The Rev. Jeffrey Jordan has been pastor at Whosoever Metropolitan Community Church of Philadelphia for 21 years. Yet “pastor” only begins to describe Jordan’s responsibilities as the church’s leader.
“I am the pastor, teacher, preacher, CEO, public representative and visionary. I organize all aspects of congregational care,” Jordan said.
Before Jordan became WMCC pastor, the church’s future was anything but certain.
“The church was in transition. The previous pastor had quit and the church was financially unstable. It had gotten to the point where the bishop had to come in and say ‘change or close,’” Jordan said. “The church also wanted to become more diverse but didn’t know how.”
Since then, Jordan said, a number of positive changes have taken place within the church.
“We have succeeded in becoming more diverse, we attempt to be a bigger part of the community as a whole and our worship style has become more of a charismatic type of worship,” he said.
Jordan was originally ordained at the African Methodist Episcopal church in West Virginia and served as a pastor there until he was outed, and consequently defrocked.
After his defrocking, Jordan relocated to Pennsylvania and began working in Horsham at a camp for inner-city youth, where he had previously worked during summers. On a day off in June, Jordan inadvertently found his way back to ministering.
“On my day off, I went into Philadelphia and saw my first Pride parade ever. I’m a Southern boy and had never heard of Pride,” Jordan said. “In the parade, I saw WMCC. I was shocked to see a church marching.”
It took less than a year before Jordan was offered the pastor position at WMCC and began his work restoring the church.
At 52, Jordan said he’s happy to remain at WMCC and continue to follow God’s will until it’s time for him to retire.
The Metropolitan Community Church was founded in 1968 and now has almost 300 congregations in 22 countries.
For more information, visit www.mccphiladelphia.com.