Metropolitan Community Church

Metropolitan Community Church
The Metropolitan Community Church logo in front of the altar at a regional conference of the denomination at All God's Children MCC in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Mainline
Polity	Congregationalist
Region	Worldwide (divided into regions with congregations in 37 countries)
Founder	Troy D. Perry
Origin	1968 Los Angeles, CA USA
Congregations	222
Official website	http://www.mccchurch.org/

The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), is an international Protestant Christian denomination. There are 222 member in 37 countries, and the Fellowship has a specific outreach to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender families and communities.

The Fellowship has Official Observer status with the World Council of Churches. The MCC has been denied membership in the US National Council of Churches, but many local MCC congregations are members of local ecumenical partnerships around the world and MCC currently belongs to several statewide councils of churches in the United States.

MCC bases its theology on the historic creeds of the Christian Church such as Apostles' and Nicene creed. Every church is required to celebrate the Eucharist at least once a week, and to practice open communion, meaning that recipients need not be a member of the MCC or any other church to receive the Eucharist. Beyond that MCC allows its member churches independence in doctrine, worship, and practice. Worship styles vary widely from church to church.

MCC sees its mission being social as well as spiritual by standing up for the rights of minorities, particularly those of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. MCC has been a leading force in the development of queer theology.