Welcometo this Church website of Christian Faith. The official website of "The Rock Metropolitan Community Church"("The Rock MCC"). This local MCC church is part of the worldwide "Metropolitan Community Churches" ("MCC") located in geographical area: MCC Region 2.
Worship with us this Sunday! Local Sunday Worship Services 11 am & 6 pm
"on this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18) Click MCC logo above to enter church world headquarters website The Rock MCC: serving the local area over 20 years (09-1988) ContentsMCC: serving the world over 40 years (10-1968) The Rock MCC 1601 Foust St, Chattanooga TN 37404 Phone: 423-629-2737 UFMCC P.O. Box 1374 Abilene TX 79604 Phone: 310-360-8640
(Purple/Blue Boxes Contain Links NOT underlined) (Other Links else where are Underlined)
We'reStraight & Gay Christians, serving the (GLBTQQI) Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersexual and the Gay-friendly, Allied & Straight communities of greater metro Chattanooga TN area since 1988.
This is anAll Affirming Website. Our church is an All Welcoming, Open, Loving, Joyful, Christ-like, & All Affirming Congregation.***
We are pro-Bible. We are people of True Christian Faith & Values. We are truly Christians who are daily being changed into the real image of God in Jesus Christ. We are people of Bible study and prayer, and fellowshipping with other believers.
We believe in True Family Values;we are pro-family for ALL families and their issues. We are pro-life for ALL living human beings. We believe in full human rights for ALL peoples in the USA, and in the world.
We believe in non-discrimination against peoples of any kind. We believe that ALL peoples in the USA and the world are equal. We believe ALL children of ALL marriages are of great value. We believe that ALL people of the USA and of the whole world are of great value. We believe that the modern Christian movement should treat ALL people as ONE in Christ.
[Right-click above Link & choose "Open in New Window", or else Must choose "Home" again when coming back from there to here.]
*** An AllAffirming Congregation is one that welcomes Gays into all of the life of the local church, and is gay-friendly, and believes one CAN be Christian and Gay at the same time, since God created all peoples including Gays.
We accept all people, no matter where on life's journey they are at the moment. If you are seeking for truth and knowledge, and seeking for a closer walk with God, come visit and grow with us.
We believe in the transforming power of the Holy Spiritof God working in our hearts, souls, bodies, minds, and in our lives to be more like Jesus. But that process does NOTchange our sexual orientation any more then it changes our skin color or gender. These are some things God will never do, nor have any reason to change.
There are someAffirming Congregations in most denominations today. You have to go to their local church website to find more info. This is opposed -in contrast- to churches that are Transforming Congregations, which means one canNOT be ChristianandGay,
but they welcome Gays that are seeking to transform into a "Straight" lifestyle. We believe that view to be an utter impossibility, sinful, and also un-Biblical, and against ALL modern scientific intelligence and information.
Most churches are neither, that is, they ignore gay people of faith, or else boot them out from their membership and churches (which is very sad and very un-Christ-like). You are all welcome at The Rock MCC church!
May "trouble makers" be changed by the power of God even before they pass by our church property, before they enter the door of our church building! Visit us this Sunday! May God Bless you all in the Name of Jesus!
Welcome! The Rock MCC church site
The
RockMetropolitan
Community
Church
Welcome Home!
All About God's Realm
-
God's work on this earth
through us, The Rock MCC.
(From I-75 in
TN take Exit 2 to start of I-24)
(I-24 [going West] begins
at Exit 2 on I-75)
Take
I-24 to Rossville Blvd South (Exit
180B)
Take 1st left off Rossville Blvd to Foust St Go 1 block to corner of Foust
& Watauga St (Enter
1601 Foust Street Chattanooga TN into your GPS system)
The Rock MCC
has been serving for over 20 years the greater
Chattanooga, Cleveland, and Dalton areas, and their
surrounding communities in Tennessee,Georgia
and Alabama.
We have been preaching and teaching the ChristianGood News of the all inclusive
love of God and the saving healing
grace of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, and His finishedwork of our total
salvation by
His life on earth, His death on the cross for our sins and for our victory
in daily living, His resurrection, His
ascension, His sending of the Holy Spirit of God, and
His soon return to
take us to our heavenly home!
Our Mission Statement:The Rock MCC is committed to:
LEAD
people to
Jesus Christ!
EQUIP
them with
the tools to grow spiritually and celebrate Christian
diversity!
SEND
them out
to serve Christ, the Church, the Community, and one
another!
This is a ever growing empowering loving circle,
an ever more
enlarging
circle
of growth in Christian spirituality and service.
Lead, Equip, and Send, which in turn,
Leads again,
Equips
again,
and
Sends again,
and again, and again...
[NOTICE:
Would someone render this
mission
statement into an
art form on a circle?
And send it to us as a
graphic / picture /art.
I have ideas, but am not an artist; I would know when I see it,
-if I like it, and it conforms to my vision of the symbol. The words
"Lead"
"Equip"
"Send"
on, within a small wide circle with 3 curved arrows between the words,
around the outer circle "Jesus"
"Tools"
"Service"...
with a picture, drawing of a "Cross",
a "Bible",
"Prayer"
-a "praying hands"- interwoven in the middle of the circle and overlapping to
the outside of circle. "Lead" goes with "Jesus", "Equip" goes
with "Tools", "Send" goes with "Service". "The
Rock MCC" around top outer logo, and "Our
Church Mission" around the bottom of the
symbol. Must be very find detail to be small enough to serve as a
Christian symbol.
Basically a very fine drawing art in the six colors of the gay
rainbow
flag to
serve as a
logo
of our church mission statement. -Which can be used at this place on this page, used
on letter heads, on jewelry, window & bumper stickers. It would be
copyrighted by
The Rock MCC.
Thanks, Bernard]
Praise God! We now
out right own our church and church property; the mortgage is paid off!
We celebrated when a copy of the mortgage note was burned
during our 20th Anniversary held in September, 2008!
See
NOTICE under
Our Mission Statement.
For the last 15 years, thanks to ALL who prayed for us,
and supported us through your money, time and talents!
Thanks for your continued support and gifts! God Bless You!
A little known fact: the deed to what was an office complex stated that it was not to be sold to "colored folks"; well, our church is made up of
people of all colors -on the church board, church teams, and
congregation!
Thank God, times change; God loves ALL people of all colors -as
that little kid's song says. We are truly a "Rainbow" people of
Christian faith!
(see: Emergency Contacts
below; also see: Messages)
Church Telephone: 1-423-629-2737 (Voice Mail when busy, or during
services & events.)
Church Office Hours: 12:00 PM (Noon) - 8:00 PM,
on Tues, Wed, Thurs (except holidays & time off)
(New office hours to be announced) Church USA Postal Address: The Rock MCC 1601 Foust Street Chattanooga TN 37404
USA
Our Telephone Ministry.
In case of an emergency,
such as a hospitalization, or if
news is to be communicated
immediately, please contact one of these
people as soon as possible. They will be responsible for
contacting others by phone that are listed in our
church
directory, or our
church e-mail list.
(see also above:
Contact Information)
Our E-mail
Ministry. In an
extreme emergency callTracy Brownat
423-580-7336 & leave a message.
He'll send out e-mailonly to all on our church
e-mail list.
For non-emergency items such as Prayer/Praise just use
e-mail.
There is a
sign
in the
BOD/Music church office
directing where to
deposit mail
for anyone who may come in the church to clean or practice. Make sure, if there
is mail on the floor from the front door mail slot, that it is
placed in the marked tray. If you notice any mail lying about, such
as in the church store, kitchen, restroom....please make sure to place it
in the BOD/Music church office in the tray so that all
bills and church business
can be taken care of in a timely manner. Thank you all in advance
for this courtesy.
Notice: Sometimesour church wiki sitehas newer updates before this our church main website does, since other members can update the wiki site, but
only Bernard can update this website. Thanks
Undra Finley
for the excellent job you have done on updating our wiki!
How
about some of you other members getting your feet wet by trying to
edit some pages! Ask Undra if it is really that hard to do... We all
would appreciate it very much! One purpose of the wiki is for
member interaction with one another online.
Don't worry about
messing up; I'll fix it if you do! It's also a wonderful learning
tool and experience. The wiki site is almost like having a second
parallel website; the wiki site and the website compliments each
other, and also depends upon each other. Have fun editing -writing,
putting up news, announcements, info, etc.!
(Links to other pages in this site. [Sub Site])
(Links to other pages in this site) (Bookmark links on this page)
New Events to Attend...
August 12,
2007:
1st Forumof
The Rock MCC
of the
Intentional
Interim
Pastoral
Tasks Forums.
September 30:
2nd
Forum:
"Our
Past History"
(Time Line)
Second (History Grid/Life
Cycle)
Forum
(Review Time Line)
November 4:
3rd
Forum:
Environmental Scan, SWOT
Analysis.
December 9:
4th Forum.
January 13,
2008:
5th
Forum.
February 24: 6th
Forum (last one).
Alternate sites, mostly not in use, or working on...
(Our first web presence, don't know who started that group -NOT
in use;
it only
re-directs folks to this our main website (http://therockmcc.org/)
started by Bernard Wotton, sole editor.)
(Business website, started by Bernard Wotton, sole
editor; in
progress...)
http://therockmcc.pbwiki.com/
(Our church wiki site, started by Bernard Wotton, which
IS in use. Other folks may also edit this wiki site.)
"For God so loved the world, that God gave
God's only begotten Child, that whosoever believes in Jesus should
not perish, but have everlasting life."
John 3:16 (KJV, inclusified)
"Ican do all things through Christ, who
strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
"'Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor
as yourself.'"
Luke 10:27 (NIV)
"That you love the Lord your God with all
your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you
love your neighbor as well as you do yourself."Luke 10:27 (Message
Bible)
In 1
Corinthians 2:2 Paul says:"For
I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and
him crucified."
(KJV)
"I
deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who
he is; then
Jesus and
what
he did
--Jesus crucified."
(Message Bible)
What Jesus did on the Crossof
Calvary 2000 years ago is the cornerstone, foundation of all scripture; the Old Testament points
forward to the cross, the New Testament points
backward to the cross. The Jesus cross event
is central to all past, present, and future dealings that God has
with us. Without that cross event, all would be lost, we would
have nothing. With that cross event we have everything.
No scripture can be untied
from the cross event. Our salvation and daily
victorious living depends on what happened to Jesus on the Cross of
Calvary. That is the greatest event of all time
in this universe.
What happened at that Jesus cross event
is the Good News for all humankind. It is the beginning and the
ending for all God's people. Able and Moses looked forward by faith to the
cross event, they believed in what was to come for
them; Paul, Peter, and we look backward by faith to the cross event, we
believe in what has already been done for us. And this
means everything to us.
Everything God wants for us is in the Jesus cross
event. All of the Old Testament Jewish laws given by God, the
sacrificial animal temple worship, all pointed forward to that which was
better. Jesus Christ was and is the perfect Lamb of God.
His sacrifice on the cross event fulfilled all of Biblical and God's
requirements for us. The blood of animals could never wash away the
sins of the Old Testament believers, only cover them. Jesus was God
who became a Man who was perfect in all ways. The blood of Jesus
does wash away our sins and makes us pure in God's eyes. God
forgives us and remembers our wrong doings no more. If God does not
remember our short comings, why do we remind God of them? We must
forgive ourselves and love ourselves just as God loves us. Jesus
lived for us, Jesus died for us, Jesus arose for us, Jesus sent the
Holy Spirit of God for us, Jesus will come again for us. All because
of, or made possible by, the Jesus cross event, which only happened
once. Jesus Christ only was slain once, only crucified once, only
died once for our sin. The blood of animals had to be continuously
applied. The blood of Jesus Christ was applied only once, and is
more than enough for all time and place. And right now Jesus is
still living for us as our High Priest. Understanding the Old
Testament is quite central to understanding the New Testament. And
understanding the New Testament sheds light and understanding on the
Old Testament.
What does all this mean to us here and now? We can
do nothing to earn any good thing from God; Jesus already paid all
in full at the cross event. Jesus paid for all our sins and
mistakes. Jesus paid for all our healing and good health. Jesus paid
for all our victorious daily living and faithful walk with God.
Jesus paid for all our joy and happiness. All the benefits of the
Jesus cross event are freely given to us; we can only accept and
receive them and believe in Jesus Christ! That means the Holy Spirit
of God is also freely given to us as we ask for it. Everything we
need for this life is wrapped up in the Jesus cross event, freely
given to us by God because of what Jesus did for us on that cross.
Do we have proof that the Jesus cross event
satisfied all that God required? Yes, the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ proved that the finished work of Christ was complete,
paid in full. We can
add nothing to it, nor take anything from it. All we can ever do is
believe in Jesus and accept what He has done for us.
God loves us too much to let us die without hope.
Hope in God; hope in Jesus! Reading, studying God's Word, and
praying, talking and listening to God gives us hope, and gives us
blessed assurance of God's love for us, and of God's acceptance of
us as we believe God's Word, believe in Jesus, and accept what God
has already done for us. God pours God's love over us and fills us
with God's love. God loves us first; that is why we love God. As we
begin to love God, somehow the love of God begins to make us love
ourselves, lets us to begin to be compassionate about ourselves in
the same manner as
God loves us. Then we begin to be filled up with God's love, and
God's love
begins to overflow to all the other peoples' lives we come in
contact with in our daily living.
When God looks at us, who does God see? If we are
believing in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross, God
only sees Jesus. We are complete in Jesus, we are perfect in Jesus,
we are sinless in Jesus. Not because of anything we might do, or
have done, but
because of what Jesus did at that cross event. Praise God! Thank-you
Jesus Christ! May the Holy Spirit of God ever remain in you! God
bless you in the Name of Jesus! Amen!
(Some thoughts from listening to
Jimmy
Swaggart Ministries SonLife Radio, and
Chap. Denise Leopold Sunday, 3-2-08, from John 9, Jesus healing a blind man, during
Lent Season.)
Formatting Notice: Spaces
In
Names
["Spaces In Names" is NOT
OK -there are 2 spaces; "SpacesInNames" or "Spaces_In_Names"
is OK.]
Are you trying to make a link to a
website page - document / wiki site page -
picture that has spaces in
the name? A pbwiki site does not like spaces in
any link, and converts them into plus signs
"+", which at
times breaks the link,
makes the link not workable any more.
Click on "tiny" in
next box down to see a solution. Not only is
the Address smaller, the spaces are all gone,
so the link works as it should. This service
is free; the new
re-directed tiny link is goodforever! Only use this service when you need to
only do the above things. Thanks.
Enter a long URL (or one with spaces in it)
to make it tiny:
You are Visitor:
May God Bless You! May you find what you are looking for. May you find
the love of Jesus Christ, and respond positively towards God.
Above number tells approximately how many times thiswebpage has been
downloaded, visited, or opened, or refreshed.
(Added hit counter when created this website, April 6, 2005.)
[Lost the total numbers for all hit counters on all pages when host site
moved this website to their new servers on 1-17-2009; since those new
servers does not support FrontPage Server Extensions, they had to
move it back to an older server so I could continue to edit this website using
FrontPage 2003. So the numbers started over again on
1-17-2009.]
Website Examplesfor the restructuring of this The Rock MCC website...
