HANOVER TWP., LEHIGH COUNTY — Since its founding in 1984, the Metropolitan Community Church of the Lehigh Valley has reached out to the LGBTQ+ community.
For WLVR News, Lehigh University student journalist Archer Benedict produced this portrait of Minister Brian Jones and the congregation that he leads in musical worship.
Jones has been with the church for 25 years, and the stories of both are rooted in a dedication and sense of belonging that reach way back.
"The sound that a community of people — specifically a community of marginalized people — make when they come together is one of the purest sounds you'll ever hear."Minister Brian Jones, Metropolitan Community Church
"The sound that a community of people — specifically a community of marginalized people — make when they come together is one of the purest sounds you'll ever hear," Jones says.
"And having grown up in the Black church, there's a sound that the Black church makes that comes out of the struggle, that comes out of the resilience, that comes out of the pain, and the anguish and the hope.
"MCC Lehigh Valley as a marginalized community makes a similar sound."
Listen to Archer Benedict's feature profile of Minister Brian Jones and Metropolitan Community Church by clicking the audio above.