Perhaps unexpectedly, one of Utah’s earliest LGBT organizations was a church. That church was the Metropolitan Community Church. It’s a Protestant Christian fellowship reaching out to gays and lesbians.
The Metropolitan Community Church’s story begins with Rev. Troy Perry in Los Angeles in 1968. Perry believed God didn’t condemn him for being homosexual. In 1972, a fellowship started in Bountiful and later Salt Lake City. Pastor Robert Buckley founded the Salt Lake City fellowship.
Early meetings of the Metropolitan Community Church were held at the First Unitarian Church on 1300 East. Some people had misconceptions. They thought orgies occurred at Metropolitan.
However most gay people were unwelcome in mainstream churches then. So the church grew. Other churches turned away gay members. Some churches welcomed gay people with loving arms. Yet they tried to make them straight and said they would go to hell if they remained gay.
In January 1973, Salt Lake City’s Metropolitan Community Church officially chartered. Perry came to Salt Lake City to officiate. Rev. Richard Groh, a former Evangelical Free Church minister, became its first pastor. Meetings were held at 740 S. 700 East. Now, that building houses the first mosque in Salt Lake City.
By April 1973, the Metropolitan Community Church moved to 870 W. 400 South. This was the former Grace Methodist Church. The Metropolitan Community Church shared the building. The Westside Community Mental Health Center and Union of the Poor were also there. The congregation had about 50 members. Most were under 35. The church became involved in the new gay community. Sub for Santa and public speaking engagements were ways they helped. Later, the Tongan Methodist Church occupied that location. Now, it is a vacant lot.
Lee Christensen, a temporary leader, described the Metropolitan Community Church’s organization. An ordained minister led the congregation. Five laymen assisted. Services were Protestant. They included a sermon, prayers, communion, and hymns. Doctrine was not yet developed. Some people would leave if doctrine wasn’t developed. Others would leave if it was. The worship coordinator liked keeping it open. They could draw from a large religious background.
The infant Metropolitan Community Church faced controversy. This was possibly due to the lack of doctrine. The main disagreement was between gay men and women members. It was about the church’s leadership. Pastor Groh resigned in August 1973. He cited the fractious spirit within the church.
Christensen became worship coordinator. Laverl Kay Harris, a 30-year-old lesbian, became his assistant. A gay man became the new pastor. Harris and most of the women left the Metropolitan Community Church. They founded the Grace Christian Church. Harris became pastor of the splinter church. It lasted until 1976. Then its 35 members began to dwindle.
Christensen noted that women had virtually disappeared from the congregation. He said he wasn’t down on women’s lib per se. He supported equal rights but felt it could go too far. Some women felt a lack of love in the congregation. Several felt they had it and so they took it with them.
The University of Utah’s Daily Utah Chronicle featured an article about the Metropolitan Community Church on Oct. 30, 1973. It was called “Gay Church Welcomes Community Unwanted.” Christensen was the main interviewee. He said he didn’t feel a particular sexual orientation was a sin. The Metropolitan Community Church was for everyone. Especially for those discriminated against because of their homosexual orientation.
Christensen added that most of the congregation was well-educated. Many didn’t want their employers to know they attended church there. Once they accepted their homosexuality, there was no need to shout it to the world. He wasn’t sure their purpose was to help the congregation accept their homosexuality. Their purpose was to make their lives as good as humanly possible. If someone needed help or wanted to become straight, he was all for it. They weren’t out for converts to the church. Some members were politically active in Gay Liberation groups. But the Metropolitan Community Church’s duty was to cater to religious needs.
The Chronicle’s article received positive and negative responses. One person praised the article for reflecting heightened social awareness. Another person was appalled that the Daily Utah Chronicle found it to be the most important news related to the University or its students.
While the Metropolitan Community Church and Grace Community Church offered a spiritual outlet to Salt Lake City’s early gay community, the Mormon Church mobilized. They perceived a wave of wickedness and sin sweeping over the state.