Knox is past member of U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
Harry Knox, director of the Human Rights Campaign’s Religion and Faith Program and a past member of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, has accepted a call to candidate for the position of senior pastor of Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1972, Resurrection MCC serves more than 850 members and friends and is one of the largest congregations within Metropolitan Community Churches. The Houston church is widely known for its positive, affirming ministry to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, along with their friends, families and allies, and for its strong commitment to social justice as an expression of the congregation’s Christian faith.
“Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church seeks to meet the pastoral needs of its members and to equip their spiritual growth so they can live into God’s calling to be the leading social justice congregation in Houston,” said Rev. Knox. “The call of the search committee to become the candidate for senior pastor at Resurrection is a dream come true for me. My calling and passion are for equipping God’s people to do compassionate justice in Christ’s name.”
“Harry Knox is a gifted spiritual leader with a wealth of experience in ministry, non-profit management, advocacy, and human rights work,” said Rev. Elder Nancy L. Wilson, moderator of MCC worldwide. Knox holds a Master of Divinity from Lancaster Theological Seminary and received extraordinary clergy credentials through the Office of Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches. He will participate in MCC’s upcoming REVM clergy program and will celebrate the Rite of Ordination at MCC of Washington, DC, on November 13, 2010. While at HRC, Rev. Knox supervised the creation of a national speakers bureau that reaches more than 10 million Americans monthly and a weekly scriptural commentary preaching resource with an ecumenical lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender perspective on the Bible.
He was also instrumental in creating the historic HRC Clergy Call for Justice and Equality, now a biennial Capitol Hill advocacy event for LGBT-affirming clergy and other faith leaders. Rev. Knox has been featured on the BBC News, PBS, NBC, and CBS, as well as in national and local newspapers. He was the recipient of the 2000 Cordle Award for Promotion of God’s Diversity and Lancaster Theological Seminary’s 2005 Robert V. Moss Medal for Excellence in Ministry. Knox joined the staff of the Human Rights Campaign in 2005.
“There are people you meet in life that you truly feel blessed to have known,” said Joe Solmonese, HRC president. “Harry Knox is one of those people for me. For the past five years, Harry has led our Religion & Faith program with great skill, effectiveness and diplomacy. We are infinitely stronger as a result of Harry’s leadership.”
Prior to his work with the Human Rights Campaign, Knox served as business manager for patient services and comprehensive school health programs for the American Cancer Society, Georgia Division; director of development at Equality Florida; executive director of Georgia Equality; and program director for Freedom to Marry.
According to Rev. Nancy L. Wilson, moderator of MCC, “I have been blessed to know and work with Harry Knox for many years. I am so impressed by his sincere conviction of the power of the inclusive gospel of Jesus Christ, by his charisma and his pastoral and organizational skills, and by his ability to meet and love and lead so many kinds of people. He has been a wonderful colleague and friend, both at the White House and at the Human Rights Campaign, always challenging homophobia, whether in Uganda or California. Nothing pleases me more than welcoming him into the ranks of MCC clergy and for him to be the candidate for senior pastor of Resurrection MCC. Harry is a genuine, humble, history-maker, who loves our movement, our people, our God, and our great cause.”
Rev. Knox will be the preacher for Sunday services on October 17 and 24, 2010, and a congregational vote is scheduled following morning worship services on the 24th. If his selection is ratified by the congregation, Rev. Knox will begin his new ministry in Houston fulltime on January 1, 2011.
For additional information on the ministry, services, and programs of Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church of Houston, visit www.resurrectionmcc.org
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