The Rev. Dr. Edgard Francisco Danielsen-Morales
The Rev. Dr. Edgard Francisco Danielsen-Morales is the Assistant Pastor for Congregational Life at Metropolitan Community Church of New York. In this position his responsibilities cover a wide range of activities: from religious education to life development programs; from spiritual direction to preaching; from Bible queer reading and interpretation to lay leadership training, theological writing, as well as the usual responsibilities of pastors.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Edgard Francisco’s spiritual journey began in the American Baptist and Disciples of Christ (Charismatic) traditions. Because of his sexual orientation, his church stripped him of his lay ministry, and any future possibility of entering the ordination process.
On his vocational journey, Edgard Francisco has been blessed with a wide array of experiences in leadership positions. In the academic world, he held a tenured position as Full Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico for 16 years, as well as 6 years as Associate Dean for Graduate Studies. In religious settings, he has served as pastor in two different MCC, and previous to that had 4 years of work with the National Ecumenical Movement of Puerto Rico, and 3 years with Reencuentro, the first theological reflection group for and by GLBTQ people in Puerto Rico. The experience with these religious organizations opened his eyes to the ecumenical and interfaith world, its challenges and promise.
In 1996 Edgard found his spiritual home in Metropolitan Community Churches where he reclaimed his call to the pastoral ministry. He was ordained in 2002 and began his pastoral work at ICM Cristo Sanador in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
After being called by MCC NY on 2004, he left behind his home church, and his position as a tenured Professor at the University of Puerto Rico, and moved to New York City where he currently lives. In addition to his responsibilities as a pastor, Edgard Francisco is a Candidate in the Training Institute of the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis.
His work in the wider community of Metropolitan Community Churches is in the areas of queer theology and preaching, and education and training of clergy and laity. He has participated in a myriad of projects – from the visioning stages, to planning and implementation phases – such as teaching for 5 years the Intensives in the Ministry; leading retreats and training for lay and ordained leaders in Latin America (Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brasil) and the United States; spiritual direction for pastors; supervision of Future Clergy; and workshops on multiculturalism, queer preaching, and the integration of spirituality and sexuality.
Edgard Francisco has participated in many committees and teams in the denomination: Ordination Interviews, Re-entry Interviews, Worship Planning Teams for General & Regional Conferences, and has also collaborated with translation of documents (English to Spanish). He was a member of MCC Moderator’s Theologies Team from July 2007 to July 2010, and currently serves on the Moderator’s Hispanic Church Plant team that provides support and guidance to churches and leader interested in developing ministries for Spanish speaking communities.
