Last Updated on April 23, 2024 by Kittredge Cherry
Metropolitan Community Churches, the first denomination to affirm LGBTQ people, was founded on Oct. 6, 1968 by Troy Perry. Dozens of my photos from more than 35 years of MCC history are posted today in honor of the anniversary.
The photos posted here show highlights from my own ministry in MCC starting in the 1980s. I was part of many historic LGBTQ events, such as the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Rights. These photos capture just a few moments from those memorable times.
I had the privilege of working closely with Rev. Troy Perry, a Pentecostal minister who was defrocked for being gay. He was incredibly brave and visionary to create a church for queer people back in 1968, when homosexuality was still considered a sin, a sickness and a crime. He put an ad in the local gay newspaper and held the first worship service in his living room on Oct. 6, 1968. Twelve people attended. Later Metropolitan Community Churches grew to almost 300 churches in more than 30 countries. He describes the founding and early years of MCC in the book Don’t Be Afraid Anymore: The Story of Reverend Troy Perry and the Metropolitan Community Churches
I joined MCC in 1985 and became an ordained minister. I served as program director at MCC San Francisco. Then I worked at the denominational headquarters in Los Angeles, where I handled ecumenical and public relations, working with Troy and Rev. Nancy Wilson, who succeeded him as moderator of the denomination. She chronicles the history of MCC in her book “Outing the Church: 40 Years in the Queer Christian Movement.”
I believe it’s important to preserve our history. Therefore I post these images as a tribute to MCC and to all queer people of faith who dare to believe that God loves us just as we are. So here are the photos and the stories behind the pictures.
New in 2023: Prayer to commemorate MCC’s founding
MCC served multiple purposes as a social justice movement, religious revival, and theological uprising. A powerful collect to commemorate MCC’s founding was written by Micah Ketchens, a queer liturgist out of Appalachia.
“Liberating God, whose perfect love casts out fear and supplies every need: You have called forth a gentle, angry people to be your Church. Grant that we, celebrating the founding of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, may look mercifully to the margins, assured that there we will see Christ Jesus, our justice and our peace; who lives in Triune unity, one God, now and forever. Amen.”
1993 March on Washington for lesbian, gay and bi rights
Rev. Kittredge Cherry at the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Rights in April 1993. This photo was taken at the MCC worship service at the Lincoln Memorial on the morning of the March.
Troy Perry addresses the 1993 March on Washington. Photo by Kittredge Cherry
A million people at the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Rights listen to Rev. Troy Perry and his partner Phillip De Blieck on April 25, 1993. This photo was taken on the main stage looking toward the Washington Monument. In one of the most memorable moments of my life, I was onstage taking this photo in my role handled MCC’s media relations at the March.
Kittredge Cherry at “The Wedding” prayer demonstration for marriage equality in 1993
The Wedding was a spectacular group blessing of 6,000 lesbian and gay couples at the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Rights in April 1993. Kittredge Cherry handled media relations for the event as ecumenical and public relations officer for MCC. She is pictured here at the Wedding. It was a prayer demonstration for equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.
I received the Distinguished Service Award, one of MCC’s highest honors, for my ministry.
“Distinguished Service Award presented to Rev. Kittredge Cherry for her work in International Ecumenical Relations and for planning and executing the ‘Hands Around the God-Box’ demonstration at Stonewall 25 for the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. Given at General Conference XVII, July 1995, Atlanta, Georgia.”
Advocating for LGBTQ rights at the World Council of Churches
Archbishop Desmond shakes hands with Kittredge Cherry at the World Council of Churches meeting in Johannesburg in 1994.
It was wonderful to meet Archbishop Desmond Tutu as part of MCC’s delegation to the World Council of Churches in South Africa in 1994. He inspired me with a rousing speech about justice and faith, and I even got to shake his hand. MCC and Tutu both celebrate birthdays Oct. 6 and 7. Tutu was born Oct. 7, 1931. He is a Nobel-Peace-Prize-winning human rights activist and Anglican bishop from South Africa.
The photo above shows, from right, Tutu, MCC National Ecumenical Officer Kittredge Cherry, MCC Chief Ecumenical Officer Nancy Wilson, and an unknown woman. The MCC delegation was in Johannesburg, South Africa in January 1994, to advocate LGBTQ religious rights at a meeting of the World Council of Churches. Wilson was elected Moderator of the MCC denomination in 2005 — the same year that Cherry launched Jesus in Love / Q Spirit.
Nancy Wilson, left, and Kittredge Cherry advocated for LGBTQ rights at the World Council of Churches Assembly in Canberra, Australia in 1991.
In this photo I’m wearing headphones to listen to the translation at the multilingual event. This was the first conference that I attended after being hired as Field Director of Ecumenical Witness and Ministry for MCC.
MCC’s delegation to the World Council of Churches 1994 meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, consisted of, from left, Kittredge Cherry, MCC ecumenical director; Sylvanus Maduka, head of MCC in Nigeria; and Nancy Wilson, MCC ecumenical officer (before she was moderator). We shocked many WCC leaders by urging them to stand up against homophobia in the church, and got a warm welcome from South African LGBTQ Christians.
MCC’s delegation to the World Council of Churches Assembly in Canberra, Australia in 1991 included, from left, Revs. Steve Pieters, Sandra Robinson, Nancy Wilson and Kittredge Cherry.
Advocating for LGBTQ rights at the WCC Assembly in 1991 were, from left, Sandra Robinson, Nancy Wilson, and Kittredge Cherry.
Nancy Wilson, Kittredge Cherry and Steve Pieters spoke out for LGBTQ rights at the World Council of Churches Assembly in 1991.
Kittredge Cherry preached at MCC of North London in February 1994 on the way back from a World Council of Churches meeting.
Nancy Wilson tells the story of our adventures at the World Council of Churches in her book “Outing the Church: 40 Years in the Queer Christian Movement.” She wrote about me in a chapter titled, “Gift Number 4, “Our Shamanistic Gifts of Creativity, Originality, Art, Magic, and Theater”:
“I had a wonderful opportunity to organize gay people to exercise this gift at the World Council of Churches General Assembly. One of the contexts of the assembly in Canberra in 1991 was the Gulf War. The WCC decided to hold a vigil to pray for the end of the war. The US delegation (the largest with 600 people) was to lead the closing hour of the vigil at six in the morning. In organizing for the vigil and our participation, Joan Campbell, General Secretary of the NCC, had asked for a few volunteers. Well, I knew that at meetings like these, no one really wants to volunteer for such things. All my ecu-terrorist training kicked in, and I volunteered. Joan didn’t flinch at all, and I was appointed to the committee, which included some US denominational leaders and WCC delegates. Our planning committee met briefly outside the worship tent. Reverend Kitt Cherry had made some helpful suggestions. No one else seemed to have any ideas…. [We decided to do an anointing with holy oil because the war was over oil.]
…Then we began to search for blessed oil. No one seemed to have any. I had certainly not brought any with me from the United States. No one on the worship team staff at Canberra had any or knew where to find some. Finally one of the staff ‘gophers’ told me where to get oil! Kitt Cherry and I decided to use her empty film cases as makeshift oil vials, and we got UFMCC people to hold the vials for the blessers during the time of anointing so that they wouldn’t get distracted by the fact that the oil was in film cases.”
Meeting South African activists
Nancy Wilson and I discussed strategies with South African LGBTQ activists Simon Nkoli and Bev Ditsie when we was in Johannesburg for a World Council of Churches meeting in 1994. Simon was an anti-apartheid and gay liberation activist who died of AIDS on Nov. 30, 1998 at age 41. Bev and Simon organized South Africa’s first LGBTQ Pride parade in 1990 as co-founders of GLOW (Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand).
Strategies for LGBTQ activism were discussed by, from left, Simon Nkoli, Bev Ditsie, Nancy Wilson and Kittredge Cherry in Johannesburg in January 1994.
International LGBTQ activists, from left, Simon Nkoli, Kittredge Cherry, and Bev Ditsie met in Johannesburg, South Africa, in January 1994.
Bev is a film maker whose films include “Simon and I,” an excellent documentary about their friendship and activism. She became the first open lesbian to address the United Nations about LGBTQ rights at the 4th UN World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. Simon was arrested and faced the death penalty for speaking out against apartheid as one of the “Delmas 22.” By coming out in prison, he helped convince the African National Congress to support gay rights. Acquitted and released from prison in 1988, he became one of the first gay activists to meet with President Nelson Mandela in 1994, campaigning successfully for the new South African constitution to include protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
National Council of Churches dialogue on homosexuality
Much of my job as MCC ecumenical staff involved advocating for LGBTQ people of faith at the National Council of Churches. Back in 1983 the NCC voted to postpone indefinitely MCC’s application for membership, leading to a decade of “dialogue” on homosexuality and Christianity. Many of its member churches are liberal denominations that also used long years of dialogue to delay decisions on same-sex marriage, ordination of LGBT clergy, etc. During my time, the NCC voted to deny us again. The mainstream news media covered it with headlines such as, “Gay Church Fails in Bid to Join National Council” (Los Angeles Times, Nov. 14, 1992).
We held protest signs and took over the microphones when the National Council of Churches denied observer status to MCC in Cleveland, Ohio, on Nov. 12, 1992. Nancy Wilson, MCC chief ecumenical officer, seized the podium and said, “It’s easier to get into heaven than into the NCC!” She banged her fist on the podium so hard that it cracked. Protest signs in this photo say, “Stonewall Rises Again!!!” and “Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual: We are Already in the Church. Let us be Open, Free.” Pictured are, from left, John Taktikos of Axios (Orthodox gay and lesbian group), Nancy Wilson of MCC, and Lorna Cramer of Unitarian Universalists for Lesbian/Gay Concerns. Photo by Kittredge Cherry. RIP John Taktikos, who died of AIDS in October 1993.
Protestors carried a sign saying, “Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual: We are Already in the Church. Let us be Open, Free” when the National Council of Churches denied observer status to Metropolitan Community Churches in November 1992 in Cleveland, Ohio. Pictured in the middle is Nancy Wilson of MCC. Photo by Kittredge Cherry.
The MCC banner is carried by Peter Trabaris and Gloria Soliz at the National Council of Churches meeting in Cleveland in Nov. 1992. The banner has the MCC logo and the words, “A Christian fellowship reaching out the gays and lesbians around the world.” Barely visible in the background is Rev. Howard Warren of Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns. It looks like his sign says, “Gay, lesbian and bisexual by God’s design.” The banner on the wall says, “National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.” Photo by Kittredge Cherry. RIP, Howard Warren, who died in 2003.
Here is the NCC-MCC Dialogue Committee in November 1992 in Cleveland, Ohio. We sure look miserable. Our committee tried and failed to find common ground on homosexuality. Left to right: Bishop Clinton Hoggard (African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church), Jean Marshall, Kittredge Cherry (MCC), Nancy Wilson (MCC), Laura Bailey (Disciples of Christ) and NCC staffer Eileen Lindner. Some other committee members are not pictured. RIP Bishop Hoggard, died 2002.
Mel White with Kittredge Cherry at National Council of Churches meeting in 1994
Soulforce founder Mel White spoke for LGBTQ religious rights 20 years ago at a forum that I organized as part of the 1994 National Council of Churches annual meeting in New Orleans.
Mel White was a high-ranking insider in the Evangelical Protestant movement in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He ghostwrote autobiographies for such famous right-wing televangelists as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Billy Graham. Meanwhile he was spending decades trying to “cure” his homosexuality with “ex-gay” therapy, including prayer, fasting, exorcisms and even electroshock treatment.
Mel is famous for confronting the religious right, but that day he challenged what he called the “unsure middle” that enables them to attack LGBTQ people. His message still rings true now.
“You are responsible for the deaths of my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters because they come to you and they get indecision,” he told the audience of more than 50 church leaders, including NCC General Secretary Joan Campbell.
John Taktikos, left, died of AIDS before our next protest. The sign in this 1992 photo says, “Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual: We are Already in the Church. Let us be Open, Free.” We held signs at the National Council of Churches meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, on Nov. 12, 1992. Also pictured are, from left, Nancy Wilson of Metropolitan Community Churches and Lorna Cramer of Unitarian Universalists for Lesbian/Gay Concerns. Photo by Kittredge Cherry.
Some of the toughest opposition to MCC came from the Orthodox denominations, and one of our strongest supporters John Taktikos, a fiery truth-teller and president of Axios an organization of Eastern and Near Eastern Orthodox, and Byzantine and Eastern-rite Catholic LGBT Christians.
I met John Taktikos in 1992 through my work as MCC’s international ecumenical director. I arranged for John to advocate for LGBTQ rights with Orthodox church leaders at the 1992 National Council of Churches annual meeting in Cleveland, Ohio. He spoke passionately to the Orthodox leaders, who were the main opponents blocking MCC’s membership. LGBT representatives from many other NCC member churches joined us too.
The AIDS crisis was raging and John died before he could attend the next NCC annual meeting. Axios vice president Alexi stepped in to fill his place.
Over the years I have kept and treasured the elegant envelope addressed to me at MCC headquarters in John’s own handwriting. It is dated Oct. 17, 1992, when we were planning for the NCC meeting. This graceful calligraphy reflects a beautiful spirit who helped lay the foundation for LGBT people of faith today.
Faith and Disorder protest at National Council of Churches
Faith and Disorder protest, 1993
Protesters for gay and lesbian rights in the church picketed a National Council of Churches “Faith and Order” meeting in Berkeley, California, on March 19, 1993. The “Faith and Disorder” protest was led by Rev. Kittredge Cherry, MCC’s National Ecumenical Officer. Signs say: “We’re here, we’re queer, we’re going to church,” “Ruth and Naomi, Jonathan and David, me and my girlfriend,” “Thank God I’m gay” and “We’re everywhere.” People in the photo are, from left, Brian Cross (New Life MCC Berkeley member), unknown protester, Bill Pugh of MCC-SF, Kittredge Cherry, Leslie Addison of MCC-SF, and Beth Downey.
“Sometimes faith in God’s order calls all Christians to act in ways that may seem disorderly because they disrupt the social order established by human society,” Rev. Cherry said in opening remarks at the Faith and Disorder worship service held afterward in the Pacific School of Religion chapel. About half the NCC members present, including NCC General Secretary Joan Campbell, attended the service. Nearly 150 people filled the chapel. Photo by Audrey Lockwood.
Serving at MCC international headquarters
My old IBM computer was HUGE and already outdated, but I was using it in 1994 when this photo was taken in my office at MCC headquarters in Los Angeles. This is where we masterminded our ecumenical strategy to gain LGBTQ rights in churches worldwide. The computer was a dinosaur even then.
Check out my ancient IBM computer!
My tiny, windowless office was nicknamed the “Kitt pit” by my coworkers. We joked that my role as ecumenical and public relations director meant that I was “minister of propaganda.” But this is where I edited our denominational newsletter “Keeping in Touch” and served as national ecumenical officer. Staff at the National Council of Churches were amazed at how much our LGBTQ church could accomplish with few resources and not much money. But God was with us. Location: 5300 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles.
I couldn’t have done my ministry without the wonderful staff at the Fellowship offices. The staff at UFMCC international headquarters in November 1994 was, from left, front: Elsa Martinez, Frank Zerilli, Dana Cagle, D.J. Bowling, Bob Heydt, Kittredge Cherry, Nancy Fackrell; back: Don Eastman, David Martin, Farley Peterson, Troy Perry, Ravi Verma, Stephen Pieters, Nathan Meckley and Eric Topp. They are standing on the roof of the building that housed their offices at 5300 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. Note the Hollywood sign in the distance. Photo by Tri Tran.
I also taught at Samaritan College, the MCC educational institution for training clergy, in an era when almost no established seminaries would accept LGBTQ students.
Steve Pieters, Kittredge Cherry and Nathan Meckley enter Metropolitan Community Church of Los Angeles in a formal procession for the Samaritan College graduation in June 1992. The church building at 5879 Washington Boulevard in Culver City was obviously under construction and always a work in progress.
Connecting with other churches
My ecumenical ministry involved connecting with LGBTQ church leaders and allies in other denominations.
MCC clergywomen met Christian feminist authors at the “Re-Imagining” conference. Left to right: Lori Dick, Virginia Mollenkott, Susan Thistlewaite, Nancy Wilson and Kittredge Cherry.
MCC clergy at “Re-Imagining: A Global Theological Conference By Women” conference Nov. 4-7, 1993 in Minneapolis included, from left, Revs. Coni Staff, Kittredge Cherry, Nancy Wilson and Lori Dick. More than 2,000 attended the conference, which was controversial for presenting female images of God, accepting LGBT people and other “heresies.”
Pictured left to right are Laurie Fox of Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns, Kittredge Cherry and Nancy Wilson at a demonstration for LGBT rights at the Christian feminist “Re-Imagining” conference Nov. 4-7, 1993 in Minneapolis.
Nancy and I sang and held a banner at a demonstration for LGBT rights at the Christian feminist “Re-Imagining” conference Nov. 4-7, 1993 in Minneapolis. Our banner says, “A Christian fellowship reaching out to gays and lesbians around the world” with the logo for Metropolitan Community Churches.
Malcolm Boyd, left, and Kittredge Cherry share a smile at the Lammy Awards in 2008. (Photo by Audrey Lockwood.)
MCC ministry brought me into contact with celebrated gay Episcopal priest Malcolm Boyd. I got to know him personally as a fellow author, a colleague in LGBTQ ministry, and a good-natured friend who shared my passion for Taize music. One of the last times I saw him was at the 2008 Lambda Literary Awards ceremony, when he received a Pioneer Award and I was a Lammy finalist. At my invitation, Boyd contributed to my book “Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies and Celebrations” and was the keynote speaker at a Taize Festival that I organized in Los Angeles in the 1990s.
Ordination of Kittredge Cherry
Kittredge Cherry on her ordination day, July 23, 1993.
Ordination of Kittredge Cherry on July 23, 1993, at MCC General Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Laying hands on her for the ordination ceremony are, from left, Elders Jean White, Don Eastman and Freda Smith, and her spouse, Audrey Lockwood.
Rev. Troy Perry kisses Rev. Kittredge Cherry right after her ordination in July 1993 in Phoenix, AZ.
Kittredge Cherry at her ordination with spouse Audrey
A glimpse into the sacred moments of my ordination ceremony is revealed by the photo where MCC elders, from left, Jean White, Don Eastman and Freda Smith bestow their blessings upon me through the laying on of hands, while my spouse, Audrey, adds her support.
Close-up of my ordination from the photo above.
“This will certify that Rev. Kittredge L. Cherry was Ordained to the ministry of the Gospel of Christ by the action of the Clergy Credentials & Concerns Committee of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches this 23rd day of July 1993.” The ordination certificate is signed by Elder Larry Rodriguez.
MCC founder Troy Perry, center, joins Kittredge Cherry, right, and her life partner, Audrey, in 1993, at the MCC General Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.
Happy times with Kittredge Cherry, Nancy Wilson, and my life partner Audrey at in July 1993 at MCC General Conference, Phoenix. I love the way the arch forms an arc over my head.
Kittredge Cherry celebrated communion in 1993 at Metropolitan Community Churches General Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.
Pictured are, from left, John Torres (?), Jay Neely, unknown, Kittredge Cherry, Rev. Elder Jean White, Rev. Elder Hong Tan, unknown, and Ravi Verma. This worship service was co-sponsored by the Department of Ecumenical Witness and Ministry and the Department of People of Color. I was ecumenical field director at the time.
“Church with AIDS” in 1980s San Francisco
I ministered at MCC San Francisco during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, and wrote about this experience in one of my most popular and influential articles ever: “We are the Church Alive, the Church with AIDS.” I wrote it with my supervising pastor Jim Mitulski and it was published in 1988 by Christian Century, the most important magazine of U.S. mainline Protestantism. It was also published in the 1990 book “The Church with AIDS: Renewal in the Midst of Crisis,” edited by Lettie Russell, theology professor at Yale Divinity School.
“We are the Church Alive, the Church with AIDS” by Kittredge Cherry and James Mitulski, appeared in Christian Century magazine on Jan. 27, 1988.
Ministry at MCC San Francisco in the 1980s
We were truly a church alive with many activities as these photos show.
Kittredge Cherry presides over a communion service in a photo from the front page of the San Francisco Examiner on April 16, 1990. It appeared with an article about the 20th anniversary of Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco titled “Gay church thriving at 20.”
Kittredge Cherry and Audrey were united in a “Holy Union” wedding on April 11, 1987 at Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco — long before marriage equality became law. Photo by Lisa Wigoda. Click here for more of their Holy Union photos.
My installation as student clergy in fall 1987 at MCC San Francisco. With Carlene Glenn Ames Waldrum, Bill Lowell and Coni Staff.
Long line-up at MCC-SF altar
Troy Perry and other MCC leaders at the altar, of MCC-SF, 1988.
Two historic 1988 photos of church leaders at the MCC San Francisco altar were joined into one long, panoramic image in 2021. It is posted for the first time online on Oct. 6, 2021 to honor the 53rd anniversary of MCC’s founding.
The photo shows Troy Perry celebrating communion with a more than a dozen MCC leaders on Feb. 21, 1988 at MCC San Francisco. The service honored Rev. Jim Sandmire, pastor emeritus of MCC-SF and a major denominational leader. There were so many clergy at the service honoring Jim Sandmire that it required two photos to show them all. A subtle rainbow of light was projected onto the wall above them. The cross behind them was made from the beams that survived the 1973 arson attack that burned the MCC-SF building.
Pictured here are, from left, Michael England, Jim Glyer, Bill Lowell, Jim Mitulski, Roy Birchard, Carlene Waldrum, Coni Staff, Betty Pedersen, Troy Perry, Dwayne Best, Siusan Goethals, David Jernigan and Ed Sherriff. Photo by Audrey Lockwood.
In this second photo from Feb. 21, 1988 are, from left, Ed Sherriff, John Torres, Jane Spahr, Jim Sandmire, Jodi Saffier, Rick Weatherly and Kittredge Cherry. Photo by Audrey Lockwood.
My Consecration to Professional Ministry as clergy on Aug. 6, 1989 at MCC San Francisco. — with Ron Russell-Coons and Jim Mitulski.
Kittredge Cherry at memorial for Rev. Ron Russell-Coons, Sept. 1990, MCC San Francisco. Jane Carl is serving communion in the background.
The epicenter for my formative years as a student clergy and young staff clergy was the church building at 150 Eureka Street in the Castro district of San Francisco. The building was demolished in 2023. The holy ground that once was our sanctuary was torn down to make way for a parking garage for a luxury condo. But the place lives on in our hearts and in a watercolor painting by Trudie Barreras, Q Spirit supporter and long-time MCC member. This painting is in the MCC-SF archival collection at the San Francisco Library.
Kittredge Cherry, 1991
Women clergy having fun together in 1991. From left: Betty Pederson, Kittredge Cherry, Audrey, Jane Spahr and Coni Staff. Betty, Coni and I were all MCC clergy at the time. We were at my farewell party as I prepared to leave San Francisco to minister in Los Angeles. Janie has been an activist for since the 1970s as a Presbyterian minister, facing church trials for breaking church law to marry committed same-gender couples.
MCC-SF women’s quilt
Women’s retreats were the highlight of the year for most women at MCC San Francisco in the late 1980s. They expressed their spirituality at the 1989 MCC-SF Women’s Retreat by creating a patchwork quilt. I had the joy of being reunited with the quilt in 2021, more than 30 years later.
Retreat leaders holding the quilt in 1989 include Kittredge Cherry, left, who organized the retreats as MCC-SF program director.
Each woman got to design her own quilt panel, and then a team of women sewed them together during the retreat.
Kittredge Cherry, left, and her spouse Audrey Lockwood were reunited with the MCC-SF Women’s Retreat quilt in 2021, more than 30 years after they helped create it.
Quilts have a long history as functional, decorative art primarily created by women. We were inspired by the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and our countless women ancestors who stitched together quilts dating back through many ancient civilizations.
Kittredge Cherry points to the panel that she made more than 30 years earlier at the 1989 MCC-SF Women’s Retreat.
MCC-SF church retreats
MCC San Francisco’s 1986 All-Church Retreat, October 1986. Those were the days! Retreats were the highlight of the year at MCC-SF in the late 1980s.
Small groups for discussion and prayer were the heart of every MCC-SF retreat in the late 1980s. My small group at the 1986 retreat included,from left, Kittredge Cherry, George Voigt, Patrick Horay, Karen Miller, Charles West and Gordon Gross.
MCC San Francisco Retreat, October 1987. It was the height of the AIDS pandemic and we had a wonderful, spirit-filled time together. Some of those pictured have passed on to new life.
My small group at the 1987 MCC-SF retreat included, from left, Bob Crocker, Dennis Edelman, Sylvia Perez, unknown, Kittedge Cherry, Paul (Holton?) and Lynn Jordan.
My life partner Audrey and I at the 1987 MCC-SF retreat.
Motorcycle Blessing
Motorcycle blessings at a gay leather bar in San Francisco brought together spirituality and LGBT culture in the 1980s.
I was one of the worship leaders at the 1988 “Bike Blessing” at the Eagle Tavern. Recently I dug out photos of the event — prompted by news that a friend led a “blessing of the bicycles” at his church for AIDS/Lifecycle.
Worship leaders at the Seventh Annual Bike Blessing on July 17, 1988 were all clergy from Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), a denomination that ministers in the LGBT community. They included Rev. Jim Sandmire, pastor of Golden Gate MCC and his assistant; Rev. Jim Mitulski, pastor of MCC-SF, and me. At the time I was a student clergy, serving as MCC-SF women’s programming coordinator.
Times have changed in the years since I blessed bikes at the San Francisco Eagle. We were in the midst of the AIDS pandemic then, with a lot of people dying and no cure in sight. We got through it on faith — a strong faith that we took to the streets and to the people in unusual LGBTQ events like the Bike Blessing. Now AIDS has effective treatments and to many people today “blessing of the bikes” means the AIDS/Lifecyle fundraiser.
I remember feeling nervous as I arrived and carried my clergy robe on a hanger through the unfamiliar bar crowded with men in black leather. But their warm welcome quickly put me at ease. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised to find out that the leather bar had its own dressing room. “You can put your drag on over here,” one man said as he led me to it.
I was startled to hear my clerical robes referred to as “drag,” but then I realized that the leather community understood the value of dressing for a role. They wore leather drag and I wore clergy drag, but we all felt a need to look to the part.
After a short opening ceremony, we spent most of the time saying personal prayers over individual bikers and their bikes. My prayer partner was my supervising pastor. He began each encounter with a question that I never expected: “What is the name of your bike?”
Sure enough, all the bikes had names. Soon I got the hang of it and joined in asking God’s blessing upon each rider and bike by name, with a special request for safely on the road.
Praying over each individual bike are Jim Mitulski, left, and Kittredge Cherry (Photo by Mister Marcus)
Jim Mitulski, left, and Kittredge Cherry lay hands of blessing on a motorcycle at the Eagle leather bar (Photo by Mister Marcus)
The Bike Blessings at the Eagle were an annual summer event founded in the early 1980s by Harry Harkness, a leatherman and longtime organist at MCC-SF. A full description and liturgy is provided in a chapter by Steve Carson in the book “Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies, and Celebrations,” which I edited with Zalmon Sherwood.
More than three decades have passed since I first blessed bikes at a leather bar. Harry Harkness died in 2010 at age 85. Marcus Hernandez, who photographed the event as the Bay Area Reporter’s longtime leather columnist under the pen name “Mister Marcus,” died in 2009 at age 77. The Eagle closed and reopened, but they don’t seem to sponsor Bike Blessings anymore.
My experience at the 1988 Bike Blessing was expressed well by Steve Carson in “Equal Rites”:
This can be a peculiarly moving event. Bikers form a genuine community in which people know and respect each other…. This group is ignored, misunderstood, or condemned by many religious bodies, yet I have found it to be a deeply spiritual community. Worship leaders will be genuinely welcomed and appreciated, and may find among the leather and the varooms of the motorcycles a spiritual event more real than many they have been in before.
Worship leaders at the 1988 Bike Blessing were, from left, Kittredge Cherry, Jim Mitulski, Golden Gate MCC student clergy (or deacon?) Paul Steindal and Jim Sandmire. (Photo by Mister Marcus)
“God Squad” TV show
As MCC public relations director, I appeared on various cable TV talk shows, including “The God Squad.” It was hosted by Bill Rosendahl, an early supporter of LGBTQ Christianity and the first openly gay man on the Los Angeles City Council. Bill made a big impression on me personally when he invited me to be a guest on his show.
He reached out to me because he wanted to include the LGBTQ perspective in his program. On each show a diverse group of clergy discussed news events and social issues from a religious viewpoint.
MCC founder Troy Perry was enthusiastic as soon as he heard about my invitation to appear on “The God Squad.” He explained that Bill was a (then closeted) gay man and a huge supporter of LGBT rights, including our religious rights.
I was a nervous young lesbian clergywoman when I arrived at the Century Cable studio for the show, but Bill immediately put me at ease with his warm welcome and fair-minded approach to controversial topics.
I felt a bit awed by Bill and some of the other panelists, including seasoned publicists for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese and the Islamic Center. I tried to rise to the occasion as he asked us to comment on topics of international importance such as NAFTA and the break-up of Yugoslavia. I must have done OK because Bill asked me back at least two more times in 1993.
Later Bill came out publicly as a gay man and in 2005 he was elected to the L.A. City Council.
I learned more about why Bill took the risk of including LGBT religious views on “The God Squad” from his obituary in the Los Angeles Times. It said he was the son of German Catholic immigrants who fled Europe during Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, adding:
For years, Rosendahl had been quietly visiting gay bars and introducing himself with a fake name. He said he was conflicted about his sexuality because of attitudes toward gays and lesbians in the Catholic Church.
Most other tributes to Bill Rosendahl rightly focus on his later accomplishments as City Councilman, but I will always remember him as the man who used his postion to ensure that queer voices were heard on “The God Squad.”
Image credit: All images are from “The God Squad,” April 29, 1993
Hands Around the God-Box
Kittredge Cherry speaks at Hands Around the God-Box, a prayer demonstration to end homophobia in the church. A rainbow ribbon stretches across the stage. MCC founder Troy Perry is clearly visible in a dark suit at the front of the crowd. Standing next to him is Otis Charles, Episcopal bishop who came out as gay in 1993.
I organized Hands Around the God-Box, a prayer demonstration to end homophobia in the church at the National Council of Churches headquarters in New York City in 1994 on the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.
More than 500 people from 15 lesbian and gay religious groups joined hands and were linked by a rainbow ribbon that completely encircled the Interchurch Center at 475 Riverside Drive. The box-shaped building housed the headquarters of the National Council of Churches (NCC) and many other religious agencies. We are highlighting this historic event here as part of our celebration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month.
I will never forget the solemn power of our combined prayers as LGBT Christians and our allies joined hands at the God Box. The building is huge, covering an entire city block, and our group of 500 barely managed to surround it — with help from a super-long rainbow ribbon. The need for churches to accept LGBT people is just as true now as in 1994. Our prayers for full inclusion continue.
The peaceful demonstration began at noon Fri., June 24, with a short worship service. “We are here to open people’s minds and hearts and let God out of the Box,” I told the crowd in opening remarks as one of the organizers of the event.
Another speaker was Rev. Nancy Wilson, chief ecumenical officer (and later moderator) of Metropolitan Community Churches. “Today 475 Riverside Drive is our Stonewall Inn. We need to turn the tables on the religious ‘police’ of our day, and fight back,” she said.
Demonstrators then joined hands around the building in silent prayer for full inclusion of lesbians and gays in religious life. NCC General Secretary Joan Campbell and many NCC staff members joined the demonstration, even through the NCC refused to grant membership or even observer status to MCC, which ministers primarily in the LGBT community.
The event concluded with tying a rainbow ribbon around the God Box to symbolize continuing prayers for the church to honor the diversity God created.
Hands Around the God Box was coordinated by myself (Kittredge Cherry) as MCC national ecumenical officer and Kim Byham of Integrity. It was held as part of Stonewall 25, celebrating on the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion that launched the LGBT liberation movement.
The Washington Post covered Hands Around the God Box on June 25, 1994 with an article by Christopher Herlinger of the Religion News Service titled “Gays Returning to Religion, but Few Arms Open: Little Acceptance of Homosexuals 25 Years After Stonewall Uprising.” The article stated:
“A protest yesterday by a coalition of gay and lesbian Christians at the Interchurch Center here spotlighted what Wilson and other protesters called the ‘exclusion of lesbian and gay people from full participation in the life of the nation’s churches.’
The protest, a ‘human chain’ around the Interchurch Center, was called ‘Hands Around the God Box,’ — a reference to the building’s popular nickname. The building, in upper Manhattan, is home to a number of denominational offices and the national headquarters of the National Council of Churches, the nation’s largest ecumenical organization.
The 32 member churches of the council are divided over the issue of homosexuality.”
The Christian Century magazine covered the event with an article titled “Gays and lesbians protest at church center” in the July 13-20, 1994 issue. They quoted NCC head Joan Campbell on why she attended the protest: “Our churches are very united on civil rights for gays and lesbians, and there are places we can be supportive. We don’t go as far as the MCC wants us to go, but there is a fair distance that we can go, and that needs to be made visible.”
Some said that Hands Around the God Box was the spiritual heart of the whole Stonewall 25 celebration in New York. Reaction to the God Box event was summed up later by Mary Hunt, cofounder of the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and ritual, in her sermon the next day: “How about those Hands Around the God Box people? What a feat of religious athleticism: holding hands, singing, praying, protesting and talking to the press all at once ought to merit some sort of miraculous metal or actual grace!”
My first Pride March (1986)
Kittredge Cherry, second from right, at the Lesbian and Gay Freedom Day Parade in San Francisco, on June 29, 1986. Her partner Audrey is third from right. Photo by Anne Blasing.
One of the happiest days of my life was my first lesbian and gay freedom march in June 1986. (Back then, 26 years ago, we didn’t yet use the terms “LGBT” or “Pride.”)
My partner Audrey and I had recently moved to San Francisco after a rough coming-out process with our families and friends. We found a new lesbian- and gay-affirming community by joining Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco. But we were still afraid when our new friends invited us to march in the Freedom Day parade with them. We were held back by the years spent hiding our love in closets of shame. We told our friends that we would watch the parade from the sidelines.
When the big day came, I was stunned to see queer people of all kinds proudly marching by the hundred while thousands more clapped and cheered. The people in the parade showed me a seemingly endless variety of ways to be gay, from “dykes on bikes” to outrageous drag queens. News reports estimated the crowd at 100,000. It seemed like LGBT people had taken over the whole city, marching down Market Street while rainbow flags hung from the street lights all the way to City Hall.
Then we saw our friends approach with the Metropolitan Community Church banner. Audrey and I couldn’t watch from the curb any longer. We decided together instantly: “Let’s go!”
We ran into the street and grabbed the banner. My heart soared. A friend snapped a photo to record our joy. It truly was Freedom Day, the day that this lesbian broke free of shame and learned to let her love shine.
The smile on my face says it all: I’m free to be me!
Recent photos
On Easter Sunday 2014 I had the joy of running into old friends at church, including Troy Perry, founder of Metropolitan Community Churches.
The photo shows, left to right: music director Jane Syftestad, AIDS ministry pioneer Steve Pieters, myself (Kittredge Cherry), Troy Perry, and my life partner Audrey Lockwood.
We’ve known each other for decades, but I can’t remember the last time we were all together. This happy moment came after Easter morning worship at Founders MCC in Los Angeles.
Audrey Lockwood, Larry Rodriguez, Kittredge Cherry and Steve Pieters at Founders MCC in Los Angeles, Easter 2015.
Steve Pieters, Troy Perry, Neil Thomas and Kittredge Cherry at Founders MCC in Los Angeles, Easter 2015.
Audrey Lockwood, Kittredge Cherry and Steve Pieters at Founders MCC on Easter 2018.
Kittredge Cherry, Lucia Chappelle and Audrey Lockwood, at Founders MCC in Los Angeles, Easter 2015.
Troy Perry talks with Kittredge Cherry and Audrey Lockwood at Founders MCC in Los Angeles, Easter 2019. We were making plans to donate MCC history to the Smithsonian! Photo by Mark Hahn.
MCC authors meet: Kitt met Robert Shore-Goss, left, and his husband Joseph Shore-Goss at the American Academy of Religion annual meeting in San Diego in 2014. Robert pastored MCC in the Valley and wrote influential theology books, including “Jesus Acted Up: A Gay and Lesbian Manifesto.”
Troy Perry at the Smithsonian and beyond
Troy Perry presented historical artifacts to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in 2019 in celebration of MCC’s 51st anniversary. He donated the collection to Smithsonian staff in a ceremony at MCC Washington DC, recorded on video and news reports.
I am honored to be one of the contributors to the MCC collection at the Smithsonian. My spouse Audrey Lockwood and I donated an original copy of the 25th anniversary (1993) General Conference program book, which includes my major historical article “UFMCC’s First Quarter Century.”
Troy Perry holds a notebook of his sermon notes at the ceremony where he donated MCC artifacts to the Smithsonian on Oct. 6, 2019 in a screenshot from the video of the event
Troy Perry by Jeremy Whitner
Troy Perry appears against a backdrop with the rainbow colors of the LGBTQ community in a 2021 portrait by North Carolina artist Jeremy Whitner. He is a gay Christian mystic in process for ministry with the Disciples of Christ. Whitner frequently contributes icons and portraits to Q Spirit.
Links related to Metropolitan Community Churches history
UFMCC’s First Quarter Century by Kittredge Cherry.
Kittredge Cherry’s MCC photo album on Facebook
Online exhibit: MCC San Francisco: The Pink and Purple Church in the Castro (American Religious Sounds Project)
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Top image:
Rev. Troy Perry, MCC founder, hugs Kittredge Cherry, right, at the National March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Rights in April 1993. She handled MCC’s ecumenical and public relations there.
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This post is part of the LGBTQ Calendar series by Kittredge Cherry. The series celebrates religious and spiritual holidays, events in LGBT and queer history, holy days, feast days, festivals, anniversaries, liturgical seasons and other occasions of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people of faith and our allies.
This article was originally published on Q Spirit in October 2019, was expanded with new material over time, and was most recently updated on Oct. 8, 2023.
Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
Qspirit.net presents the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBTQ spirituality.
Thanks so much for this Kit! So many amazing memories of MCC-SF in the 1980s and 1990s. I am still with the partner I met there in 1996 – 28 years, two children and three grand-children later!
David, it’s great to hear from you! It sounds like the years have brought you many blessings of love and family. Can you really be old enough to be a grandfather?! Audrey and I are still together all these many years later too.
Kitt, your journey serves as a great inspiration to numerous individuals and the efforts you invest in qspirit are truly commendable. May the blessings of God perpetually enrich your ministry. Thank you for your relentless contributions!!!
Dear Kit, Thank you for your inspiring illustrated herstory! Wishing you a belated “Happy Birthday!”
Thank you so much Kittredge for sharing these Amazing photos of MCC History! I started attending MCC Las Vegas back in 1987 around the same time you were starting out in San Francisco. I have many wonderful memories during that time. I wish there were more photos of MCC Las Vegas back then. I attended when they were on Main Street in a store front warehouse that had been converted. The Pastor then was Reverend Ralph Conrad. Did you ever attend in Las Vegas? If you have any old photos from back then I would love to see them! Thanks again for sharing!
Thank you, JB, for your beautiful comment and donation today supporting my work for LGBTQ spirituality at Q Spirit. I never attended MCC Las Vegas, so I don’t have any old photos from there. But you are bringing their memories alive here with your words.
Amazing! Thank you Kit. I was transported in the Spirit in the vibrance of faith, hope and love in our witness as MCC. Thank you so much for your years of writing, photographing, organizing, representing and praying. By the way, there was 1 collectible copy of Equal Rites, 1st edition signed that I just bought. I’m fascinated reading the thoughts, hopes and prayers of queers in Equal rites and Road to Emmaus by Joe Houle. I’ll post as I find interesting moment.
Wow! I hope that you enjoy “Equal Rites.” I wonder about the history behind the collectible signed edition that you bought. Know that it comes to you with my blessing.
I’ve been involved with MCC since the 70’s, and have had the opportunity to meet Rev Perry several times. I now follow 2 MCC’s virtually. I’m glad to see the anniversary and continued growth of MCC. Thanks for sharing Rev Kit!
Thank you for the pictures. I was active with MCC San Francisco from May 1978 to May 1979. I met my one and only love, Arthur Rosenau at MCc San Francisco. Bellingham Television did an interview with myself about my time in San Francisco and Arthur Rosenau. If you look up Arthur Rosenau on Youtube.
I loved seeing all your pictures and reading through your descriptions of so many events, activities, and demonstrations I remember either hearing about or being a part of myself. What a wonderful illustrated history. It makes me wish I’d taken more photos of my activities as Field Director of UFMCC AIDS Ministry! Anyway, thank you, Kittredge, for this wonderful collection of MCC history!
What a wonderful photo gallery/history. Thank you, Rev. Kit.
I miss having a mcc in Albany ny . Went to one for a while then it closed I miss my church and never have fit in any other church happy anniversary. Please come to Albany again