Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco

History of MCC San Francisco
From a Nomadic Tribe to the Home for Queer Spirituality

1970s: A Nomadic Tribe

In 1970, a group of queers dared to create their own church. Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco (MCCSF) was formed in 1970, just two years after the first MCC service was held in Rev. Troy Perry’s living room in Los Angeles. Rev. Howard Wells, who had heard of Rev. Troy Perry’s church, gathered with his friends and decided to start an MCC in San Francisco. Their first meeting in early 1970 was held in Jackson’s Bar & Grill on Fillmore Street in North Beach, in an age before San Francisco’s queer community had yet to settle in and around the Castro. MCCSF grew steadily, even without a permanent home, and the church met in about a dozen locations. Rev. Howard Wells left MCCSF in 1972, and over the next 13 years, the congregation had eight pastors. For a time, the congregation met in a building on Guerrero Street, a building that mysteriously burned down; many suspected that it was because a “gay church” was unwelcome in the neighborhood. The pastor at the time, Rev. Jim Sandmire, led a procession to a new place of worship, Mission Presbyterian Church at 23rd and Capp, where MCCSF's first building fund was started.

In an early example of MCCSF’s burgeoning tradition of involvement with social justice causes, members of MCCSF fought the Briggs Initiative of 1977, which would have prohibited lesbians and gays from teaching in state schools.

1980s: We are the Body of Christ, and we have AIDS

The seeds of a new queer theology bear fruit. The congregation at MCCSF felt the time had come to look for and purchase its own building. In 1980, a site was found at 150 Eureka Street in the Castro, which triggered a split in the congregation.

At the time, Polk Street was the center of the gay community, and many members wished to remain there. One group formed Golden Gate MCC and remained on Polk Street, while the main body of the MCCSF congregation moved to the Castro. Golden Gate MCC later moved south to Noe Valley and in 2000 was amalgamated back into MCCSF.

The building at 150 Eureka Street was built in 1900, and at the time of its purchase, it was an independent Pentecostal church. MCCSF had only 100 members and acquired the building for $250,000. When the congregation moved to its new home, it found a sanctuary with electric-blue walls and orange shag carpeting, the restrooms were little more than outhouses, and a neon “Jesus Saves” sign hung on the outside wall. The building was slowly restored to functionality, but substantial structural concerns remained.

As an epicenter in the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the city of San Francisco has experienced the profound and tragic effects of the epidemic from the early 1980s. In 1983, Jackie (last name unknown) was the first MCCSF member known to have died of AIDS, and the deaths of hundreds more MCCSF members would follow in the years to come. It is impossible to overstate the impact of HIV/AIDS on the life of MCCSF during those years when there were no effective treatments for HIV. During the peak of the crisis, it was not uncommon for there to be three or four funerals on each day of the weekend, and growth in church membership could barely keep pace with the rate of deaths. And yet, even in the midst of this virtually unbearable period, the church persevered, with fellow members supporting one another during the most painful times, and the church served on the vanguard of advocacy efforts for people living with HIV/AIDS.

One such example is MCCSF’s early lobbying for the use of legalized medical marijuana, a position that catapulted MCCSF to national fame.

In 1986, Rev. Jim Mitulski, pastor of MCC New York City, came to MCCSF. Under Jim’s leadership, the church entered a period of sustained growth and shifted from being a place to meet on Sundays into an integrated part of the San Francisco queer community.

1990s: Women Speaking Our Truth to Patriarchial Theology

After devastating loss, a new period of spiritual expansion. Even under the continuing specter of AIDS, the church grew and transformed throughout the 1990s. Rev. Penny Nixon became a favored guest preacher at MCCSF, and in 1996, she was hired as the Associate Pastor. In 1998 she was promoted to Pastor alongside Rev. Jim Mitulski. During her tenure, both women’s programming and the overall involvement of women in the congregation grew.

In the mid- to late-1990s, the lives of people with HIV/AIDS and the overall epidemic were miraculously transformed by the advent of powerful new anti-HIV medications. Given this blessing, the church began to look at other social issues facing the broader community. In 1997, The Metropolitan Community Foundation was formed as an umbrella organization for the church’s social justice and outreach ministries.

2000s: In the Wilderness

A place where all bodies, genders, and sexualities are valued, respected, and loved. In 2001, after serving the congregation for 15 years, Rev. Jim Mitulski stepped down as pastor, and Rev. Penny Nixon became the Senior Minister of the church. Other church staff at the time included Rev. Terri Echelbarger, now Pastor of Peninsula MCC in San Mateo, California; Rev. Joe McMurray, now Pastor of MCC Key West in Key West, Florida; and Rev. Tessie Mandeville, now Senior Pastor of Christ Covenant MCC in Decatur, Georgia. Rev. Lea Brown also served at MCCSF and as executive director of the Metropolitan Community Foundation. In 2003, MCCSF hired Ji-Sing Norman Eng as a Minister of Buddhist Spirituality. MCCSF became the first MCC to have regular non-Christian programming as a core, weekly event. Q-Sangha was launched on the Lunar New Year in 2003 with over 250 people in attendance (a capacity crowd in the small MCCSF sanctuary) and attracted almost 100 people each week at its height.

In summer 2006, after more than a decade of service to the MCCSF community, Rev. Penny Nixon announced that she was leaving. Shortly after her announcement, the MCCSF community faced another crisis when it was discovered that a wall in the room at the southwest corner of 150 Eureka had shifted. Immediately thereafter, the wall was shored and the church was closed at the advice of a structural engineer.

The concurrent departure of our beloved long-term senior pastor, the loss of our physical home, and financial challenges that resulted from both events presented substantial obstacles for the community. Fortunately, we found temporary homes for worship, first at the San Francisco LGBT Center, and later at the Kanbar Center on Page Street. Rev. Chris Glaser, MCCSF’s Interim Senior Pastor, guided the congregation through this challenging transition until December 2007.

In March 2008, MCCSF welcomed back Rev. Lea Brown as its Senior Minister. From November 2005 until December 2007, Rev. Brown had served as the senior pastor of Wichita Falls MCC in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Prior to her position with Wichita Falls MCC, Rev. Brown served as volunteer clergy on staff at MCCSF since her ordination there in 1996. During that time she preached, led retreats, served as the pastor of spiritual development, and taught many classes on spiritual growth and on the intersections of gender, sexuality, spirituality, and social justice. Her duties with the Metropolitan Community Foundation included provision of programs that assisted underserved citizens of San Francisco, as well as fundraising.

In December 2008, after two years in the proverbial wilderness, MCCSF returned home to 150 Eureka Street. Although the structural damage to the rear wall remains, structural engineers have determined that the wall has not shifted since it was initially reinforced. Inspections over two years have shown that the wall in question has not shifted further. With expert assurance of safety, from structural engineers and City inspectors, we are now making limited use of the building: services are being held in the sanctuary, and the rest of the first floor will once again house office space.

MCCSF has been worshipping at 150 Eureka Street in the Castro since our return home on Dec. 22, 2008, and is growing and thriving once again. New programs, goals, and strategic priorities are being put in place that will empower MCCSF to successfully complete a capital campaign. We have great hopes for our future as we live deeply into our calling to be a house of prayer for all people, and a home for queer spirituality.