by Shaun Knittel - SGN Staff Writer

Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) Seattle Pastor Rev. Ray Neal has announced the church will hold a December 20 Christmas service, followed by a December 27 Transgender Day of Worship.

MCC Seattle worships Sundays at 12:30 p.m. in the chapel at Temple de Hirsch Sinai, 1441 16th Ave., in the Capitol Hill neighborhood near C.C. Attle's. The services last between an hour and an hour and a half and always include communion offered to everyone in attendance whether or not they are members of MCC Seattle or of any church.

On December 20, at 12:30 p.m. MCC Seattle invites all members and non-members to a special Christmas service. A potluck dinner will be held after the service.

On December 27, MCC Seattle will hold a Transgender Day of Worship service. Shannon Buzard, a well-known face among the Transgender community in Seattle and lay leader at the Ravenna United Methodist Church, will be the guest speaker for the Transgender Day of Worship.

Buzard, the granddaughter of a Transsexual female, identifies as a woman. Buzard is an active advocate for Transsexual and Transgender rights in both the political arena and within the hierarchy of her church, where she leads a group that does outreach and advocates for LGBTIQ inclusion and participation.

According to Rev. Neal, Buzard will bring the sermon during worship and will also lead the congregation in a discussion forum on Transgender issues and opportunities afterwards.

In addition, Lincoln Rose, a Transgender member of MCC Seattle and a member of the Pastoral Ministries Team at MCC, will lead communion during worship.

"I invite all persons from the LGBT community and our straight supporters to participate in the worship service and forum afterwards," Rev. Ray Neal told SGN. "Snacks and drinks will be served."

Metropolitan Community Church Seattle is the first, and therefore oldest, welcoming, affirming, inclusive congregation in Seattle, founded by and for persons of the LGBT community and their straight allies in 1972. Internationally, the Metropolitan Community Church has grown to 43,000 members and adherents in almost 300 congregations in 22 countries.

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