MCC Manchester News

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.

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

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/

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

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.

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?