Metropolitan Community Church of Tampa Credit: Photo via MCCTampaFL/Facebook

Metropolitan Community Church of Tampa, aka MCC Tampa, is the local chapter of the pro-LGBTQ+, “life-affirming” church with fellowships all over the world.

Tampa’s faction was founded on Aug. 6, 1971, and has been spreading the loving word of God and serving the spiritual needs of the LGBTQ+ community for over five decades. It is even considered the oldest, established LGBTQ+ organization in Hillsborough County.

The pandemic postponed its actual 50th anniversary, so MCC Tampa and its supporters are celebrating this weekend with a friendly gathering and a homecoming service on Sunday morning. MCC Tampa’s golden anniversary will feature light hors d’oeuvres and desserts and the chance to spend time with the organization’s friends and family; folks who are interested in joining the church are welcome as well.

The church has been occupying its Seminole Heights space on the corner of N Central Avenue and E Cayuga Street since 1996, and hosts a variety of workshops, volunteer days and community-centered events throughout the year, in addition to bible study and worship service each Sunday morning. MCC Tampa provides both a physical and spiritual safe haven amidst Florida’s increasingly-hostile political atmosphere.

In the words of its own senior pastor Jakob-Hero Shaw: “I have a lot of faith in the possibility of things getting better, even as we currently seem to be in a dystopian downward spiral. I am choosing to hope.”

Donations will be accepted, but it’s free to attend MCC Tampa’s golden anniversary celebration on Saturday, Aug 5. Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.