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When members of Brisbane’s Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) tell you to ‘Love Thy Neighbour’, they’re not necessarily being overly Biblical. It’s because the new assistant pastor at MCC goes by the name Leigh Neighbour.
Neighbour, 67, arrived in Brisbane last month from New Zealand, where he served as the official pastor of the Auckland MCC. When Neighbour’s partner of 28 years, Denny, found work in Brisbane this year, there was no question Leigh would stay behind.
“Instead of losing my status as a pastor, I was asked if I would become assistant pastor at MCC Brisbane,” Leigh told Queensland Pride. “I said, ‘Yes, I’d love it very much!’”
The invitation came courtesy of Brisbane MCC pastors Anne James and Iris Saggers, who had known both Leigh and Denny for many years.
“We’ve been praying for a long time for a man in a pastoral role. Men sometimes prefer to speak to another man,” James said.
Those who do seek out Neighbour for pastoral care may be comforted to know he is a qualified psychologist and counsellor.
“Prior to coming to MCC I was very involved in the church, and when I came out as a gay male, the church said, ‘We don’t want you any more’.
“A friend told me about MCC. I sat in the back row and as soon as the service was over I tried to get out but they invited me back for coffee. This young
lad eyed me up and down and he made arrangements to take me to a church barbecue. We’ve been together ever since,” he said.
Apart from Denny, Leigh says his biggest passion is “to help the community, particularly those living with HIV/AIDS”.
“I am HIV-positive [and] have been for over 18 years. This allows me to share my passion in walking alongside fellow HIV/AIDS people, within our GLBTI community and beyond.
“That has been my biggest passion, both in counselling and support and life coaching, to allow people to find their self worth and their life and the beauty that is found within them.”
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