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Report on the MCC Statement of Faith

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Report on the MCC Statement of Faith MCC Statement of Faith A Report on Initial Surveys concerning Individual Expectations & Church Practices WITH ORIGINAL LANGUAGE SUBMISSIONS IN SPANISH, PORTUGUESE, AND GERMAN Prepared by the Commission on the MCC Statement of Faith 8/31/2014 Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1 Email Addresses and their Use for Follow-up Questions and Responses ................................................. 1 Links for Reading the Current MCC Statement of Faith ............................................................................ 1 Links for Submitting Additional Feedback ................................................................................................ 1 Church Practices around the MCC Statement of Faith Practices .................................................................. 2 How we publicized the survey .................................................................................................................. 2 Dates of collection: ................................................................................................................................... 2 Number of unique completed submissions: ............................................................................................. 2 Rate of return: ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Q1, Q2 - Churches and affiliated groups that participated ....................................................................... 2 Q5 - Does your congregation use other language to name the Statement of Faith?............................... 3 Q6 - Does your congregation use the MCC Statement of Faith in any way? ............................................ 4 Q7 - Where does your congregation use the MCC Statement of Faith? .................................................. 5 Q8 - Why doesn't your congregation use the MCC Statement of Faith? ................................................. 6 Q9 - What other declarations of faith does your congregation use? ....................................................... 7 Q10 - Please explain the rationale for the use of any text(s) in lieu of or in addition to the MCC Statement of Faith. ................................................................................................................................... 8 Q11 - Are there other comments that you would like to share with the Commission on the MCC Statement of Faith? .................................................................................................................................. 8 Survey for Individuals regarding the MCC Statement of Faith ................................................................... 11 How we publicized the survey ................................................................................................................ 11 Dates of collection: ................................................................................................................................. 11 Number of unique completed submissions: ........................................................................................... 11 Response by Language ............................................................................................................................ 11 Q2 – Role of the Respondent .................................................................................................................. 12 Q3 - Age of Respondents – Worldwide ................................................................................................... 13 Q3 Subset - Age of Respondents – Outside of the USA .......................................................................... 13 Q4 - Response by Country of Citizenship ................................................................................................ 14 Q6 - Gender ............................................................................................................................................. 15 i Q7 - Orientation ...................................................................................................................................... 15 Q10 - Were you aware that MCC has a Statement of Faith in our Bylaws? ........................................... 16 Q11 - What do you think is the purpose of the MCC Statement of Faith? ............................................. 17 Q12 - If you are (or ever have been) a member of MCC, were you presented with the Statement of Faith as part of a membership class? ...................................................................................................... 20 Q13 - Where would you expect to find the MCC Statement of Faith used? .......................................... 21 Q14 - What topics do you feel strong SHOULD be included in a revised MCC Statement of Faith? ...... 24 Q15 - What topics do you feel strongly SHOULD NOT be included in a revised MCC Statement of Faith? ................................................................................................................................................................ 30 Q16 - Traditionally the name of the document we are currently reviewing has been the MCC Statement of Faith. If you had the chance to name it again, what name would you suggest? ............ 34 Q17 - Are there other comments that you would like to share with the Commission on the MCC Statement of Faith? ................................................................................................................................ 45 Appendix I – Additional Faith Statements used by MCC Congregations .................................................... 65 The Confession of Inclusive Faith (A Christian Creed of Indonesia) ....................................................... 65 A New Creed (from the United Church of Canada) ................................................................................ 66 The Eight Points of Progressive Christianity (2003 version) ................................................................... 67 United Church of Christ Statement of Faith ........................................................................................... 68 Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism ............................................................................................ 68 Appendix II – Mandates to the Commission on the MCC Statement of Faith ............................................ 70 Authorizing Motion of the 2013 General Conference ............................................................................ 70 Charter of the Commission on the MCC Statement of Faith from the Governing Board ....................... 70 Purpose and Expected Outcomes of the Commission ......................................................................... 70 Members of the Commission: ............................................................................................................. 70 Process and Timeline of the Commission ............................................................................................ 70 Mutual accountabilities with the Governing Board ............................................................................ 71 Resources for the Commission on the MCC Statement of Faith.......................................................... 71 Appendix III – Commission Members ......................................................................................................... 72 ii Introduction The following report presents the results of the first round of surveys developed by the Commission on the MCC Statement of Faith. Along with feedback forms on the MCC denominational website, the surveys were launched with the intention of initiating a grass-roots dialogue with the various constituencies of MCC as we begin our task: to review, renew, and update our MCC Statement of Faith. Email Addresses and their Use for Follow-up Questions and Responses In both surveys the Commission requested email addresses from respondents in case we wished to follow-up on a particular question or to clarify what set of responses to use in cases where more than one representative responded on behalf of a single congregation or affiliated organization. Some respondents have noted that requiring an email address means that the surveys are not anonymous. This is, indeed, the case. The Commission works with the understanding that our discussion is governed by the guidelines for "Holy Conversations" as modeled by the MCC Theologies Team. While our intention has been to foster open channels of communication, the impact of our request has brought about anxiety for some respondents. One of our tasks is to foster an open dialogue with the broadest possible group of people who share a sense of investment in MCC's future. With this in mind, we may occasionally reach out to clarify feedback or respond to a question. Though we have also created channels for anonymous submissions via the links listed below, we are grateful each time a respondent provides a means of two-way communication by providing an email address along with their questions, comments, or concerns. Links for Reading the Current MCC Statement of Faith The current MCC Statement of Faith is located in the Bylaws of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches in Article III – Doctrine, Sacraments and Rites. As a part of the Commission's
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