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Cari, a native of Buffalo, Kansas (USA) but now a resident of Coburg West in Victoria, Australia, became involved with MCC in the early 1970s when her husband, Vick, began attending services instead of going to the bars on Sunday afternoons. Cari was licensed as a minister at the 1973 General Conference in Atlanta, and she and her husband founded an MCC congregation in Kansas City, Missouri (USA). She currently attends an Anglican Church and says the pastor there reminds her very much of the pastors in MCC in his openness and his belief that all people are created equal.

Written (Survey) History

This history was collected via online survey.

What do you like to be called by your friends and family?

Cari

 

Where were you born?

Buffalo, Kansas

 

What place do you call “home?”

Coburg West, Victoria, Australia

 

Did you grow up in a church?  If yes, which one?

The Methodist Church

 

When did you first discover Metropolitan Community Churches?

It was the end of 1971 or the first part of 1972.  I cannot give an exact date.

 

How did you hear about MCC?  Friend, family, advertising, Troy’s book, other Please describe.

My husband, Vick, was gay.  I knew it when we married but we both loved each other and agreed to be faithful.  I worked at a hospital when we were first married which required that I work 2 out of 3 Sundays a month.  On the Sundays I worked, he would go to the bars in the afternoon and pick me up after work.  He was drinking quite a lot at the time.  Then he was not drinking as much and he was picking me up after work sober.  That was when he told me he had been going to MCC and what it was all about.  It sounded interesting to me so I went with him to church and the rest is history.

 

Describe your first visit to MCC. Please include the church’s name.

I cannot remember the exact service of the first time I attended.  It was in the original church on Union Street. I do know that Troy was the speaker and I was very impressed with the philosophy of the church – that God loved you no matter who or what you were.  I had never heard it preached from the pulpit this way, but it was something that I believed deep in me – that we were all created equal.  The condemnation of gay people by some churches reminded me of an uncle of mine who was a Southern Baptist minister.   He was visiting my grandparents at one time when I was in my 20’s.  I remember him telling his parents (my grandparents) that unless they joined the Southern Baptist Church (they were Methodists) they were going to hell.  I could never respect that uncle again.  I just to not understand people who say they are Christians and then condemn other people for not agreeing with them.

 

How many years have you belonged to a MCC?

I am not officially a member of MCC at this time but have attended MCC’s and been involved with them since 1971-1972.

 

Who preached the sermon that you’ve never forgotten? Do you remember the name of the sermon? Where were you when you heard it?

As I have said before – it was too long ago to remember what the exact name of the sermon was – but it would have been Troy preaching at MCCLA.  There was also a time when Lee Carlton spoke at MCCLA – I think it was at a General Conference.  He was so full of the spirit of God that he spoke in tongues.  You could just feel the presence of God in the sanctuary that day.

 

Who influenced you the most in MCC?

Troy Perry

 

Describe how this person influenced you. 

Troy’s philosophy of the fact that God loves you no matter who or what you are

 

What do you like best about your local church? 

I attend an Anglican Church here in Melbourne, St. Johns – who has a vicar who reminds me very much of the pastors in MCC.  He is a very open person and has the belief that we are all created equal.  The church is the most un-Anglican of any Anglican church I have ever attended.  It is very laid back but we still have all the rituals.  The vicar’s daughter is a lesbian who is marrying a female transsexual.  He is performing the wedding.

 

What do you like best about the movement, ministry and community of MCC?

Again, as I have stated before, the teaching that God loves you no matter who or what you are as long as you give yourself to Jesus.  I am so pleased that it has spread so far around the world and that there are people now who are more accepting than there used to be.

 

Have you attended a General Conference?  Tell how many you have attended. 

I have attended many General Conferences.   The first one was in Los Angeles, I think in 1972.   I was given my license to be a minister at the conference in Atlanta in 1973.  My daughter, Catherine Anne, was the first baby baptize at a General Conference in San Francisco in 1974.  I remember one conference in Dallas and know there were many more.  Just cannot remember dates and places.

 

What do you like best about General Conferences?

I loved seeing and meeting different people from all the other churches and knowing that I was not the only straight person involved with MCC.

 

What do you remember about the ordination of women and people of color?

There were always woman and people of color in the ministry when I was more directly involved with MCC.

 

What do you remember about the growth of a community of children or a children’s / youth ministry at your MCC? 

At the MCC in Kansas City that Vick and I founded, they have a Sunday school now and have had it for a while.  I do know that children have always been in attendance at any MCC I have been to and there has never been a problem with it.

 

Please include any other memory that you wish to share.
I think the most precious memory I have is of my daughter, Catherine Anne, being baptized at the General Conference in San Francisco in 1974.  My mother, one of my aunts and several of my straight friends attended and they saw and understood why I was involved with MCC.

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