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Finding aid of the Metropolitan Community Church Historical
Collection
Coll2009-006
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Table of contents
Title: Metropolitan Community Church historical
collection
Dates: 1969-2004
Bulk Dates: (bulk
1970-1985).
Collection number: Coll2009-006
Collector:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian
Archives
Collection Size: 6 records boxes + 3 archive
cartons + 1 archive half-carton + 1 oversize box (12.2 linear
feet).
Repository:
ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives.
Los Angeles, California 90007
Abstract: This collection consists of materials relating
to the origins, history, and ministry of the Metropolitan Community Church,
including both its governing body, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan
Community Churches, and the individual congregations that make up the
Fellowship. The materials include brochures, bylaws, calendars, circulars,
congregation meeting minutes, correspondence, financial papers, flyers,
handbills, installations of pastors, invitations, news releases, newspapers
clippings, orders of worship, pastoral letters, programs, sermons, and
photographs. The most substantial records relate to the Beach Cities
congregation in Santa Monica, California; the Los Angeles "Mother Church" for
the years 1969-1979; and the New York City congregation for the years
1974-1977.
Languages: Languages represented
in the collection: English
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access
restrictions.
Researchers wishing to publish materials must obtain permission in
writing from ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives as the physical owner.
Researchers must also obtain clearance from the holder(s) of any copyrights in
the materials. Note that ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives can grant
copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold the copyright.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for
all other materials directly from the copyright holder(s).
Metropolitan Community Church historical collection, Coll2009-006, ONE
National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.
Not applicable: materials pulled from other collections at ONE National
Gay and Lesbian Collections.
Formerly boxes 104-84 through 104-93, and ONE National Gay & Lesbian
Archives Subject Files. Collection processed by Michael P. Palmer, November 17,
2009.
To be supplied later.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection consists of materials relating to the origins, history,
and ministry of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), including both its
governing body, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches
(UFMCC), and the individual congregations that make up the Fellowship. The
materials include brochures, bylaws, calendars, circulars, congregation meeting
minutes, correspondence, financial papers, flyers, handbills, installations of
pastors, invitations, news releases, newspapers clippings, orders of worship,
pastoral letters, programs, sermons, and photographs. Because of the method in
which the collection was created (see the Note below), the materials are
fragmentary: the most substantial records relate to the Beach Cities
congregation in Santa Monica, California; the Los Angeles congregation for the
years 1969-1979; and the New York City congregation for the years 1974-1977.
Note: Prior to the engaging of professional archivists in 2006, the
staff of the International Gay & Lesbian Archives, predecessor to ONE
Archives, would occasionally remove materials pertaining to a specific subject,
individual, or institution from whatever personal or institutional collection
in which they were found to a specially created "historical collection". This
procedure not only compromised the integrity of the collections from which the
material was removed, but also resulted in collections that did not present
consistent coverage of the intended subjects. The Metropolitan Community Church
Historical Collection is one such "artificial collection": parts of its
contents can be traced to the collections of J. J. Bertrund Belanger, Fred
Bradford and Chuck David, Jim Kepner, Morris Kight, John O'Brien, and Johan
Vessup. Returning individual items to the collections from which they were
taken is impractical; this finding aid indicates the origin of a specific file
whenever this can be determined.
The collection is arranged in 6 series: (1) UFMCC, (2) General
Conferences, (3) Congregations, (4) Photographs, (5) Audio, and (6)
Memorabilia.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Beach Cities Metropolitan Community
Church (Santa Monica, Calif.)
Christian gay men
Christian gays
Christian lesbians
Church work with gays
Gay liberation movement--Religious aspects
Gays--Religious life
Homosexuality--Religious
aspects
Kepner, Jim (James),
1923-1997
Metropolitan Community Church--Los
Angeles
Metropolitan Community Church in the
Valley (North Hollywood, Calif.)
Metropolitan Community
Church of New York
Perry, Troy D., 1940-
Universal Fellowship
of Metropolitan Community Churches
Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan
Community Churches--California--Los Angeles
Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan
Community Churches--California--North Hollywood
Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan
Community Churches--California--Santa Monica
Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan
Community Churches--New York--New York City
West Bay Metropolitan Community
Church (Santa Monica, Calif.)
6 linear feet of newsletters transferred to ONE National Gay &
Lesbian Archives Periodicals and Newsletters Collection.
Original Register of Baptisms, Holy Unions and Members, February
1972-April 1975, of the Long Beach, California, congregation (now disbanded),
returned to the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches.