I started getting the Waco Trib this week (well, the weekend editions anyway) and will try to write about more local issues on this blog. There are not too many lefty blogs in the Heart of Texas, so it’s a necessary public service.
Today there’s an article about the local MCC church, a gay/lesbian friendly denomination that, in conservative towns like Waco, are usually the core of the GLBT community.
I’m not Christian, or even religious, but I appreciate what MCC does for gays and lesbians, giving them a place where they can express their spirituality without shame or guilt, and of course it also provides social activities, resources for community service and even on occasion a political nudge. It’s a black eye on the rest of the Christians that this ghettoization was necessary in the first place, but overall it’s been a good thing for gays and lesbians by changing the focus of the community’s attention, to some extent, from the bar scene (and other even less productive venues).
The Waco church is having a celebratory reception for MCC founder Troy Perry — whom I met in Florida a few years back — even as I type this, and a dinner tonight which I will try to get to.
I do have one small criticism of CenTex MCC, though. They should have named themselves HOT (Heart of Texas, as the greater area around Waco is known) MCC, because that would be a lot more fun than CenTex, which sounds like a type of stretchy fabric or a condom brand. Seriously, it sounds very corporate, not religious. I’m betting the boys in the church have a much better, affectionate, nickname for their church. If I go tonight, maybe I will find out what it is!