Timeline
Jan. 5, 2015
Conrad Kanagy’s final report of the survey results, an appendix with tables containing the data, and an executive summary are released publicly on Mennonite Church USA’s website—in English and Spanish—along with a brief news release.
Dec. 17, 2014
English versions of Conrad Kanagy’s final report, an appendix with tables, and an executive summary are shared with the survey respondents via e-mail. Documents are sent for translation into Spanish.
Early December 2014
Conference ministers reviewed Conrad Kanagy’s comprehensive report of the survey findings at their Dec. 3–6 meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
Early October 2014
Constituency Leaders Council (CLC) members viewed preliminary results from the survey during their Oct. 6–8 meeting in Schiller Park, Ill.
Late September 2014
Executive Board members viewed initial data from the survey during their Sept. 25–27 meeting in Kansas City, Mo.
Sept. 8, 2014
Deadline for survey responses. The response rate for the survey was 66.2 percent, with 1,323 leaders giving their feedback. (Responses received after this date were not included in the data analysis.) Conrad Kanagy, professor of sociology at Elizabethtown (Pa.) University, began compiling, tabulating and analyzing the responses.
Aug. 8, 2014
Mennonite Church USA office staff mailed a survey to credentialed leaders (pastoral leaders in congregations, leaders in non-congregational assignments, retired leaders) within Mennonite Church USA. The purpose of the survey was to solicit feedback about a variety of benefits ranging from broader affiliation with Mennonite Church USA to denominational and agency services; beliefs about homosexuality and same-sex relations; and alternative organizational arrangements for the denomination. View the list of survey questions.
June 2014
During their June 26–28 meeting in Schiller Park, Ill., Executive Board members processed eight recommendations for action from a task force that was appointed in March 2014. The task force was responding to calls by the Constituency Leaders Council to discern ways to find unity in the midst of diversity across the church in a time of polarization and disagreement.
The board decided to implement these eight actions over the course of the next year, leading up to the 2015 Mennonite Church USA convention to be held June 30–July 5, 2015, in Kansas City, Mo. One of the actions was to launch a survey of all credentialed leaders in Mennonite Church USA in preparation for a time of discernment at convention.