When We All Get to Heaven: Slate's LGBTQ Podcast on the AIDS Epidemic

Introducing "When We All Get to Heaven"

• 🎙️ This is a sneak peek of "When We All Get to Heaven," a new narrative series from Slate's Outward podcast.
• 💡 The series tells the story of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco (MCC-SF), one of the first gay-positive churches.
• 🎧 It's produced by Eureka Street Productions and features music, sermons, and archival tapes rescued from the church.

MCC-SF and the AIDS Epidemic

• 📍 The Metropolitan Community Church was a vibrant, unapologetically gay church located in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood during the 80s and 90s.
• ⚠️ The community faced immense trials, including the deaths of hundreds of its members due to the AIDS epidemic.
• 🎶 In 1987, the church began recording its services for members too sick to attend, creating a unique historical archive.

Making Meaning from Faith and Loss

• 🔍 The "When We All Get to Heaven" series uses these historical recordings to explore how the queer church made meaning amidst the devastation of AIDS.
• ✅ It delves into the personal, social, and political struggles faced by the community while grappling with faith.
• 👂 Listeners are invited into the heart of a community striving to live and maintain faith during a profound crisis.