About

OUR FAITH IS BASED UPON THE PRINCIPLES OUTLINED IN THE HISTORIC APOSTLES AND NICENE CREEDS.

WE BELIEVE:

In one triune God, omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, of one substance and of three persons: God – our Parent-Creator; Jesus Christ the only begotten son of God, God in flesh, human; and the Holy Spirit – God as our Sustainer.
That the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God, showing forth God to every person through the law and the prophets, and finally, completely and ultimately on earth in the being of Jesus Christ.
That Jesus…the Christ … historically recorded as living some 2,000 years before this writing, is God incarnate, of human birth, fully God and fully human, and that by being one with God, Jesus has demonstrated once and forever that all people are likewise Children of God, being spiritually made in God’s image.
The Holy Spirit is God making known God’s love and interest to all people; available to and working through all who are willing to place their welfare in God’s keeping.
Every person is justified by grace to God through faith in Jesus Christ.
We are saved from loneliness, despair and degradation through God’s gift of grace, as was declared by our Savior. Such grace is not earned, but is a pure gift from a God of pure love. We further commend the community of the faithful to a life of prayer; to seek genuine forgiveness for unkind, thoughtless and unloving acts; and to a committed life of Christian service.
The Church serves to bring all people to God through Christ. To this end, it shall arrange for regular services of worship, prayer, interpretation of the Scriptures, and edification through the teaching and preaching of the Word.

Our Mission

Metropolitan Community Church of Lubbock is a Christian church founded in and reaching beyond the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. We strive to provide an atmosphere of open communion through worship, education, in-reach and outreach ministries, so that all people may know

God’s inclusive love through Christ.

Our Vision

Metropolitan Community Church of Lubbock is on a bold journey to change our world one life, one community, and one mission at a time. We demonstrate God’s inclusive love and CHANGE our world through:

Communion:

Hospitality:

Acceptance:

Neighborliness:

Gifts:

Encouragement:

We offer an open communion to “whosoever” seeks a relationship with Christ.

We practice hospitality.
Romans 12:13

We accept one another.
Romans 15:7

We meet the needs of our neighbor. (Anyone in need, whose need we can meet)
Luke 10:29-37

We use the gifts we have received to serve others.
1 Peter 4:10

We encourage one another and build each other up.
1 Thessalonians 5:11

Leadership

Lay Pastoral Leader:
Ann Lang

Board of Servants:
Ann Lang - Moderator

Shirley Dodd

Andra Headley
Adolph Salinas

Kay Soules

Lay Delegate:

Huey Lee

The Board of Servants meets on the second Thursday of every month. All church members and friends are welcome to attend.

Sacraments

This Church embraces two holy Sacraments:

BAPTISM by water and the Spirit, as recorded in the Scriptures, shall be a sign of the dedication of each life to God and God’s service. Through the words and acts of this sacrament, the recipient is identified as God’s own Child.
HOLY COMMUNION is the partaking of blessed bread and fruit of the vine in accordance with the words of Jesus, our Sovereign: This is my body…this is my blood. (Matthew 26:26-28). All who believe, confess and repent, and seek God’s love through Christ, after examining their consciences, may freely participate in the communal meal, signifying their desire to be received into community with Jesus Christ, to be saved by Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, to participate in Jesus Christ’s resurrection, and to commit their lives anew to the service of Jesus Christ.

Rites

The Rites of the Church as performed by its duly authorized ministers shall consist of the following:

The RITE OF ORDINATION is the setting apart of duly qualified persons for the professional ministry of this Church. It is evidenced by the laying on of hands by authorized ordained clergy, pursuant to our bylaws.
The RITE OF ATTAINING MEMBERSHIP IN THE CHURCH shall be conducted by the Pastor or Interim Pastoral Leader before a local congregation at any regular worship service. In accordance with criteria established by the local church, a baptized Christian may become a member in good standing of the local church group through a letter of transfer from a recognized Christian body or through affirmation of faith.
The RITE OF HOLY UNION/RITE OF HOLY MATRIMONY is the spiritual joining of two persons in a manner fitting and proper by a duly authorized clergy or Interim Pastoral Leader of the church. After both persons have been counseled and apprised of their responsibilities one toward the other, this rite of conferring God’s blessing may be performed.
The RITE OF FUNERAL OR MEMORIAL SERVICE is to be fittingly conducted by the ministers of the Church for the deceased.
The RITE OF LAYING ON OF HANDS or prayer for the healing of the sick in mind, body or spirit is to be conducted by the ministers of the Church, at their discretion, upon request.
The RITE OF BLESSING may be conducted by the ministers of the Church for persons, things and relationships, when deemed appropriate by the minister. This includes the dedication of a church building to the glory of God.

Our History

MCC Lubbock was born in June of 1980 when Bonnie Nowlin, Victor Belt, Bob Compton, Carl Fogleman, Tony Palmer, Tom Swift, and Billy Tobias met together at Tony and Victor’s home. They wanted freedom to worship as they had been created, and they agreed the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC) offered the best vehicle for filling that purpose. Subsequently, we received our charter status from UFMCC in 1985.

Following meeting in Tony and Victor’s home, we have rented space at the Universalist Unitarian Church at 2801 42nd Street until 1983, rented space at 7516 Avenue H, Suite C just off Tahoka Highway until 1985, purchased our own property including a parsonage at 5501-05 34th Street until 1995, and own our current property at 4501 University Avenue.

Important to our history are our leaders. We have been led by Bill Coulter (1982-1983), Reverend “Rickie” Richards and Reverend Susan Kliebenstein (1983-1987), Pastoral Coordinator Gwen Brunson (1987-1988), Student Clergy Belle Armstrong (1988-1989), Reverend Renae Phillips (1990-2011), Reverend Christopher George served as Associate Pastor from 2000- 2004 and then as a Volunteer Staff Pastor from 2007-2009 and Reverend Tony Thieman-Somora came as Interim Pastor in 2013 and was elected Senior Pastor in 2015.

Our programming has included Creating a Life that Matters, Crown Financial Workshops, relationship building studies, and small group studies. The ministries for our church have grown throughout the years to include a Children’s Church, Congregational Care, Prayer Partner’s, Hospitality, the VISION Newsletter, Rainbow Seeker small groups, Altar/Sanctuary Guild, and Transportation.

We strive to be a church that serves our city and community. MCC Lubbock housed and operated the Ryan White Pantry, which provided food and hygiene products to people living with HIV/AIDS, from May 2004 to May 2008. Our Helping Hand Pantry provides a bag of groceries for anyone in need. In 2011 our average is approximately 60 – 65 bags a month.

In 2009 our LGBT friendly community organizations, along with representatives from Texas Tech University, collaborated and began LGBT Awareness Month in October. MCC Lubbock has hosted several events in the past few years, including a Homecoming Out Dance sponsored by the Doorways Youth Group. We look forward to all God is calling us to be in our community, our city, our country, and our world!

Since 2013, the Helping Hand Ministry continues to give out food bags, but also food vouchers from the FOOD BANK and in 2015 added sack lunches for those who need them. MCC Lubbock takes part in the July 4th parade and since 2015 also takes part in the Miracle on 34th St. Parade. In 2016, MCC Lubbock was given a trailer which has been fixed up for parades in the future. MCC Lubbock takes part in the annual PRIDE event with booths about the church, our PRIDE store and in 2015 a food booth as well. MCC Lubbock continues to have an annual WORLD AIDS DAY prayer service and this is now done in conjunction with other churches from the area.