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mTTîTPTnTJnews
T
he Rev. Marsha Dempsey, former
director of congregational life at the
predominantly gay Metropolitan
Community Church of Portland, is
returning to Oregon to re-establish
an M C C congregation in Eugene. She was on
staff at the Portland church from 1998 to 2000,
leaving to pastor the M C C in Windsor, Ontario.
Dempsey hopes to hold her first Eugene serv
ice Sept. 7. Before that happens, she acknowl
edges a lot of hard work will need to he done.
Eugene was the site of the first M C C in Ore
gon, Bread of Life. Though never large, it
seemed to flourish at first, later going through
several incarnations and population decreases.
It closed last year.
Dempsey sees the challenge of rebuilding hut
thinks she is up to it. “In one sense,” she says, “I
don’t feel it will he any more of a challenge than
it is to build a church from square one.” She will
look for “a committed core group of 10 people,
then we can do almost anything.”
She anticipates M CC Portlands support of the
Eugene outreach. “1 feel very blessed to have a good
working relationship with Rev. Glenna Shepherd
and the [Portland] church at large,” she says.
In addition to University of Oregon and a
significant queer population, Eugene is also
home to the center of Oregon’s timber industry.
Dempsey plans to welcome participants from all
segments of the population.
“1 would love to have members of both com
munities in the church. It should open up an
incredible dialogue,” she says. “ How much that
will really happen is anyone’s guess. But whether
it does or doesn’t, my basic approach would he
the same: listen to both groups and help them to
understand that they have more in common
than they might think.”
B orn A gain
gifts in consensus build
ing to help in the recon
struction of the Eugene
church.
“ I hope that in Eu
gene, bringing people
together and helping
«
:
them grow in their faith
will help us to build a
strong, healthy church,”
she says. In the new
church, which will be
known as M C C of the
Two Rivers, “ 1 foresee a
church with different
outreach ministries and
opportunities for getting
involved
in
many
areas— a gathering place
for people involved in
.
K
professional
ministry
who want to learn more
about what it means to
"I
hope that in Eugene, minister to the gay and
lesbian community.”
bringing people together and
She looks forward to
a bridge builder in
helping them grow in their being
Eugene, creating connec
tions that will “bring
faith will help us to build
people together and help
a strong, healthy church"
them work toward a
comm
on goal.” J H
— The Rev. Marsha Dempsey
Pastor returns to Oregon to revive Eugene MCC
by Patricia L. MacAodha
Dempsey’s determination helped her
through educational experiences in Sherman,
Texas, where she received a bachelor’s degree
from Austin College, and a master’s of divinity
from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Semi
nary in Kentucky. After her 1974 ordination she
pastored in seven Presbyterian churches, having
to be closeted during that time.
She eventually left the denomination, affiliat
ing with M C C in 1992. In 1997 she was creden-
tialed as M C C clergy. “Portland,” she says, “was
my first opportunity to pastor within M CC.”
She found it a challenge. Her work included
team ministries, welcoming newcomers and
building a working relationship with the senior
pastor. "1 had the opportunity to teach,” she
says, “which I found very rewarding.”
Windsor, just across the border from Detroit,
Mich., was a different challenge. The city “has a
real love-hate thing with Detroit. It wants
American money but doesn’t want Americans
and the problems they sometimes bring...kids
coming over for underage drinking, drugs and
violence. It is an old city and one with tremen
dous diversity.”
Both Windsor and Detroit have large
Mideast, Jewish and Catholic populations. “The
gay community in Windsor is much larger than
you would first think,” she says, “hut it doesn’t
embrace religion or spirituality-”
The M C C was small, “with all the chal
lenges most small church-
es have,” and “seemed to
fight an image problem all
the time.” She feels the
Windsor church has not
yet found its voice or
where it belongs in the
community.
She and her partner,
Amy, are excited to be
back in Oregon. Dempsey
sees herself as starting out
with two major tasks in
Eugene: “to build a brand
new organization and to
convince people to leave
the past in the past.”
“We have to take our
responsibility for what
happened,” she stresses.
“It may not be easy and it
many not be pleasant, but
we have to do that or
w e...w on’t get beyond
where we are.”
She sees herself as having “a strong sense of
pastoral identity and a very good listening ear”
and credits a two-year training in hospital
chaplaincy with giving her “a sense of what
Christian compassion is all about.” She enjoys
counseling and preaching and plans to use her
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