Christians walking in Blackpool Pride parade – Saturday 9th June 2012

The following information has been provided by Nina from Liberty Church, Blackpool:

Christians@ Pride walking in Blackpool Pride on Saturday June 9th

Meet at the Methodist Church, (corner of Cocker St and Dickson Road,  Blackpool  FY1 2AP) 10 am to 10.30 am – bacon butties*, chat and prayer. (*Inform us by midday 8th June to book your bacon butty – veggie or gluten-free butties to order.)

Set off together at 10.30 am (transport available) to get to Parade Starting Point (St Chad’s Headland). Parade will walk up the promenade and end at North Pier.

Free parking a few mins walk from the church. Blackpool North Railway Station 5 mins walk from church. Talbot Road Bus station 5 mins walk from church.

Unable to walk the full length of the parade? Join with us at the Lifeboat House opposite the Tower.

All  in the Parade please wear purple ‘Christians @ Pride’ t-shirts (from Pride Colours 01253 296272, £9 +£1.50pp) and add lots of rainbow accessories.

For more info contact Nina by email nina@libertychurchblackpool.org.uk or phone 07955 597 771.

MCC Manchester at Manchester Pride 2011

Come and say hello to us on stall 32 in the Lifestyle Expo at Manchester Pride 2011.  Free pens and our highly desirable fridge magnets might be on offer.

Rev Dwayne Morgan

Also, we would love to welcome you to worship with us at our regular Sunday service at 4.30pm in our church home in Chorlton.

We are honoured to have the Pastor of our church in Bournemouth, the Reverend Dwayne Morgan, as our guest preacher on Sunday.

Visit our main web site at www.mccmanchester.co.uk for full details of where we are and how to get there.

Happy Pride!

Branching-Out Community Church – laying down firm roots among the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities in Dublin, Ireland

Branching-Out Community Church is a parish extension of Metropolitan Community Church, Manchester and has now established a significant presence among the faith communities in Dublin, Ireland.

Full details of their meetings at the Lantern Centre on Synge Street, Dublin 8, can be found on their website at http://www.branchingoutcc.ie and plenty of social networking information about the church is available on their Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Branching-Out-Community-Church/172159396145468

Stan Dolan, the church’s current leader can be contacted via b.out.cc@gmail.com for all enquiries about meetings, location and events.

MCC Manchester wishes Branching-Out Community Church every success as they continue to minister God’s all-inclusive love to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities of Dublin.

“Vibrant yet deeply liturgical”

One of last week’s visitors maintains a blog called Church Shopper on which he reviews various churches he visits.  He gave us a very good write up which you can see at  http://churchshopper.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/metropolitan-community-church-chorlton/

The main site is at http://churchshopper.wordpress.com and the writer describes his purpose as follows:

The Church Shopper is a Manchester student looking for God, or more specifically, looking for Church.

I have been “church-shopping” for a few months now, and I have realized that there are a large number of people who share my situation. Perhaps you have just moved to Manchester and have not found a church that appeals to you yet. Perhaps you have become disillusioned with your old church and fancy a change. Perhaps you have no history of church-going, and are interested in what the fuss is about.

It was a pleasure to welcome Church Shopper to our church and we wish him well for his future explorations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MCC Moderator’s Corner – Rev Nancy Wilson’s blog

 

Rev Elder Nancy Wilson, Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches

 

Metropolitan Community Church members, friends and supporters can now keep up with the calendar, activities and blogging thoughts of our Moderator, Rev Elder Nancy Wilson.  Go to http://www.moderatorscorner.mccchurch.org/

Metropolitan Community Church, Manchester – Subscribe to our Email News Service

To receive our email newsletters and updates, just complete and submit the online form here.

Every message includes an option to amend your details, or to unsubscribe if you ever wish to cancel this service.

In normal circumstances you will receive our weekly Disciple newsletter, plus short messages giving news items or advance notice of coming events.

We hope you will find it a good way to keep in touch with our ministries.

Celebrate Manchester Pride with the Metropolitan Community Church

 

 

We have two special services to celebrate the annual Manchester Pride festival.  As a church founded in the lgbt community we celebrate Pride with gusto! 

At 4pm on Sunday 17th we will look at how the Old Testament Queen Esther rescued her nation despite having to hide her Jewishness.  We have often hidden the truth of who we are and we will remember in prayer those around the world who are persecuted because of who they are or how they love and still have to hide.  We will also be praying for the Manchester Pride festival and its success.  This is an excellent way to start off the Pride festivities.

At 4pm on Sunday 24th we welcome our minister from Bournemouth MCC, the Rev Dwayne Morgan, who will be preaching for us as well as helping on our stall in the Lifestyle Expo all weekend.  We will be celebrating the diveristy of God’s creation and our part within it. 
 
We hope to see you in church as we thank God for all of God’s people.  See our website at http://www.mccmanchester.co.uk for details of the church and how to find us.

Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) in Glasgow

The church planting team at MCC in Glasgow, with their inclusive Christian ministry to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, invite everyone to join them for their first Sunday gathering – a time of worship, reflection and dreaming – on January 6th 2008, at 11am, at The LGBT Centre, 84 Bell Street, Glasgow.  (Updated – see below.)

Full contact details are on the MCC in Glasgow website at http://www.mccinglasgow.co.uk

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Update: From the 1st March 2009 MCC in Glasgow meet weekly on Sundays at 3pm at the Ibrox Parish Church Hall, Clifford Street, Glasgow.  G51 1QL.  This is less than 5 minutes walk from both Ibrox and Cessnock Subway stations and served by all the buses that run on Paisley Road West.

Manchester Pride 2007

Dear Friends,

The Big Weekend of Manchester’s Pride festival is almost upon us. I hope you have your tickets; the weather has been forecast to be excellent!

On Friday I will be officiating at a blessing of the largest group Civil Partnership to be held in the UK. 8 couples will be wed and after the Registrars have left I will then conduct a short Christian service of blessing. There promises to be lots of media interest and this is a way of not only showing that God’s love doesn’t discriminate but also that our Church works from and with the LGBT community.

Between Saturday and Monday we will be staffing a stall in the “Lifestyle Expo” along with many other community groups. The Expo is on Chorlton Street – and is undercover just in case the weather forecast is wrong! Please do come along and say hello.

On Sunday we are honoured to welcome the Rev Dwayne Morgan of MCC Bournemouth back amongst us again. Dwayne is an excellent inspiring preacher and he will be working with us over the Big Weekend as well as preaching for us on Sunday afternoon; please do be sure to come along and listen to him.

Our Pride service is always special and I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday. Please join me in praying for the success of this weekend, for the couples registering their civil partnerships and seeking God’s blessing on their lives together and for all those who encounter us on the stall that the conversations they have with us may change their lives and introduce them to the Lord Jesus.

With much love
Andy

The Rev Andy Braunston
Pastor, MCC Manchester,
http://www.mccmanchester.co.uk/

Leafleting in the Gay Village, Manchester – 8th July

Dan is off to the Village again on Sunday 8th July to put up posters. If you want to join him to lend a hand, please let him know by emailing him at dan@mccmanchester.co.uk

Group civil partnership and blessing at Manchester Pride 2007

Andy has been busy with the media again. There is much interest in the group civil partnership and blessing that we are holding during the Pride festival. On Monday 4th June Andy was interviewed for the Citizen Manchester programme on GMR, and on Monday 11th June he has to be at the BBC for 7.30am to be interviewed live on the GMR Breakfast show.

The following is the text of the official press release from Manchester Marketing:

WANTED! TEN COUPLES TO TAKE PART IN MANCHESTER PRIDE’S FIRST GROUP CIVIL CEREMONY

Photo Caption: We’re ready – are you? Left to right: Rev Andy Braunston, Pastor of Metropolitan Community Church, Jackie Crozier from Manchester Pride, Peter Aust, Toastmaster and Tom Orange, General Manager Manchester Marriott Victoria & Albert Hotel.

The venue is booked. The photographer is ready. The Reverend has even got the date in his diary…now all we need are the couples! That’s right, Manchester Pride is looking for ten couples to take part in the first group civil ceremony to take place at a Pride event. Friday 24th August, the opening day of Manchester Pride’s ‘Big Weekend’, has already been earmarked as the date for the ceremony, which will take place at the city’s Marriott Victoria & Albert Hotel.

The ceremony itself will take place in the main suite of the hotel, which is fully licensed and will be conducted by Manchester Registrar office. Once this part of the service has finished the couples will have a group blessing conducted by Rev Andy Braunston.

Andrew Stokes, chairman of Manchester Pride, comments: “Yet again, Manchester Pride is leading where others will follow. The group civil ceremony will be a highlight of the festival and a fantastic start to the ‘Big Weekend’, not to mention a very memorable day for the ten couples actually taking part.”

After the ceremony and group blessing, there will be an evening celebration for the couples, their family and friends.

Each of the ten couples will be able to invite 18 guests and will be seated together on two tables of ten for the evening reception.

Couples looking for more information about the group ceremony or to register as one of the ten couples should contact Fiona Stansfield, Special Events Manager at the Marriott Victoria & Albert Hotel on 0161 838 4127.

Promote our church – include the church’s web address in your email signature

Many of us came to MCC because it was recommended by someone else – this method of being introduced to us works best as it means the new person has some definite knowledge of us and contact with us which will help through those first weeks of getting to know us. However, many of us can be quite shy when it comes to talking about our faith. One way we can help to “spread the word” is to use our email and electronic networks.

Many people put a little “signature” text at the end of their emails. Why not add our web address to this? For example: “www.mccmanchester.co.uk – it’s good! I’ll be there, want to come too?” or “Check this out” followed by our address.

This kind of promotion is especially effective if you are on an internet discussion list. If you have a profile on Yahoo, MySpace, or some other chat-room or networking service, why not add our website to your profile?