MCCGSL’s new home under way

BY PHILIP DEITCH

The Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis (MCCGSL) celebrated the groundbreaking of its new home after services on Sunday Sept. 7. The new church building is located at 1919 S. Broadway in Soulard, and was formerly a charter school. Renovation has begun and church offices are scheduled to move into the new facility before December, with the goal of having services in the renovated church by spring. The $2 million renovation will include a fully accessible, state-of-the-art “LEED certified/green” worship space, with additional areas for education, meeting rooms, parking, a full kitchen and The Hope and Help Center. A crowd of approximately 250 joyful and diverse congregants, executives from EFA, Food Outreach, St. Peter and Paul along with diverse community and faith leaders prayed and cheered as speakers welcomed the congregation to the neighborhood and blessed the grounds. Speakers included the Rev. Dr. Carol Trissell, state Rep. Jeannette Mott Oxford, state Rep. (unopposed for state Senate) Robin Wright-Jones, state Rep. Sam Page (running for lieutenant governor), St. Louis City Alderwoman Phyllis Young and Jim Sondermann representing Mayor Slay. Long time congregant “Mama” Kathy Allen led the gathered in prayer. Everyone was then invited to enter the facility, view the blueprints and enjoy coffee provided by the church’s neighbor, Starbucks.

Danny Gladden, MCCGSL director of communications, organized the events for the day wearing a constant smile ear to ear, and rightfully calling this a historic day for the larger community. MCCGSL is one of the oldest and largest organizations in our regional LGBT community and provides a variety of services. The Hope and Help Center is already operating. Its purpose is to be a gateway to healthcare resources (physical and mental) for the GLBT community and HIV positive individuals, but the center is not just a referral service; one of its main goals is to provide spiritual sustenance as well. This program is being run under The One St. Louis organization, which is in the process of becoming its own non-profit entity.

Rev. Trissell was elected senior pastor in October 2003. When closing on the property, she summed up her feelings saying “Praise be to God for bringing us this far, I am grateful for those who have been with us on this journey, and for those who have gone before us, paving the way for MCCGSL to once again have a permanent home.”

When asked about the significance of the new building, Rev. Trissell beamed, saying, “The building will facilitate the church ministry because we will have our own place where we can schedule activities, and we hope to make space available to other non-profits and organizations that would benefit the community just like we would.” Trissell added, “We would like to specifically thank all of the congregants who gave up their time, skills and finances, in addition to attorney Mavis Kennedy and Brick Mortar and Clay realtors.”

Trissell also thanked the community partners MCCGSL has collaborated with over the years, including Pride St. Louis, Doorways, Food Outreach and the Central West End Holy Ground Collaborative—especially the Central Reform Congregation and Metropolitan Congregations United. Rev. Trissell also spread a message of inclusion concerning the future of MCCGSL, stating that “Our long term goal is to minister to the LGBT community, but also to reach out to others who seek a spiritual home where human rights are important.”

Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis is part of an international denomination with 52,000 members worshiping in 314 congregations in 16 countries. It was founded by the Rev. Troy Perry in October 1968 to express the simple message of “God’s love for all” regardless of sexual orientation or identity. The MCCGSL website chronicles the church’s local history:

• The first public Worship Service was in Oct. 28, 1973. The Rev. Carol Cureton pastored with 10 people in attendance in rented space from Berea Presbyterian located at 3010 Olive Blvd.

• On April 24, 1974, MCCGSL became a chartered church in MCC and bought property at 5108 Waterman, making it the first gay and lesbian organization in St. Louis to own property.

• The Waterman building was sold in 1984 and the church secured a church building at 1120 Dolman.

• Under the Rev. Brad Wishon, the building on Dolman was sold in November 1996 due to the financial demands of caring for an old historic church building. Space was then rented at St. John’s United Methodist Church at 5000 Washington Place and continued until that church was closed in 2007.

• Since Jan. 6, 2008, worship has continued at 112 Sidney St. near the Soulard area with offices at 4247 S. Grand Blvd.

For more information, visit www.mccgsl.org or call 314-361-3221.