Rev. Mark G. Bidwell, Bio

It was in 1988 that I came to realize that I could no longer live my life in the closet and came out to my wife and family. Shortly there after we were divorced and I was told by the minister of the church I attended during this difficult time in my life to never step back into the church again. Being denied a place to worship almost destroyed me. As I searched for churches where I could worship as an openly gay man I found one that would allow me to join, but made it very clear that I would never serve in any area of leadership or ministry. Having felt a call to ministry from a very early age I knew I had to find another community of faith that would welcome me just as I am.

It was September of 1989 that I first walked into the doors of Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit and from the moment I walked in I knew that this would become my spiritual home. I become a member of MCC Detroit one month later. Prior to finding MCC Detroit I had visited and belonged to many different Protestant churches such as Baptist, Lutheran and Presbyterian. While each of those churches influenced me and helped build my faith in God they were not willing to fully accept me as an openly gay man. MCC Detroit not only accepted me but embraced me with love.

Over the last fifteen years I have served in many roles at MCC Detroit and it was while serving as a Deacon in training that I finally acknowledged God's calling on my life to become a Pastor. Over the years I not only studied at Saint Cyril and Methodius seminary but I also took the many clergy courses offered by our denomination, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC). During this time of study and preparation for ordination I served MCC Detroit as the Interim Pastoral Leader. In July of 1997 I completed all my training and education and was accepted by UFMCC's Board of Ordination to become a fully licensed and ordination minister.

Once my ordination was approved the congregation of MCC Detroit voted unanimously to call me as their Pastor. While MCC Detroit was in the process of growing they could only afford to pay me a part-time salary for the first few years. During those years I worked a full-time secular job as an accountant. Those first years as a Pastor were trying not only because I was working two jobs but also during that time my mother had passed away and my father who had Alzheimer's came to live with me. God never gives us more than we can handle and just when we think it is too much to handle God will provide a miracle. During this hectic time of my life God brought me a miracle in the form of one Greg Owen. I met Greg in 1999 and fell in love. Greg's compassion for humanity was obvious to me as he offered to stay at my home and care for my father while I was in the hospital with emergency surgery. He did this after me for only two weeks. Greg remained a supportive caretaker of my father until my father passed away in 2000. As we grew more and more in love we moved in together and Greg proposed to me while we were on a cruise. Greg and I were united in Holy Union on May 10, 2003.