While catering mainly to the LGBT population, the church is open to persons of all sexual orientations. MCCNY is affiliated with the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), a worldwide fellowship of churches catering to LGBT persons and affirming LGBT-supportive theology.[1][2]
The senior pastor is Pat Bumgardner, a minister and social justice activist.[3] She lives in the West Village. Edgard Danielsen-Morales serves as the assistant pastor for congregational Life.
A newsletter titled The Query is published by the church.[4]
History
The church itself was first established in Los Angeles in 1968 by Reverend Troy Perry. Its location changed four years later to New York, inside the Lesbian and Gay Services Center (now the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center), the address where it remained from 1983 to 1994. The church moved once again in 1994 to its current location at West 36th Street.[5]
MCCNY charities
Sylvia Rivera Food Pantry: MCCNY Charities operates three weekly food pantry services. Tuesday to Friday hot meals/PWA food pantry and the Thursday morning client-choice groceries.
Sylvia's Place: MCCNY Homeless Youth Services is committed to turning the short time (up to 90 days) that youth spend as residents into a time of growth, safety and opportunity. MCCNY Homeless Youth Services provides:
Drop in services provided six days a week 5–9 Mon–Sat
Emergency overnight services
Connections to long-term housing
Case management
Advocacy groups
Showers
Hot meals
Reverend Pat Finishing School.
Q Clinic: Columbia Medical Student Run Clinic for LGBTQ+ Individuals.
Current and former funders of MCCNY Charities have included Ran Murphy Productions, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and The Citizens Committee for New York City.
Eric M. Rodriguez and Suzanne C. Ouellette, "The Metropolitan Community Church of New York: A Gay and Lesbian Community," The Community Psychologist 32, no. 3 (1999): 24–29
Rodriguez, E. M. and Ouellette, S. C. (2000), "Gay and Lesbian Christians: Homosexual and Religious Identity Integration in the Members and Participants of a Gay-Positive Church." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 39: 333–347.