History of MCC of the Spirit

History of MCC of the Spirit

MCC of the Spirit is a part of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community

Churches (UFMCC), an international Christian denomination with a primary ministry to
the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgendered communities. UFMCC was founded October
1968 by Rev. Troy Perry in Los Angeles, CA. Our denomination currently has about 250
churches in 25 different countries.

MCC of Harrisburg, as it was known then, began in November 1980 as a parish extension
of Metropolitan Community Church of Philadelphia by Rev. Bruce Hughes and Gary
Norton. From the very beginning, the church was very involved in the gay, lesbian, bi-
sexual and transgendered community. The church and Dignity helped to begin the local
Gay and Lesbian Switchboard. A volleyball tournament hosted each year by the church
provided major funding for the Switchboard. Rev. Pat Lichty came in 1983 and taught
the church about the importance of inclusive language. She taught that it not only meant
the inclusion of other terms for God other than the typical male language so many of us
grew up with, but we needed to be sensitized culturally, racially, aware of people with
disabilities, and so much more. There were some very lean years, when the church
almost closed from 1984 to 1986. If it had not been for a strong leadership team of David
Leach, Tom Prokob and Shari Gackstatter, the church would not be what it is today. It
was during this difficult time that MCC Harrisburg decided it needed a more appropriate
name, let the Spirit move, and became MCC of the Spirit.

As the District considered closing the church, Rev. Karon VanGelder realized a call to
ministry and a vision for MCC of the Spirit. She became the pastor in 1986 and stayed
until 1991. The church grew to about 40 active members in this time and really began to
reach out to needs in the community. She began a ministry called “Eagles Perch” which
was an outreach to gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgendered youth.

In the fall of 1991, when a conflict arose in the church, the District appointed Rev. Eva
O’Diam to begin on November 1, 1991 as interim pastor for 6 months. During that time,
much attention was given to healing the conflict and learning how to better communicate
with one another. At the end of the 6 months, Rev. O’Diam was voted in as the pastor of
the church and has continued as pastor to this day.

For 16 years, MCC of the Spirit met in the Quaker Meeting House at the corner of 6th and
Herr Streets. The church’s office was originally on Front Street, and then in 2 different
locations on Green Street. In 1996, MCC of the Spirit became the first primarily GLBT
non-profit organization in Harrisburg to purchase their own building at 2973 Jefferson
Street.

MCC of the Spirit has had many successful ministries in its life. We are a teaching
church, training future clergy for UFMCC. (We have trained pastors serving in Florida,
Virginia, and West Virginia and several chaplains.) We have hosted the AIDS quilt. We
offer Renaissance space. When Matthew Shepherd was killed, we hosted a community
rally downtown at the Capitol. We began the Silent Witness program at the PRIDE
Festival. We trained others to carry out this ministry when Fred Phelps first came to