Posted: August 8, 2003
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For thirty years, Affirmation has been an advocate for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender concerns within The United Methodist Church. It has been the Church's queer voice. In 1989, Affirmation developed a long-range plan to guide its movement into the future. That plan served us well for more than a decade. Now, however, as we face new challenges and opportunities within the world and the Church, we need to plan again. The time has come for Affirmation to take a fresh look at its history, challenges, capabilities and environment to create a vision that will empower and guide its future work.
We need your help. We need to know who you are. We want to discover what you need, what you hope, and what you dream. Affirmation is not a voice in the wilderness. . . It is the voice of a community. So, before we plan, we want to know the people who are part of that community. We want to know you.
Please take a few minutes to help us create a clear vision so that we can speak with a strong voice for the Transgender, Bisexual, Lesbian and Gay community in The United Methodist Church.
Please return surveys by November 1, 2003, by mail to:
Affirmation/United Methodists for LGBT Concerns
900 Hilgard Avenue, Room 316
Los Angeles, CA 90024-3009
or e-mail to: res03ytz@gte.net
Demographic Information:
1. Gender identity: _____ female _____ male _____ blended _____ trans _____ other
2. Ethnicity:
3. Age:
4. Where do you live?:
Town/City
State
_____ urban _____ suburban _____ rural
5. In what contexts are you 'out of the closet'?
_____ Family _____ Work _____ Community _____ Church _____ Other – Please describe:
Church Relations
6. What is your role in the Church? _____ Lay Person _____ Clergy Person
7. If you are clergy or in the ordination process, what is your status?
_____ Elder in Full Connection
_____ Deacon in Full Connection
_____ Probationary Elder
_____ Probationary Deacon
_____ Candidate for Ministry – At what stage in the process?
_____ Local Pastor
8. If you are employed professionally by the church, what is your official function?
_____ Serving a Local Church
_____ Retired
_____ Location/Leave
_____ Extension Ministry – Please describe:
_____ District Superintendent
_____ Bishop
_____ Missionary
_____ Lay employee – Please describe:
9. How active are you in The United Methodist Church? Please describe your involvement:
10. Where in The United Methodist Church do you find support and acceptance as a TLGB person?
11. Where in The United Methodist Church do you experience rejection, suspicion or marginalization?
12. How and in what contexts do you experience strong TLGB voices in the life of the Church?
13. In what contexts or circumstances in the life of the Church would you like to see a strong TLGB voice to emerge?
14. LET YOUR MIND FLY! Where would you like Affirmation's voice for TLGB people to be heard more clearly( e.g, in my congregation, at my backyard barbecue, with the Transcommunity in my area, at General Conference . . . etc. Be creative!)?
Areas of Interest and Concern
15. Identify and rank those areas of interest and concern that you believe Affirmation should address:
(5 = very important . . . 1 = not important)
A. _____ Reconciling/welcoming communities in other Christian denominations
B. _____ TLGB supporting communities in other religious traditions (e.g., Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, etc.)
C. _____ The secular queer (TLBG) community
D. _____ Queer youth
E. _____ Queer communities of color
F. _____ Racism/Sexism in the Queer Community
G. _____ Communities of color within The United Methodist Church
H. _____ United Methodist communities outside the United States
I. _____ General Conference
J. _____ Jurisdictional/Central Conferences
K. _____ Reconciling Ministries Network
L. _____ Queer clergy
M. _____ Closeted queer clergy
N. _____ Queer laity
O. _____ The Trans Community
P. _____ Queer-friendly legislation
_____ Secular _____ Within The United Methodist Church
Q. _____ Confronting/standing up to the Religious Right
(Institute on Religion and Democracy, Good News, Transforming Congregations, etc.)
R. _____ Developing worship resources
S. _____ Developing educational resources
T. _____ Creating/developing coalitions with justice seekers
_____ Secular _____ United Methodist _____ Ecumenical/Religious
U. _____ Other – Please describe.
Internal Concerns:
16. What issues does Affirmation need to address internally?
17. How has your voice been heard or not heard within Affirmation?
18. How have you experienced exclusion/marginalization within Queer United Methodist contexts like Affirmation?
Other Information
19. What are the questions/issues you did not understand in this survey?
20. What have we missed?
Dream It!
21. Complete this sentence. I would love to see Affirmation . . .
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.