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.

Letter from the Interim Pastor

Dear Members, Friends and supporters of MCC San Jose:

As you are surely aware, our church has been undergoing many changes recently.
We have been blessed to have those who have dedicated their time, tithes, talents and energy to making sure that MCCSJ not only survives but becomes an even more healthy, thriving and growing ministry.

It is now time to take the steps necessary to ensure that health and growth. That is why we have made the decision to move our Worship Celebration to Sunday mornings at 10am. We have also moved into the Fireside Room as our Worship space and it is proving to give us a warmer, more intimate worship experience.

We have embraced the themes of Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. In the midst of all the demands on our attention and our time it is important that we focus on what is truly important, sharing the Light and Love of God.

May I take this time to express my thanks and appreciation to everyone for the warm welcome that I have received as well as the willingness to offer encouragement and support for change. I am truly blessed and grateful.

If your schedule will allow, we would love to have you worship with us on the next three (3) Sunday evenings at 6pm. (December 12, 19 & 26) and for our first Sunday Morning Worship Celebration on Sunday, January 2, 2011 at 10am.

Please join us for an inspiring Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 7pm as we join with our extended downtown church families. We will also have a combined choral offering as well as lots of traditional Christmas music.
We look forward to a celebration of the true meaning of Christmas as told in the Gospel of Luke.

We are also grateful for all those who contributed to helping to make Christmas a little better for children dealing with HIV/AIDS. It is a reminder that we are a loving community and our blessings increase as we are willing to share God’s gifts with those in need.

May your Christmas be filled with every good and perfect gift and your New Year be blessed with dreams come true.

Love and blessings, always,
Rev. William
The Rev. Dr. William H. Knight

Christmas Offerings and Year End Donations Accepted

For 2010 income tax purposes, we are asking that you remember MCC San Jose as a tax-deductible donation.

To be declared for 2010, donations must be received by December 31. The last Sunday in December is the day after Christmas, the 26th.

We have fallen far short of our income needs this year and would greatly appreciate any additional offerings so that we may move forward and even increase ministries.

If you have a particular project or ministry to support, we will do our utmost to honor your request.
Checks or money orders may be mailed to:

MCC San Jose
P.O. Box 388
San Jose, CA 95103

There is also a PayPal option on our website if that is more convenient.
However you choose to support MCCSJ, please know that we sincerely appreciate what you do to help and pray that you will continue to be blessed as you bless us.

We’ve Only Just Begun to Fight! – A Message from the Moderator of MCC

Office of the Moderator
Metropolitan Community Churches
For Immediate Release:  09 December 2010

We’ve Only Just Begun to Fight!
U.S. Congress Fails to End “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell“

Just moments ago, the United States Senate failed to pass a key procedural Defense Authorization bill that contained an amendment to repeal the ban on lesbian and gay soldiers serving openly in the military.  The vote not only ended our hope of lifting the ban during this session of Congress, but made even a discussion impossible.

I join my voice to that of human rights activists around the globe decrying not only the failure of the United States Senate to end the 17-year ban, but the lack of courage and conviction in disallowing even a conversation on the merits of the measure.

The ban, known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” has long been used as a weapon of mass division, often diverting attention from the principles of equality and justice for all in favor of fanciful projections about who would and would not be able to shower in safety; who would and would not be able to keep their focus on the battlefront.  Today U.S. legislators lost their focus:  representing all of us equally and fairly.

It is nothing short of shameful that those elected to represent a public who overwhelmingly called for the end of the ban, chose political machinations over honoring their call to serve our common interests.  It is nothing short of shameful that the real progress toward acceptance and inclusion witnessed in the military personnel survey compiled as part of the research mandated in consideration of an appeal vote, was completely ignored.  Our national leaders chose fear and projection over the strong inclination of the American people for acceptance of diversity.

While I am pledging myself to continue to carry on this good fight, I am also mindful of the debt of gratitude all of us owe to the many, many people who lifted their voices and sometimes jeopardized their careers in pursuit of equality.

I am mindful of the debt of gratitude we owe to people like Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen and General Colin Powell.  The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King said, “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.”  On this eve of momentary defeat, we are blessed to remember that many of our friends broke their silence in the cause of justice and equality for all.

I am mindful of the debt of gratitude we owe to all the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender military personnel whose presence on front lines across the globe and whose dedication to the principles of freedom and justice for all remain unwavering.

And I am mindful of all those who have given their lives in silent witness for the principles they cherished.  Today we owe a debt of gratitude to them and to those whose refusal to keep silent has or will lead to their discharge.

“When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one,” reads the inscription on the tombstone of gay activist and solider, Leonard Matlovich.
On this day of momentary defeat, I ask you to join me in praying that the courage of those like Matlovich, along with the boldness and tenacity of people like Colonel Margareth Cammer-meyer, Lieutenant Dan Choi, The Rev. Elder Jeri Ann Harvey, The Rev. Dr. Lea Brown and The Rev. Dr. Robert Griffin, to name a few, may continue to inspire all of us in our quest to make truth our weapon of choice in the battle for freedom.

This Advent season I call on the Members and Friends of Metropolitan Community Churches and people of good will around the world to join me in pledging to carry on the fight for human equality on all fronts, including the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and to not rest until we see this battle through to victory.

The best way to honor those who have fought this good fight is to take on their mantle.  I promise to continue to do that, and I ask you to join me. — Now is not the time to retreat.  Now is the time to email and call all of our representatives in Congress and let them know how upset we are that they placed political maneuvering above the principles of justice and quality for all.

We can all honor those who have fought so hard for the end to discrimination and injustice, by pushing forward.

As fervently as I pray for the day of peace, when all war and strife shall cease, I also pray for the end to discrimination and policies that exclude some and separate us from others, because I know that only when we honor and treat all life as equal will the Day of Peace come.

History, I believe, will hold a special place for those LGBT American who promised to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” long before that Constitution protected or defended them.  It will hold a special place for those who lived as if they were free and equal long before the governments of this world acknowledged their humanity.  May they hold a special place in all our hearts as well, as we promise to fight like heaven for the day of good will among and for all God’s people.

Grace and Peace,

+Nancy

The Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, Moderator
Metropolitan Community Churches

“Not One Child” A Message from the Moderator of MCC

Tearing Down Walls.
Building Up Hope.
 

Office of the Moderator
Metropolitan Community Churches
For Immediate Release: 01 October 2010

Not One More Child
Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches
Calls for Action to End Bullying and Harassment of Gay Teens

Billy Lucas — Seth Walsh — Asher Brown — Tyler Clementi — those are the names of four young teenage boys who took their own lives during the month of September.

Billy Lucas from Indiana was 15 years old when he hung himself from a barn rafter on his grandmother’s farm in Greensburg on September 9th.

Seth Walsh was 13 when he was removed from life support ten days after he’d hung himself from a tree in a yard in California. The date was Sunday, September 19th.

Asher Brown, from Texas, was also 13 years old when he used his stepfather’s gun to shoot himself to death on September 23rd.

One day earlier, 18-year-old college freshman, Tyler Clementi, jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge spanning the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey.

Each boy had been targeted by classmates and peers based on appearance and perceptions of their sexual orientations. In Billy’s, Seth’s and Asher’s cases, the bullying and harassment, the verbal abuse and physical assault had gone on for months, sometimes years, without any meaningful intervention on the part of the schools they attended. In Tyler’s case, just days after his college roommate secretly videotaped a private romantic encounter with another man, posting the tape live on the Internet; Read more »

The Blessing of Tithing

a reflection by Karl J. Vidt

Each week as I place my offering in the plate at MCC San Jose, I feel the blessing of God wash over me.  The blessing is substanStial.  I experience God’s blessing in many experiences in my life.  This one has a particular history in its making.

 In 1985, a year after I became a member of MCC San Jose, I accepted an invitation to join its Board of Directors.  In doing so I was surprised to learn that it takes a bit of money to keep a church running and for the most part, the only place that money comes from are the people that attend the church.  Up until that point, I had dropped the occasional $20.00 bill in the offering plate and felt good about doing so.  I realized that I cared a great deal for MCC San Jose and wanted to support it in a more substantial way. 

I decided to look into the practice of tithing.  To me that meant giving to the church 10% of what I made.  I calculated the amount and was astounded at how much it appeared to be. Read more »