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Gays Form Congregation,Counter Church RejectionBY DAN I CO LARI\his lover Eari in your prayers. Joe is hospitalized for serious problems with his legs.%u201d So read the announcement sheet I found on my seat at the gay M e tro p o lita n C o m m u n ity Church (MCC), which since last October has held regular Sunday services at 2 p.m. in the Chapel at First U nitarian Church on Pierrepont Street.After a brief organ prelude, the congregation %u2014 all men - filed in: about 15 peopleranging from early 20%u2019s to 50%u2019s, in casual dress. The one standout was a young redhead in faded denim, whose jacket bore the words %u2018%u2018Gay Power%u201d spelled out in red sequins.The service was orderly; everyone knew the hymns except me, but I faked them. An earnest young man got up and read the text of a published article that asks the New York Catholic Archdiocese to adopt a more tolerant attitude toward gays - specifically that it not oppose passage of Intro 2, the gay civil rights bill now before the City Council.The sermon was delivered by a student at Union TheologicalSeminary, who spoke about the purposes of prayer (I found out later he is the first non-gay minister to guest-preach before the group). [During the last hymn the basket was passed and, having nothing smaller than a $5 bill, I passed too.tenderness, and blessed him. I have never been particularly religious, but this ceremony was really touching; it%u2019s all toogay community in downtown Brooklyn. W e%u2019ve had great encouragement from First Unitarian Church; we believeThe gay Metropolitan Community Church meets weeklyat The First Unitarian ChurchChapel in Brooklyn Heights.At the end, members of the congregation received communion. Reverend Wells, MCC%u2019s young m inister, approached each man on the line with greatrare that men - straight or gay - can permit themselves to be tender toward each other.During the social hour after the services I spoke with Don, a fiftyish man, who told me he believes MCC%u2019s services are fundam entally a prelude to socializing - that the church is a good place to cruise on Sundays. But another member named Bob feels the congregation%u2019s number is increasing, albeit slowly, and that most of MCC%u2019s members are there for mysticism, not for each other. Reverend W ells echoed his feeling:%u2018%u2018We%u2019ve begun advertising only this week. We wanted to settle in and get to know each other - to create our own liturgy, for instance - before reaching out to the enormousLatest Heights-Hill CouncilFinancial CrisisTo Deny Elderly of ServicesThe St. George Hotel-based Heights and Hill Community Council is facing a severe financial crisis right now, one that threatens to curtail vital services and activities it provides elderly residents of the Heights.Says Florence, a 70-ish woman who has lived at the St. George for the past nine years, \don't know what I%u2019ll do. Ms. Molloy and the others have been so helpful. Before that office opened, it seemed as if nobody cared what happened to us.%u201dIn addition to appealing for financial help from the community, Heights and Hill has met with Councilman Fred Richmond, who will be sponsoring a fund-raising cocktail party at his home on Pierrepont Street. In addition, Richmond has arranged a meeting between Heights and Hill Director Patricia Molloy and Alice Brophy of the Mayor%u2019s Office of Aging. It is hoped that a loan may be arranged against projected 1974-75 federal funding dispersed by the Office of Aging, so that the important work of the Council can continue uninterrupted.The Council%u2019s May calendar illustrates the scope and variety of offerings. For the ciucriy, iiierc is something to do, to be involved in, to learn or to contribute practically every day.Monday - 1. The Problem Drinkers Group, administered by the City%u2019s Addiction Services Agency, meets at the Franklin Arms Hotel on Orange Street at 1:30 p.m. The group is not directed toward alcoholics, but rather toward people who are beginning to have problems with drinking. 2. A presentation of local and world travel slides is offered by volunteers John Stadler and Ben Marvin in the St. George TV Lounge at 7:30 p.m.Wednesday - 1. The Men%u2019s Club meets at 75 Hicks Street at 2 p.m., and is open to men over 50. There are discussions, and various games are available as well as refreshments. 2. At 3 p.m., the In-House Recreation Committee meets in the St. George TV Lounge to plan evening programs in the hotel. 3. At 7:30 p.m., a bingo group meets in the St. George Crystal Room.Thursday - The Social Club meets in the St. George TV Lounge at 2 p.m., conducted by the South Beach Psychiatric Center. 2. At 7 p.m., games are offered in the Lounge.Friday - 1. At 11 a.m. in the St. George fourth-floor office, an interlaiiii service is available, with oicaclergymen taking turns at the pulpit - Rev. Allen Wells, Rev. Louis Ferrara, Rev. Luis Quiroga,Father Courtney, and Father Ahearn. A social hour with refreshments follows. 2. Woman to Woman is a discussion of womens problems which from time to time offers a variety of social activities as well. It meets in the St. George TV Lounge at 2 p.m. 3. At the same hour, the Mailing Group meets in the fourth-floor office of the St. George for envelope-stuffing and other routine but necessary tasks - volunteers are needed.Providing weekend back-up for the Council's programs are a group of activities sponsored by the First Presbyterian Church on Henry Street. Says Mr. Brian Russell of First Presbyterian, \ly anything for the elderly to do on weekends, so we try to provide a warm, welcoming environment.%u201dOn Sundays, First Presbyterian offers an open house, where participants play bridge and participate in sing-alongs, among other activities. At 6, there is a brief service followed by a supper at 6:30 p.m., which Russell explains is an outgrowth of the Church%u2019s hotlunch program. At 7, a cultural program completes the day%u2019s offerings. \we%u2019ve raised their consciousness as to gay lifestyles, and I think they%u2019re glad we%u2019re here. W e%u2019ve become a member of the Brooklyn Heights Ministerial Association as a way of reaching out to other churches in the vicinity.%u201dThe prim ary reason for W ells%u2019s interest in establishing dialogue w ith other area churches is to help clergymen realize their ministry includes gays. \gay church doesn%u2019t mean we want all gay people to come tous,%u201d he says, though he admits %u2018%u2018most of our members are ex-Catholics. They come here because their own church does not welcome them as homosexuals. They know they are welcome here.%u201dAnother vehicle for outreach has been the participation of MCC in a program sponsored by First Presbyterian Church, where members donate their time on weekends to deliver hot meals to elderly room-bound residents of the Heights.Most of the men I spoke to seem to have some sort of religious background, and are glad of the opportunity to be openly gay in their place of worship. But one man said, smiling, \just the organist - I do four of these every weekend,%u201d then reached out and tweaked the hair on my chest. It felt good. I winked at him when he left for his next gig.----ii.. %u00bb* -------n ..____it %u00bbvonj(, nudoivii. %u201c U /%u00ab I------Heights ProvidesProtective ShellOr Oasis of Joyslide shows, lectures, poetry readings and recitals; there have been as many as 170 in attendance.%u201d IBYNINOPANTANOBrooklyn Heights with its old churches, classic architecture and community spirit is an oasis of joy!In the midst of the turbulence of city life, we have truly found a turtle shell to protect our sanity. We have the promenade to refresh us with sea and skyline. The best view of Manhattan one can find.Down below us on the highway we can watch other New Yorkers seeking escape. No need for us to fiee! We can dineat the Piccadeli with friends or chat with comrades at Capulet%u2019s. Pick up the papers at the St. George, or sit in the shadow of the statue of Wm. J. Gaynor (a reform mayor of sixty yearsCarrol! Gardens resident Nino Pantano teaches at ajunior high school in Bedtord-stuyvesani. A published poet, Pantanoearned Ns hachetor%u2019s at St.Francis College and hasrecently received his master%u2019s in education fromLong Island University.Pantano lives on PresidentStreet with Ns wife andu tw m i v w %u2014- -----------and 11.ago) near Cad man Plaza. The many antique shops scattered throughout the Heights allow us to delve into the past for bargains galore.We see Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Beecher (brother of H arriet Beecher Stowe) seeking solace, frozen in the bas-relief on the wall of the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims. Their same problems haunt us still.Many of the images conjured up are architectural gems. Gargoyles, Southernstyle porches, Greco-Roman facades and streets that once were horse stables.The collage continues with pizza at the King George and ice cream next door, art shows on the Promenade, block parties, the children%u2019s theater via the Heights Players, emperors and princeses defying frogs and fops.Tree-lined streets, homogenous intelligent peoples, smiles on their faces and flowers in their hearts.To leave the stalagtite subways from distant parts of the city and to emerge at Boro Hall or Clark Street, is to escape from the sewers of Paris and emerge in the sunshine of our own city of youth and beauty -the u nique Brooklyn Heights.May 23, 1974, PHOENIX, Page 9