WORLDVIEW / RELIGION ANALYSIS:

METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCHES

Daniel K. Gann
Introduction to Apologetics 500
March 27, 2011
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION …………………...………………………………………………………….. 1

WORLDVIEW SUMMARY ………………………...………………………………………….. 1

THERE’S A “FLAW” IN THE SOUP ………………….………………………………………. 3

A PROPOSAL FOR SHARING THE GOSPEL WITH MCC ......……………...……………… 4

CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………………………………….. 5

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………………. 6

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 INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the worldview of the Metropolitan Community

Churches, which will be referred to as the MCC throughout the remainder of this paper.

Homosexuality and Christianity is a highly debated and controversial issue. However, that is not

the reason for choosing to do an analysis on this church. While reading Dr. Caner’s lecture, it

was noted that the founder of the MCC, Troy Perry, is a former minister of the Church of God of

Prophecy.1 This denomination is the same church that this student grew up in. Through the

course of this paper, the MCC will be introduced, their worldview will be summarized, their

controversial beliefs will be critiqued, and a proposal for sharing the Gospel with a MCC

adherent will be discussed.

WORLDVIEW SUMMARY

The MCC is a denomination comprised of people, whom as Dr. Caner noted, claim to be

“homosexual Christians”2 Dr. Caner also noted that their founder, Troy Perry, was raised in

church, he attended both the Midwest Bible College and the Moody Bible Institute.3 It was also

mentioned, that the church in which Perry was serving as pastor, when he confessed being

1
Ergun Caner, “Lecture Eleven: Western and New Religions: The Replacement Cults.” Introduction to
Apologetics 500. (Liberty University Online Student Portal. Accessed March 1, 2011). 222.
2
Ibid.
3
Ibid.

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homosexual, was a Church of God of Prophecy.4 The COGOP is a “Protestant, Evangelical,

Wesleyan holiness, Pentecostal movement that believes in man’s freewill regarding salvation.”5

The previous facts are essential to understanding the worldview of the MCC. This is

because the MCC essentially believes that they are a mainline Christian church just as any other

Christian denomination.6 At first glance, one might believe that they are truthfully Christian;

their statement of faith uses all the proper terminology and is noted as follows:

• In one triune God, omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, of one substance and of
three persons: God – our Parent-Creator; Jesus Christ the only begotten son of God,
God in flesh, human; and the Holy Spirit – God as our Sustainer.
• That the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God, showing forth God to every
person through the law and the prophets, and finally, completely and ultimately on
earth in the being of Jesus Christ.
• That Jesus…the Christ…historically recorded as living some 2,000 years before this
writing, is God incarnate, of human birth, fully God and fully human, and that by
being one with God, Jesus has demonstrated once and forever that all people are
likewise Children of God, being spiritually made in God’s image.
• That the Holy Spirit is God making known God’s love and interest to all people. The
Holy Spirit is God, available to and working through all who are willing to place their
welfare in God’s keeping.
• Every person is justified by grace to God through faith in Jesus Christ.7

Their statement of faith seems to place them among orthodox Christians. However, when you

continue to read their literature, you began to see statements such as, “We are liberated from

other people’s definitions of who we are….We believe that our sexuality is a holy gift from God

4
Ibid.
5
Church of God of Prophecy, “COGOP History,” http://cogop.org/about/history.html (accessed March 25,
2011).
6
Metropolitan Community Churches, “MCC’s Statement of Faith,” http://mccchurch.org/overview/beliefs/
(accessed March 27, 2011).
7
Ibid.

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so we no longer distance our bodies from our experience with God.”8 You will also read under a

heading entitled “Inclusion” that, “Love is our greatest moral value and resisting exclusion is a

primary focus of our ministry. We want to continue to be the conduits of a faith where everyone

is included in the family of God, and where all parts of our being are welcomed at God’s table.”9

These statements lead us into the next section of this paper, in which we will discuss what sets

the MCC apart from orthodox Christianity.

THERE’S A “FLAW” IN THE SOUP

As mentioned in the previous section, when you read further into the MCC’s literature,

you begin to see statements specifically about sexuality and inclusion. The statement on

sexuality will get your attention, but it is vague. The statement on inclusion is the first official

statement on their website that really causes concern. The specific cause for concern comes from

the portion of their core values statement which says, “We want to continue to be the conduits of

a faith where everyone is included in the family of God.”10 Statements such as this tend to be

from those who lean towards “Universalism.” Preston Condra defined universalism as, “the

teaching that every person to live on planet Earth will ultimately be eternally saved.”11 No matter

what type of other Christian terminology is used, universalism is inconsistent with God’s word,

and it excludes those who hold it from truly being orthodox Christians.

8
Metropolitan Community Churches, “MCC Statement of Purpose,” http://mccchurch.org/overview/our-
purpose/ (accessed March 26, 2011).
9
Metropolitan Community Churches, “MCC Core Values,” http://mccchurch.org/overview/our-purpose/
(accessed March 26, 2011).
10
Ibid.
11
Preston Condra, “Universalism,” in The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, eds. Ed Hindson and
Ergun Caner. (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House, 2008), 487.

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 Both Universalism and the MCC are listed, by Dr. Caner, as examples of syncretism.

Syncretism is defined by Dr. Caner as:

A blending of competing religious beliefs. In recent years we have seen such movements
as “Buddhist Christianity,” and “Muslim Anglicans.” This melding demands that certain
central truths of historical Christianity be sacrificed, such as the necessity of salvation
through Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross.12

A.S. Moreau states that syncretism, “has generally referred to the replacement or dilution

of the essential truths of the gospel through the incorporation of non-Christian elements.”13

According to Dr. Caner, one of the non-Christian elements that the MCC has incorporated into

their beliefs is that they are, “saved by the God who created them gay.”14 This type of thinking is

inconsistent with the Bible and is truly a dilution of Christian theology. The next section will

discuss the scriptural reasons that Homosexuality is a sin.

A PROPOSAL FOR SHARING THE GOSPEL WITH MCC

Homosexuality is not a new problem. It is taught against both in the Old and New

Testaments. Those of us who have grown up in church should remember Sunday school lessons

about Sodom and Gomorrah, and how these cities were destroyed because of Homosexuality. In

his paper on homosexuality, R.E.O. White starts his thoughts with scriptures from the Old

Testament:

Homosexuality had been condemned in both Leviticus (18:22; 20:13), where it is

abhorrent to God, defiling, punishable by death, and in Deuteronomy (23:18), where it is
forbidden to bring hire of harlot or homosexual (“dog”) into the house of God in payment
of religious vows, both being abhorrent to God.15

12
Caner, 219.
13
A.S. Moreau, “Syncretism,” in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd edition, ed. Walter A. Elwell,
(Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Academic, 2009), 1158
.
14
Caner, 222.
15
R.E.O. White, “Homosexuality,” in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 574.

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White continues his thoughts into the New Testament:

Early Christian reaction is expressed by Paul: homosexuals will not “inherit the kingdom
of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-10); because of idolatry God gave the heathen up to “shameful lusts.
Even their women exchanged natural relations for un-natural ones. In the same way the
men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one
another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the
due penalty for their perversion” (Rom. 1:26-27)16
The theological flaws of the MCC are not found in homosexuality alone. It was noted in

the previous section that they lean towards universalism with their beliefs on inclusion.

However, it is safe to assume that they became inclusive due to their desire to claim status as

Christians while remaining homosexual. Therefore, homosexuality could be considered to be the

root problem in their lack of orthodoxy.

With all of this in mind, it could be proposed that the best way to reach out to a MCC

adherent would be with love and patience. They have been taught that homosexuality is

approved of in the eyes of God. Only a non-judgmental relationship, which is built on trust,

would offer one the opportunity to properly teach them that homosexuality is inconsistent with

the Word of God and a sin.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this analysis has introduced the MCC, summarized their

worldview, critiqued their controversial beliefs, and proposed an idea for sharing the Gospel with

a MCC adherent. The research shows that the MCC is an example of syncretism; it dilutes the

Christian faith by stating that Homosexuality is not a sin, and it is leans toward universalism with

its statement of inclusion. Based on these points alone, it is fair to conclude that the MCC is not

an orthodox Christian church. Therefore, even though their statement of faith, seemingly,

presents them as orthodox Christians, one should be careful of getting involved with them.
16
Ibid. 575

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Additionally, since they are not truly living as Christians, they should be targeted as prospects

for individual witnessing through non-judgmental relationships.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Caner, Ergun. “Lecture Four Notes, The Major Methodologies of Apologetics: Three Major
Models.” Introduction to Apologetics 500. Liberty University Online Student Portal.
(accessed March 25, 2011).

Church of God of Prophecy. “COGOP History.” http://cogop.org/about/history.html

(accessed March 25, 2011).

Condra, Preston. “Universalism.” In Hindson and Caner, 487-488

Elwell, Walter, A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan;
Baker Academic, 2009.

Hindson, Ed and Ergun Caner, eds. The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics. Eugene, Oregon:
Harvest House, 2008.

Metropolitan Community Churches. “MCC Core Values.” http://mccchurch.org/overview/our-

purpose/ (accessed March 26, 2011).

Metropolitan Community Churches. “MCC Statement of Purpose.”

http://mccchurch.org/overview/our-purpose/ (accessed March 26, 2011).

Moreau, A.S. “Syncretism.” In Elwell, 1158-1161.

White, R.E.O. “Homosexuality.” In Elwell, 574-576.