GROUP BUILDS 1ST CHURCH MEANT FOR GAYS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 29, 1992                   TAG: 9201290045
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short
GROUP BUILDS 1ST CHURCH MEANT FOR GAYS
The Rev. Larry Uhrig and his congregation are building a monument to 22 years of dreams and faith on a vacant lot on the edge of downtown.
When construction ends in September, there will stand the first sanctuary built in the United States for a gay church.
"I see in our building a message to the rest of our community: to have a vision for the future and to believe," said Uhrig, pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Washington.
He noted that although other gay congregations have bought buildings, the $1.2 million house of worship under construction at Fifth and Ridge streets N.W. is the first to be built from scratch.
"The new church . . . illustrates the growth of the gay religious community," Uhrig said. "It is a change in mentality."
The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Churches was founded in 1968 for and by homosexual Christians. Though not accepted by many national Christian organizations, the fellowship has 260 congregations in 14 countries.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB