Our Inclusive History

WELCOMING WITHOUT FEAR

Advancing Progressive Initiatives

Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church has been a bold leader for decades. Our congregation’s faith drives us to comprehensively support the dignity of God’s creation, including the rights of all people. As early as the 1990s, we ordained LGBTQ+ individuals as elders and deacons and worked with national leaders to change denominational policy. We opened our communion table so that all could partake, a practice rejected by many churches still today.

“Nobody should be overlooked. To do so is to offend the Gospel… Further, the church should be involved in the social, political, and economic orders of life.”

Rev. Harold G. Porter

 

 Cincinnati Pride & MAPC History

Pioneering Progress in the 1990s

  • MAPC ratifies a 1991 statement in empowered defiance of the anti-gay 1978 Presbyterian General Assembly Policy Statement.

  • Under Reverend Hal Porter’s stewardship, the congregation adopts a policy of inclusion: MAPC will not discriminate on any basis, especially against LGBTQ individuals.

  • The Cincinnati Presbytery seeks multiple disciplinary actions against the congregation, but no threat curtails the progress.

  • Mount Auburn’s policy of inclusion receives national publicity as a ground-breaking, progressive policy.

  • MAPC became the first church to walk in Cincinnati’s Pride Parade.

  • On June 7, 1998, Rev. Porter’s last sermon suggests that Mount Auburn’s epitaph should read “door stopper” to keep the church doors wide open to all persons.

 

 Modern Day & Ongoing Commitment

  • Just before the year 2000, Reverend Stephen Van Kuiken begins his term as pastor.

  • Embracing Mount Auburn’s campaign for full inclusion of LGBTQ individuals, he increases broad social efforts for progressive causes.

  • In 2002, the Cincinnati Presbytery levels charges against Rev. Van Kuiken and Pastor Emeritus Hal Porter for violations of ordination vows. Both were found not guilty.

  • Rev. Van Kuiken continued to perform same-sex marriages, ultimately leading to a dissolution of his pastoral duties through the Presbytery.

  • In 2005, The Reverend Susan Quinn Bryan received the call from Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church to become the church’s first female pastor.

  • Before her retirement in 2014, Rev. Bryan continued the sacred fight for social justice, molding the Cincinnati Presbytery into a more welcoming organization.

  • MAPC continued to celebrate inclusive faith and fight for justice under the guidance of Reverend Stacey Midge, who published a piece condemning transphobic legislation in Ohio.

  • Our current transitional pastor, Rev. Lucinda Isaacs, is an advocate for belovedness and belonging.

 

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