with the Board of MCC San Francisco and conferring with the leadership of UFMCC a decision was made to offer me a position as Provisional Pastor.  I have accepted.

I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank you for your warm welcome, your encouragement and your support as I move into the challenges and joy of serving our San Francisco church.

I pray that you will join me in celebrating our time together and in seeking to hear God’s voice concerning the best way to continue building the beloved community.

Love and Blessings,

Rev. William

Door Opens for Full LGBT Equality – U.S. Congress Votes to End “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Tearing Down Walls.
 Building Up Hope.

Office of the Moderator
Metropolitan Community Churches
For Immediate Release:  18 December 2010

Door Opens for Full LGBT Equality
U.S. Congress Votes to End “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” 

Just days ago, in the face of a failed Congressional vote, people of good will across this land, and allies across the globe, pledged to carry on the battle to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” {DADT}, a 17-year ban preventing lesbians and gay men from serving openly in any branch of the U.S. military.

Today our fight is ended, our prayers for justice answered, our acts of civil disobedience and marches for equality honored.   On the heels of the December 15th House of Representatives vote to end the ban, the United States Senate has followed suite.  Now, all that remains if securing the President’s signature.

I salute all those who have fought bravely on the front lines of inequity and discrimination, whether here or abroad, defending a vision of equality and justice for all that was denied them.  And, I pledge myself to remembering that victory will not be complete until our trans brothers and sisters, too, are accorded the right to serve openly and honestly.   

I know as I write this that many other issues of equality remain unresolved, and that many, many lives continue to be impacted by the 2nd class citizenship accorded LGBT people in the land I call home. 

Today as I celebrate this great victory — the repeal of DADT — I make this pledge:  Metropolitan Community Churches will continue its witness for full equality for all God’s people, including every gay man, every lesbian, every bisexual and transgender Child of God.  

The day of marriage equality will come.  The day of equality in employment and education and housing and health care will come.  I know this because I have seen, in this battle, what courage and conviction and perseverance can do.

Today I say thank you to all the Dan Chois and Robin McGehees and James Pietrangelos, all the Robert Griffins and Lea Browns who fought the good fight, and pray that we may all emulate their dedication and faithfulness in all the battles that remain.

The real meaning of today’s victory lies in the path it paves for full equality for all of us.  In this Season of Advent, let us not only rejoice and glad, but join in preparing the way for a future of full equality on all fronts!

 Grace and Peace,

+Nancy

The Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, Moderator
Metropolitan Community Churches

This statement prepared in conjunction with The Moderator’s Global Justice Team,
The Rev. Pat Bumgardner, Chair.