(Photo courtesy MCC Tampa)
The Good Page features positive LGBTQ+ news in Central Florida and Tampa Bay, uplifting and inspiring stories highlighting locals in our community. In this issue, we check in with the Metropolitan Community Church of Tampa.
After 55 years, MCC Tampa remains what it set out to be in 1971: a place where love is practiced, justice is pursued and everyone is welcome at God’s table. The region’s first recognized LGBTQ+ organization, MCC Tampa has spent more than five decades building community, advocating for justice and creating a spiritual home where people can come as they are.
Its anniversary is not simply a marker of time, but a testament to those who have found belonging at MCC Tampa and helped shape an institution whose influence reaches beyond Sunday worship.
“This church has fostered and been the parent to other MCCs,” longtime board member Richard Skinner says, “and it has sponsored and housed many organizations.”
During the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, MCC Tampa became an important community resource, housing the Tampa AIDS Network in its early days. It’s a spirit of service that continues: MCC Tampa hosts a weekly food bank, provides space for the Gay Men’s Chorus of Tampa Bay, and welcomes recovery groups throughout the week, as well as a 50+ men’s group.
“We’ve had a key role in the community over the years,” says Charles Clay, an MCC Tampa board member.
Being Tampa Bay’s first LGBTQ+ organization is “an honor,” he says. “It’s also an honor that we are able to continue to be around, and that’s because people keep coming through the doors. As long as people need churches like this, we hope to be here.”
MCC Tampa is part of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, the global denomination founded in 1968. For Clay, that connection is fundamental.
“It’s everything,” he notes. “It’s the parent, we’re the child, so we get leadership and direction from them. We learn a lot of lessons. We couldn’t do what we do if the bigger church didn’t exist. It’s no different from a Catholic church having the Vatican.”
That connection also informs MCC Tampa’s commitment to social justice. Vice Moderator of the Board of Directors Mia Oates describes the church’s work on LGBTQ+ issues:
“We do currently have a social justice team here at the church, and in the past year we have been on the front line in Tallahassee for rights that concern LGBTQ+ people,” she explains. “We stand out in the community and make it known that we love everyone. Love is here no matter what color you are, your sexual orientation, none of that matters to us.”
The church also remains mindful of security concerns facing LGBTQ+ communities and houses of worship. “We’re very aware of the dangers that face the community as a whole,” Clay says. “We’re actively on the lookout for any threat that might appear.”
But at its heart, MCC Tampa remains a place of healing.
Many congregants arrive carrying wounds from exclusionary religious experiences. Oates says the church offers something simple but powerful: acceptance.
“We ask you to come as your true self and bring whatever you have to the church. While you are here, we teach you that God loves you no matter what. You may have been told something different at another time, at another church, but we believe what God said: God loves each and every one of us.”
Clay agrees with Oates, adding that “I have to point out that a lot of us have not felt harmed by the church. I grew up in church and I never felt ostracized or put down in any way, and I think that’s the story of many people. Unfortunately, some people have different experiences, and coming here, they have a sense of belonging.”
For others, the hurt can begin at home. “Beyond church rejection, we have to deal with folks like myself who had family rejection,” Skinner says. “It’s just as damaging, and more so sometimes.”
Through fellowship and faith, that experience can become life changing, something that looks different for everyone. Clay describes his own with unmistakable humor, saying, “I saw the burning bush personally. I had to call the fire department.”
Community happens outside the sanctuary, too. MCC Tampa offers a lunch club, veterans’ monthly dinner, book club, movie nights, bingo, social gatherings and other special events.
Looking ahead, MCC Tampa’s mission remains remarkably simple.
“We strive to keep the doors open and keep welcoming new people, and as new people come in, keep encouraging them to become more and more involved so the church continues long beyond the time that we’re gone,” Clay says.
And for anyone wondering what to expect on a Sunday morning, his answer is equally straightforward.
“Our service starts at 10:30 on Sunday and that’s between an hour and an hour and a half. You can feel comfortable coming however you are. You don’t have to wear hats or white gloves. Jeans and shorts are fine — everyone is welcome.”
Learn more about MCC Tampa at MCCTampa.com.
Interested in being featured in The Good Page? Email Editor-in-Chief Ryan Williams-Jent at Ryan@WatermarkOutNews.com in Tampa Bay or Central Florida Bureau Chief Bellanee Plaza at Bellanee@WatermarkOutNews.com in Central Florida.
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