A NEW WAY OF BEING MCC IN NEW HAVEN:
Introducing Elm City Oasis MCC (New Haven, Connecticut, USA)

·  The name(s) of the lead or contact person for this Oasis (and a short bio)
GV Basbas - Graduating senior at Andover Newton Theological School; Clergy Intern with MCC Hartford. While employed as a pharmaceutical engineer, GV encountered the joy of MCC for the first time on a Summer 2010 church-date with a member of A Church for All MCC in Sacramento, California.  
 
Daniel Schlorff - A Doctor of Ministry candidate (in dissertation) through Pacific School of Religion; Associate Chaplain for Masonicare Health Center. Daniel first experienced the acceptance of the MCC denomination in 2002 while a ministry student in a conservative Bible college, attending Jesus MCC, as it was called then.
 
·  How long you have been meeting/gathering?
Elm City Oasis has been meeting since the Summer of 2015, strategically on the heels of the closing of MCC New Haven.
 
·  What makes your Oasis unique?
Our Oasis is unique in a number of special ways. First, many of our regular friends had been members of MCC New Haven (now defunct). Second, we're blessed to serve a college town (New Haven), with frequent visitors from these colleges. And finally, our leadership team is comprised of In-Care ordination candidates in the Metropolitan Community Church. These factors allow us to be somewhat avant-garde in how we do things, such as meeting at a pub for Bible study, reinterpreting communion with green bread for Saint Patrick’s Day or singing a new original composition created by our musician.
 
·  How does this Oasis impact the lives of those who attend and the greater community?
We believe that Elm City Oasis responds to the call of providing Christian fellowship opportunity for the LGBTQ+ community in a setting that not only accepts all people, but truly celebrates each person in their layered identities and complexities. We’ve surprised people by simply being present at opportunities such as New Haven Pride Fest, Facebook (www.facebook.com/ElmCityOasis), and on the worldwide web (www.elmcity.lgbt). One elderly gentleman came to us a few months after being widowed from his wife of 50+ years, in tears because he was feeling his first heartbreak after his boyfriend broke up with him. The meager costs of advertising in these places pay off when we touch even one person by simply being there with them in their pain or triumph. 
 
·  How often you meet/gather and what is the style of your gathering?  Is it more church oriented (i.e. with scripture and ritual) or informal and casual (i.e. book study, gathering to share a meal)?
Elm City Oasis has two foci: Word and Table. First, on the first Sunday of each month, we meet to study and interpret scripture. Second, on the third Sunday of the month, we worship God through feasting on scripture and sacrament. Food is involved in almost every meeting, whether New American appetizers at a local cafe or a dessert potluck around someone playing the piano at the parish house, and this helps to provide an atmosphere of fellowship during Bible study and following worship of God.