Qualla: Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C.

Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C.: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit APK, CC BY-SA 4.0. In February 1971, the Reverend Troy Perry was preparing to officiate a wedding ceremony for two members of the Community Church of Washington, D.C. The plan had been to hold the service in the sanctuary of St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church. When Bishop William Creighton learned that two men were being married inside an Episcopal building, he locked the doors. The wedding moved to the steps outside. Perry, standing in front of the closed church, told his congregation: Even though Bishop Creighton has locked us out of this church, God hasn't locked us out of His heart. Twenty-two years later, the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington opened its own permanent sanctuary on Ridge Street, designed by Suzane Reatig - the first new sanctuary in the United States built by an LGBT religious organization. The locked doors of 1971 had pushed the congregation toward something the Episcopal Diocese could not lock them out of: their own building.

Image: APK | CC BY-SA 4.0

Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C.: From the Homophile Social League

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Elvert Barnes, CC BY-SA 2.0. In January 1970, a group of LGBTQ Washingtonians formed the Homophile Social League. Paul Breton, a former Roman Catholic seminarian from Hartford, served as league president; he was also a founding member of the Gay Activist Alliance. That year, the league worked to get local ch...

Image: Elvert Barnes | CC BY-SA 2.0

Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C.: The Rowhouse Years

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit AgnosticPreachersKid, CC BY-SA 4.0. After Bishop Creighton's lockout, the congregation moved to Breton's Capitol Hill rowhouse at 705 7th Street SE. Space was limited but services continued, and Breton's house became the site of additional weddings and commitment ceremonies. By late 1972, the congregation had outgr...

Image: AgnosticPreachersKid | CC BY-SA 4.0

Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C.: Free Funerals

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit AgnosticPreachersKid, CC BY-SA 4.0. When the AIDS epidemic arrived in Washington, MCCDC was one of the first organizations to confront it directly. On December 9, 1982, the church hosted the area's first community AIDS forum, attended by around 200 people. The Reverend Larry Uhrig, then leading the congregation, sp...

Image: AgnosticPreachersKid | CC BY-SA 4.0

Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C.: Reatig's Glass

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit AgnosticPreachersKid, CC BY-SA 4.0. By the late 1980s, the rowhouse on M Street was running three services every Sunday, with attendees standing in the doorway. The congregation began raising money for a permanent building. By mid-1990 they had $235,000 and bought a corner lot at 5th and Ridge Streets NW, a block f...

Image: AgnosticPreachersKid | CC BY-SA 4.0

Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C.: A Mission Largely Accomplished

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ted Eytan, CC BY-SA 2.0. Membership peaked at almost 500 by the early 2000s. The MCC congregations and the Human Rights Campaign organized the Millennium March on Washington in April 2000, drawing hundreds of thousands of people - though the march was criticized by many LGBT activists for what they calle...

Image: Ted Eytan | CC BY-SA 2.0