May 13, 2003

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - Rev. Troy D. Perry, human rights activist and Founder of the predominantly gay Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC), will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA, during graduation ceremonies on May 22, 2003. Metropolitan Community Churches is a Christian denomination with a positive outreach to the gay and lesbian community.

"Episcopal Divinity School is proud to recognize the Rev. Elder Troy Perry as one of the landmark leaders of the contemporary church," The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, EDS President, said. "We are a community that stands for justice, compassion and reconciliation for all God's people. Troy Perry Stands with us."

Episcopal Divinity School is an academic community of biblical, historical and theological inquiry that educates lay and ordained leaders of the Episcopalian Church. Their mission is to instill students with a valuable learning experience, support spiritual and ministerial formation, and provide them with tools for lifelong work of social and personal transformation.

Last year's recipient of the EDS award was Nobel Peace Prize honoree Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

"I am deeply humbled by this recognition by Episcopal Divinity School. This award not only honors me, but honors the entire Metropolitan Community Churches movement and MCC's contributions to Christendom," Rev. Perry said. "By honoring me with this degree, EDS has honored our movement and its legacy to the Christian Church."

Charleston said Perry's openly gay witness to the love of Christ for every person is a message of hope that Episcopal Divinity School shares in common with Perry and the MCC movement.

"By bestowing the Doctor of Divinity degree on Elder Perry, we celebrate a man of vision, integrity and gospel courage," Charleston said.

Metropolitan Community Churches and the Episcopal Church share a long and proud history. MCC member Ellen Barrett was the first open lesbian ordained to the ministry of the Episcopal Church in an ordination service conducted by the late Bishop of New York, Rev. Paul Moore. This event sparked an ongoing debate about the role of gay people in the ministry of that denomination. Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong is a frequent speaker at MCC churches and meetings, and many MCC congregations meet or have met in worship space provided by Episcopal churches. Episcopal Divinity School faculty member and openly lesbian Carter Heyward theological writings have been highly influential in the training of MCC clergy, and during 2004 the EDS campus will be the site of several MCC educational programs.

Perry, a longtime human rights activist, founded Metropolitan Community Churches in 1968. The international movement has grown from 12 original members, to more than 46,000 members and adherents in 23 countries. Perry was a member of the first gay and lesbian delegation to be hosted by the U.S. White House during the Carter Administration, the first openly gay member of the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission, and a delegate to the White House Conference on Hate Crimes during the Clinton Administration.

MCC Communications Department