A Brief History of the Metropolitan Community Church of Dallas Page: 5 of 28
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came to the rescue by offered to pay it out of his own pocket. The happy
congregation then set about planning a gala Thanksgiving service.
When the big moment arrived, the songs were sung with gusto, the
sermon was delivered splendidly and someone performed an interpretive
dance to an old Pilgrims' hymn, the Prayer of Thanksgiving. How
appropriate!
December 1970
Just before Christmas the Reverend Troy Perry made his first visit to
the Dallas "study group." This mighty man, with a heart as big as all of
Texas and with a voice that actually bounced off the walls of the small
Normandy Chapel, held the congregation captivated, simply spell-bound.
After his sermon, Perry further regaled us with tales of the very first
Christopher Street West Gay Pride Parade held in Los Angeles in June of
1970, one year after the historic Stonewall Riots.
20 May 1971
The Dallas church, + -st MC outside of Calif a, was
chartered. Reverend Richard Vincent was elected Pastor. This caused a
division in the ranks of the tiny congregation. Some women felt that Rob
Shivers should have been elected but was denied that position by the mere
fact that she was a woman. But none could deny that the election was fair
and the majority had voted for Vincent.
So now we were a chartered church. Yet, we had no home. The
Unitarians had no storage space where we keep what little we owned, a
rostrum and church records; therefore, these were kept in the trunk of
Reverend Vincent's car. God knows we were grateful to the Unitarians,
but if we were to be a viable church, if we were to serve the growing gay
and lesbian community in Dallas, we needed a place we could call our
own. We needed a home.
Walls Rise Up
31 June 1972
The first Gay Pride Parade in Texas was sponsored by the Circle of
Friends. Rob Shivers was president. Most of COF's members also
belonged to MCC Dallas, so it was something of a joint effort. Shivers
obtained a parade permit. When the Dallas City Council learned that a
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A Brief History of the Metropolitan Community Church of Dallas, letter, August 19, 1992; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc947235/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.