The core values provide the framework in which the church operates.  It is the very basics.  It's upon this framework that everything else exists.

We value inclusion.
Everyone is welcome at Central Texas MCC.  Each of us provides a sense of belonging to people, and we cherish their presence in our family.

We value a spirit of safe haven.
We promote a spirit within our daily lives, as well as within worship, where everyone can be authentic, without fear of rejection or condemnation.

We value the Bible.
The Bible, always open to interpretation and exploration, provides the basis for our understanding of God and God’s relationship with us.

We value community ministry.
With an all-inclusive love as our driving force, we openly serve others who are in need.

The mission is a description of what we do and where we are going.  It is the locomotive that pulls the train.

We are a people unified in our belief that God affirms and delights in the diversity of all people.  We endeavor to share God’s Word by being Christian examples of love through worship, community service, and by providing a place for ministry and education.

The vision is where we are going.  It's our destination.  It describes what we hope to accomplish with our mission.

Central Texas MCC envisions an unprecedented number of people drawn to our congregation because of the love, the joy, and the compassion we share, in serving others, doing justice, and worshiping God.

The Rev. Charley Garrison is Senior Minister of Central Texas Metropolitan Community Church and identifies as a gay man, political activist, preacher, teacher, servant, and Christian.

Charley was born in 1957 in southwest Louisiana and in 1975 moved to Baton Rouge, where he spent the next 20 years.  It was in Baton Rouge as an AIDS activist that he discovered Metropolitan Community Churches and began to integrate his spirituality, his sexuality, and his passion for justice.  It was also while in Baton Rouge that he took up the call to enter ministry.  He received his educational requirements through Samaritan Institute for Religious Studies and was ordained to ministry by Metropolitan Community Churches in 1998.  Shortly thereafter, he served briefly as the Director of The Living Room, a day center for HIV⁺ adults, and a ministry of MCC of Greater New Orleans.

In November of 1999, he was appointed as the Interim Pastor of Central Texas MCC.  The match was a good one -- so good, in fact, that the congregation called him to be their permanent pastor in November 2000.

Since then, he has worked diligently to serve, not only the members of the church, but the greater community of Waco.  And through his encouragement and sermons, the members of Central Texas MCC have learned to embrace their sexuality as gifts of God.  They have developed programs to serve the hungry within their community, they have found a voice to speak out for equal rights for all people, and they have taken up a much-needed ministry to people living with HIV.