Birchard, Roy

Biography / Administrative History

Born Adrian Roy Birchard, July 26, 1943, in Middlebury, Vermont to Adrian Birchard and Winifred Marion Killoran. Roy grew up in nearby Shoreham, VT graduating from high school in 1961. He received his A.B. from Berea College, Kentucky, 1965, majoring in English; and B.D. from Union Theological Seminary, New York, 1969. Ordained in June 1969 by the Addison Association, Vermont Conference, United Church of Christ, Roy returned to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, Madison entering a Ph.D. program in English. During the year, he came out as a gay person and an activist for gay rights. He returned to New York and worked, 1970-75 for the Department of Mission Interpretation of the United Presbyterian Church as an administrative assistant and copy editor.

Roy Birchard became active in the Gay Activist's Alliance, New York. After the arrival of the Rev. Howard Wells, Metropolitan Community Church missionary to New York, Roy participated in founding MCC, New York, served on the Board of Directors, then as pastor, 1973-75. Roy became active in the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, serving in several pastorates through 1994, including Tidewater, Virginia; St. Louis, Missouri; All God's Children, Minneapolis; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Golden Gate, San Francisco. Other MCC denominational service includes the Ministerial Credentials and Affairs Committee, the Board of Elders, Editor of The Gay Christian, and Director of the MCC Washington Office. Beginning in 1985, Roy's interest and energies led to work with Asian gay and lesbian issues. In 1994, he began attending the independent First United Lutheran Church, San Francisco (the church having been expelled from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for retaining an openly-gay pastor). His UFMCC ministerial credentials expired in 1996.

The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches was founded October 1968 in Los Angeles, CA by the Rev. Troy D. Perry. Perry understood himself called by God to begin not just a gay church, but a church which would be founded on the love of God for all persons. The Metropolitan Community Church was to offer a welcome to all persons, and stand for Christian Social Justice, advocating both the secular and religious rights of all.

The UFMCC has grown into a worldwide denomination with over 300 churches, headquartered still in Los Angeles. For a history of Perry and the UFMCC, see: Don't Be Afraid Anymore: The Story of Reverend Troy Perry and the Metropolitan Community Churches by Troy D. Perry with Thomas L.P. Swicegood (St. Martin's Press: New York, 1990); BX9896 Z8 P47 1990. See also: Our Tribe, Nancy Wilson (Harper Collins: 1995); BR115.H6 W55 1995.