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After 18 months, Perry's church has earned a considerable degree of public acceptance. Similar congregations exist in Chicago, San Diego and San Francisco. More important has been the effect on Perry's flock. "It's changed my life," says one member, who is now the M.C.C.'s office secretary. "I even got up the courage to tell my mother that I'm homosexual. She confessed that she already knew about it, but she said, 'You're my son, and I love you anyway.' I feel now that God cares about us —that we're his children and that Christ died for us just like he did for everyone else."