The Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church  is located in the Mount Auburn community that is part of Cincinnati, Ohio. The Mount Auburn area is one of the many hills surrounding what is now the downtown area of Cincinnati. In the mid-19th century Mount Auburn was one of the new suburbs being developed for those who wanted to escape the crowding of the city. Around 1868 a group of Mount Auburn Presbyterians began to meet and organize what is today our church.

Over time Mount Auburn transformed into a more urban type setting as the City of Cincinnati expanded. Today Mount Auburn has as its neighbors the downtown area of Cincinnati, educational institutions such as the University of Cincinnati and Hebrew Union College, and major health facilities such as University Hospital and Hoxworth Blood Center.
 

Today members and friends who attend Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church  comprise a variety of backgrounds and walks of life. They live in various neighborhoods in the city as well as communities within and surrounding the Greater Cincinnati area including Southern Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and South-Eastern Indiana.

Together we are each on a journey of faith seeking to know and serve God as witnessed through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Some of us grew up in the Presbyterian and Reformed traditions while others come from other religious faiths and backgrounds.
 

Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church (MAPC) is a progressive Christian church where faith is exposed to reason and reason enlarged by faith.  As Christ's Church we who gather here seek to love the world as he did.  We also strive to be as embracing as Jesus was and invite all persons into full membership and service regardless of race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or any worldly condition.

In 2005 a Mission Committee report included the following statements which sort out what MAPC stands for as a church:

"We share a sense that God has called Mount Auburn to preach and teach a liberating, progressive theology as we design our worship and educational programs.  We are part of a tradition that is "always reforming," and expect God to speak not just to us but also to other people, to different traditions and to each new generation.  We value process theology, an open-ended theology, focused on God who is a living creative, dynamic being, not captured by scriptures or our historical creeds.  As one joins this congregation, we prefer not to ask, "Do you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?"  Rather, we prefer to ask, "Will you serve God as revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus?"  We find the compelling reference to God for us was the life and ministry of Jesus who differs from us in faithfulness, but not in human experience."

Other Statements of Faith, Principles, and Policies

We have a Statement of Faith that is based on the Working Principles adopted by our local governing body.  This affirms our commitment to the witness and ministry of Jesus Christ, to our denomination, and to each other.

Today Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church continues a long tradition of being a place where social justice and inclusion of all people are valued. The following are some statements that express Mount Auburn's stance regarding our denomination's position on the role of GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender) people as full participants as members and in serving the church as leaders:

Policy on the Inclusion of Gays and Lesbians

Statement of Opposition to G-6.0106b/Statement of Inclusive Ordination

Statement on Covenant Services
 

Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church  is a connectional church through its membership in the Cincinnati Presbytery within the Presbyterian Church (USA) denomination.

The Presbyterian form of church government we follow is a representative democracy much like the model of the United States. This includes the general membership electing leaders, known as Elders, at the church level to make up what is called the Session. Members of the Session lead various committees within the local congregation.  Each committee includes members of the Congregation.  The Session also includes the Pastor who serves as moderator. 
 

Our denomination is organized into regional bodies known as Presbyteries, Synods, and the General Assembly. The Cincinnati Presbytery is part of the Synod Of The Covenant. The national governing body is the General Assembly that meets every year (every two years starting in 2004).

The governing bodies at the local, regional, and national levels follow the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA).  This consists of the Book of Confessions and the Book of Order.

For more information on our denomination, visit the web site of the Presbyterian Church (USA) at:

http://www.pcusa.org/
 

Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church is part of the network of More Light Presbyterian churches dedicated to full inclusion of GLBT people in the Presbyterian Church (USA).  Visit the More Light Presbyterians web site for more information at:  http://www.mlp.org

If you are interested in knowing about other welcoming churches in the PC (USA), visit the following web resource:

Welcoming PC (USA) Churches

Here are some links to some other organizations that are working for full inclusion of GLBT persons in the PC (USA):
 

Toward a church as generous and just as God's grace

After all the amendment debates of recent years, the Covenant Network remains committed to finding a way both to live out the graciously hospitable gospel we have received and to live together with all our fellow members in the PC(USA).  Visit the Covenant Network web site for more information at:  http://www.covenantnetwork.org/

That All May Freely Serve

That All May Freely Serve (TAMFS) works for ordination of qualified gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender candidates in the Presbyterian Church (USA) as Elders, Deacons, and Ministers.   Visit the TAMFS web site for more information at:  http://www.tamfs.org/

The Witherspoon Society is a society of justice-seeking Presbyterians, responding to the God who calls us through the power of the Holy Spirit into wholeness, as a community that lives out the radical vision of the Gospel of Jesus the Christ in a world increasingly broken.  Through their witness they seek to revitalize the church's life and focus, so that it may be biblically and confessionally faithful in the world.  Visit the Witherspoon web site for more information at:  http://www.witherspoonsociety.org/