Catholic
Contemporary
100 or less Members
Church Profile
Meeting Location
Join us this weekend!
5730 Cahuenga Blvd, CA
North Hollywood,, CA 91601
United States
North Hollywood,, CA 91601
United States
Service Times
Every Saturday Evening at 5:00 PM
(818) 762-1133
Donna Owen and Amber Tidwell
Our Mission
Our Ongoing Saturday Chapel Catholic Mass is usually Celebrated by Co-Pastors, Rev. Donna Owen and her wife Rev. Amber Tidwell, or Fr. Adrian Ravarour. Our aim is simple, we want to provide a safe and comfortable modern Catholic mass experience, from a LGBTTQ perspective so that those who might feel uncomfortable, judged or condemned for their sexual or gender orientation in a Roman Catholic Church, can freely enjoy and participate in a modern Catholic mass that allows them to enter into the beauty of the mass and enjoy it's sacraments without the guilt, fear or oppression they might have felt or experienced in the past.
We also participate in the mission and values of our host church, MCC/UCC in the valley, that is, we also are "a Church serving the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered community, but welcoming of heterosexual folks, and we recognize EVERY human as a beloved child of God."
http://www.mccinthevalley.com/about-us/mission-vision-values/
At St. Francis of Assisi Parish, as at MCC/UCC, "All are welcome to God's table"
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About American Catholic Church, St. Francis of Assisi Parish
Our present Ministry has been and is primarily for the LGBTTQ Community, but all are welcome to attend mass and receive communion, church membership is not required.
The St. Francis Parish began with Rev. Dr. Robert E. “Bob” Shore-Goss, Pastor of MCC in the Valley. He was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1976, and he resigned from the Society of Jesus as an unlaicized priest in 1978. He served as a chaplain for Dignity Boston until 1982. He received his Th.D. in Comparative Religion from Harvard University. He transferred as clergy to the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) in 1995, which is when he instituted the St. Francis Mass at MCC in the Valley, and he celebrated the mass every Saturday at 5:00 PM, in addition to the Sunday Morning Service. More information on MCC/UCC in the Valley at: http://www.mccinthevalley.com/
On October 18, 2012, Art Chiapa-Cook was ordained as a Catholic priest in the American Catholic Church, by the Most Reverend Robert Mary Clement. From that point on, the Saturday evening Mass at what had now become the St. Francis Parish of the (Old) American Catholic Church at at MCC in the Valley was celebrated by Fr. Art Chiapa-Cook.
Fr. Art's Ordaining Bishop, the Most Reverend Robert Mary Clement, is Archbishop of North America of the original American Catholic Church and the original Eucharistic Catholic Church; founder of The Church of the Beloved Disciple, in Manhattan (1968-1986); the first major urban Apostolic and Sacramental work for the LGBT Community. More info at: http://www.americancatholicchurch.info/americancatholia.html
In August of 2014, MCC/UCC Member Liz Larsen asked Reverend Donna Owen and her Wife and Life Partner Reverend Amber Tidwell, who knew her from the time when she was President of Dignity Los Angeles, to celebrate the St. Francis Parish Mass in August of 2014 on the festival of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, so Fr. Art and his husband could finally take a weekend off.
In February of 2015, Liz contacted Rev.'s Donna & Amber to let them know that Fr. Art was moving to Arizona. Fr. Art celebrated his last Mass for the St. Francis Chapel on February 14, 2014 and Rev. Dr. Bob Shore-Goss put Liz in charge. Liz then invited Reverends Donna & Amber to be con-celebrants for the Mass. On vacation at the time, they and came home with with the flu so Mass was cancelled for the following two Saturdays. They celebrated on March 7th, and have continued every Saturday since.
Bishop Clement, who had already known Reverend Donna for many years, and had attended and participated in Rev. Amber's Ordination to the Holy Priesthood in March of 2014, at Dignity LA. Met with us in regards to our new position as volunteer Clergy for the St. Francis Parish in April of 2015, and agreed to continue to extend his Episcopal Authority over our mission authorizing Reverends Donna and Amber to continue this ministry on behalf of the American Catholic Church at the St. Francis of Assisi Parish, and after a trial period, we could become eligible for incarnation into his church.
For more information please see our Facebook group page at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stfrancischapel/
Denomination / Affiliation:
Catholic
Dress Style:
casual
Average Age of Attendees:
40-50
Community Projects:
0-12
MINISTRIES AND GROUPS
Groups and Public Services
Weddings and Receptions
Funerals
Eucharistic Service/Catholic Mass, Baptism, Weddings, Funerals, Anointing of the Sick/Healing Service, Hospital Visits, Confession and/or Pastoral Counseling available by appointment.
BELIEFS
Christianity for us is a process of simultaneous self-discovery and opening ourselves to the divine mercy that is available for each one of us, the love of God is more important than following any man made church rules or believing that we are condemned because of our "sinful nature" to always be in opposition to the good news of the Gospel and exiled from God's boundless love.
No intermediary, however well meaning, can deny us or separate us from God's love, unless in thinking we are not deserving of it or listening to those who condemn us, we turn away. The sacrament of Communion is vital to our spiritual nourishment and well being, and it is Christ's gift to us that no Priest should withhold from us as a punishment.
We believe in Apostolic Succession, and that a valid ordination to the Holy Priesthood is a necessary requirement to consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ, and that the sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity of the priest does not disqualify him or her from being an instrument of the Holy Spirit or representing Christ both as male or female as his Priest or administering his Holy Sacraments.
However, as it is also our belief that no one can presume to know the will of God, or determine the movement or actions of the Holy Spirit in the Service of Christ's Church, which if it is truly Catholic (meaning Universal) it must acknowledge in those movements that from the beginning of the Christian era, even up to the present day have varied according to a human understanding of these events interpreted through the multiplicity of experiences of the many faithful.
While we are not, nor have ever been Roman Catholics, we have come from an authentic alternate Catholic tradition which is also rich in ritual, symbolism, faith, with an ecumenical orientation, that has lead us to a broader understanding of our faith than those who may be confined inside the lines of the Roman Catholic Church's teachings and traditions.
Baptism:
Both
Healing and Charismatic Gifts:
Open But Cautious
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American Catholic Church, St. Francis of Assisi Parish is a Catholic Church located in Zip Code 91601.
Church Profile Manager: Donna Owen