A New Gospel for Gay Sinners

Episode 2

Jackson’s, site of MCC San Francisco’s first gatherings. Photograph by Henry Leleu. Courtesy of GLBT HIstorical Society.

In the 1960s and 70s, the separation between God and gays was not as vast as it appeared. Rev. Troy Perry started the first Metropolitan Community Church in his Los Angeles living room. Howard Wells, tired of flying to LA every week, started the second one in a San Francisco gay bar. And the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco was there for Coni Staff as she navigated spirituality, coming out, and her increasingly conservative family. When her friend Fred got sick, Coni tried to be there for him. Church helped.

Rev. Troy Perry. Date and source unknown.

Rev. Troy Perry (left) and Pastor Howard Wells (right). Date and source unknown. Courtesy of Lynn Jordan Collection

Flier for MCC San Francisco’s 1970 Spiritual Revival with Rev. Troy Perry. Courtesy of Lynn Jordan

Cover of first issue of MCC San Francisco’s short-lived magazine, Cross Currents (Fall 1972). The cover image was controversial, even in the church. Courtesy of Lynn Jordan.

State Senator George Moscone (left), Rev, Jim Sandmire (center), and State Senator Milton Marks (right). Date unknown. Courtesy of MCCSan Francisco Collection, San Francisco Public Library.

MCC San Francisco’s float in the city’s 1974 Gay Freedom Day parade. Courtesy of Lynn Jordan.

Rev. Howard Wells. Date unknown. Courtesy of the MCC San Francisco Collection, San Francisco Public Library.

picture of the plaque honoring Howard Wells as founder of MCC San Francisco. Courtesy of Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco collection, San Francisco Public Library.

Rev. Jane Spahr (left), Rev. Michael England (center), and Rev. Rick Weatherly (right) in MCC San Francisco sanctuary. The cross behind them is the one Coni Staff talks about in this episode. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Community Church Archive, San Francisco Public Library.

Rev. Jane Spahr (left) and Coni Staff (right) in MCC San Francisco sanctuary. 1981. Courtesy of Jane Adams Spahr Collection, Graduate Theological Union.

Coni Staff – date unknown. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Community Church Archive, San Francisco Public Library.

Rev. Jim Mitulski (left), Virginia Wells (center), and Rev. Penny Nixon standing outside 150 Eureka Street in front of the plaque honoring Virginia's son, Howard, as the founder of MCC San Francisco. Courtesy of Rev. Jim Mitulski.

Stewart Memorial Presbyterian Church, former meeting place of MCC San Francisco, after being destroyed in an arson attack. Courtesy of MCC San Francisco Collection, San Francisco Public Library.

Notes:

On Christianity and homosexualtiy in the 20th century United States – and the founding of the Metropolitan Community Church

Rev. Troy Perry, The Lord is my Shepherd and He Knows I’m Gay
Rev. Nancy Wilson, I Love to Tell the Story
Dr. Heather White, Reforming Sodom: Protestants and the Rise of Gay Rights

On San Francisco’s Queer History and the Rise of the Castro

Nan Alamilla Boyd, Wide Open Town: A History of Queer San Francisco to 1965.
Amin Ghaziani, There Goes the Gayborhood?
Christina B. Hanhardt, Safe Space: Gay Neighborhood History and the Politics of Violence
Randy Shilts, The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk.

On the early days of AIDS in the United States

The first published reports of what would come to be known as AIDS were “Pneumocystis Pneumonia – Los Angeles.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (Centers for Disease Control), June 5, 1981 and Lawrence K. Altman. “Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals,” New York Times, July 3, 1981.
A classic, but problematic account is Randy Shilts’ And the Band Played On.
A critique of the notion of a “Patient Zero” in the emergence of AIDS is Richard McKay’s Patient Zero and the Making of the AIDS Epidemic.
Larry Kramer’s 1983 article “1112 and Counting” galvanized gay men into action about AIDS.

Hear the full audio from Rev. Troy Perry’s last sermon as the minister at the Mother Church in Los Angeles in 1972 here. He left the congregation in order to lead the rapidly growing denomination.

MUSIC:

“This is the Day” is by Leon C. Roberts. The text is from Psalm 118.
“When We All Get to Heaven,” was written in 1898 by Elizabeth Hewitt.
“Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” was written in 1887 by E. A Hoffman and A. Showalter.
“Blow Ye the Trumpet” was composed by Kirke Mechem for the opera John Brown.
“If Anybody Asks You Who I Am” is a traditional African American Spiritual.

THANKS:

Special thanks to

Scott Bloom and Trogoidia Pictures for the use of clips from the film Call Me Troy.
The Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies at the Pacific School of Religion and the Graduate Theological Union for the use of an archival recording of Troy Perry’s last sermon as the minister at MCC Los Angeles.
Roy Birchard for hours of conversation about the founding of MCC, MCC San Francisco, and MCC New York.
Kirke Machem for use of his beautiful composition, “Blow Ye, the Trumpet,” from the opera, John Brown.

Resources:

The Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco – the congregation’s current website.
Metropolitan Community Churches – the denomination of which MCC San Francisco is a part.
San Francisco AIDS Foundation – a place to seek information about HIV.
POZ Magazine – a place to learn everything else about HIV (information included).
Save AIDS Research – their recent, epic 24 hours to Save Research conference with all the latest HIV research is available on YouTube through this site.
LGBTQ Religious Archives Network – the place to get lost in LGBTQ+ religious history.