All God's Children MCC

Various locations in St. Paul and Minneapolis, now 3100 Park Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN. (1974-2010)

Advertisement in Twin Cities Gaze, 6/11/1992. Courtesy of the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection.

It took only six years for the Metropolitan Community Church—begun in 1968 by Rev. Troy Perry in Huntington Park, CA—to reach the Twin Cities. It was the first LGBT-inclusive Minnesotan church of its kind. Two religious institutions predated the MCC; the overly-pious "Church of Symmetrical Pointlessness" began and ended in 1971,(1) and the separatist "Church of the Chosen People" only lasted alongside the unrestricted sexuality of the 1970s.(2) The Twin Cities MCC began after a religious meeting at Gay House, and later worked in conjunction with Dignity—a Catholic LGBT support group. The two organizations operated in a south Minneapolis duplex at a time when gay residential neighborhoods coalesced outside of a prevailing bar culture. The MCC quickly outgrew the house, and it moved to share space with the Friends Meeting House at 44th Street and York Avenue in 1975. The Quakers proved to be true to their name as good friends; they supported the MCC even as anti-gay vandals sprayed homophobic slurs on the Meeting House walls.(3)

By 1978, the church grew large enough to separate into two branches. A St. Paul “mission” operated first in the basement of Foxy’s Bar(4) and later on Cathedral Hill from 1978 until 1982, when the two became one again under the present name: All God’s Children Metropolitan Community Church (AGCMCC). The church moved to Park Avenue and grew steadily—eventually, some parishioners became dissatisfied and created Spirit of the Lakes United Church in Christ in 1991.(5)

The congregation continued to grow, and eventually offset the loss. The AGCMCC continues to accommodate the needs of queer Christians and allies who seek an alternative to the homophobic rhetoric of mainstream denominations. Since the beginning, it has been a focus point for local media; this attention presently centers on Christianity and marriage rights.	"Slay the Priest" Graffitti on the MCC Walls, 2007. Antigay vandals attacked the MCC 30 years before, when the church shared space at the Friends Meeting House.

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(1)"Church of Symmetrical Pointlessness Papers" Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection

(2)Tretter, Jean-Nickolaus. Interview with the auther, 2/18/10

(3)Matthesen, Elise. “The Bond of Love: All God’s Children Metropolitan Community Church.” Gaze Magazine, issue 222: 10/5/1994. Page 32.

(4)From the AGCMCC website: http://www.agcmcc.org/about_history.htm. Retrieved 2/18/2010.

(5)Ibid.

Part of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: 100 Queer Places in Minnesota History, (1860-1969), (1969-2010)