Ecumenical Group Accepts Gay-Oriented Denomination

                                                                                                                                                                             Vol. X, No. 4, April 1997

            The Southern California Ecumenical Council has voted to accept the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC), a predominantly homosexual denomination. MCC and council officials hailed the move, which carries national implications and underscores divisions among Protestants.

            The MCC was founded in Southern California in 1968 and now claims 330 congregations and 35,000 members in 17 countries. In 1992 the North Carolina Council of Churches accepted the MCC group. The California Council of Churches followed suit 1 January 1997. On 13 February the Southern California Ecumenical Council, which includes 18 church bodies, voted unanimously to move MCC churches from observer to member status.

            “On one front after another, you can see the same process at work toward total acceptance of homosexuals and homosexuality,” said James Neuchterlein, associate director of the New York-based Institute on Religion and Public Life and editor of First Things magazine. Alan Wisdom, vice president of the Washington-based Institute on Religion and Democracy, said: “A decision like this raises the question as to what really is the center of unity around which the ecumenical movement gathers. It seems they would be willing to go wherever political correctness leads.” [The Washington Times, 3 March 1997, A]