The MCC Oral History Project and
Timeline
As part of the celebration of the 40th
anniversary of Metropolitan Community
Churches on October 6, 2008, a
historical timeline with narrative and
oral histories is under development to
share many of the important events in
MCC's history as a movement, ministry
and community.
I'm pleased to invite you to participate
in this historical project documenting
the amazing impact of Metropolitan
Community Churches over the past four
decades.
How Can You Participate In This
MCC Oral History Project and Timeline?
There are two ways you can take part in
this MCC history project.
OPTION 1: You can complete your oral
history at General Conference in
Scottsdale.
If you will be at General Conference,
you can schedule your oral history
interview on-site for incorporation into
our virtual archives on-line at
www.MCCchurch.org.
Your oral history will be taken either
by recorder or in-person by MCC staff
members Angel Collie and Rev. Karla
Fleshman and a team of volunteers, and
then transcribed by Frank Zerilli. We
will be limited in the number of
interviews we can complete on-site
during Conference, so please sign-up
early by writing to Angel Collie at
and he will schedule your interview.
These person-to-person interviews will
take place on July 2, 2007, from 8 AM to
5 PM, and again during the breakfast
hour on Wednesday, July 4, and again on
Friday, July 6. During these hours,
recorders will also be available for you
to enter your responses to the interview
questions. If you choose to record
your interview, you will be asked to
fill out a short form before you begin
your name, address, telephone number and
e-mail. This form will be numbered. When
you begin recording your interview,
state your name, address and telephone
number before you begin to answer
questions and tell your memories. State
the number on your form and then you
will begin. We hope to photograph or
videograph as many individuals as
possible during the person-to-person
interviews.
This timeline will be displayed on large
boards at the 2007 General Conference
site at the Fairmont Princess in
Scottsdale, Arizona. We invite you to
the display area and fill out cards with
memories for each year and attach them
to the boards. You may also bring 3x5
cards with memories typed on them and
place them on the board. We will scan
these for publication on the archive
site.
OPTION 2: Alternately, you can complete
your history on-line by
CLICKING HERE. We
would very much appreciate receipt of as
many of these as possible before General
Conference begins on July 2, 2007. By
completing your history on-line, you'll
be free to visit the archive room, but
you won't need to spend time completing
the interview at conference.
What's Included In The
MCC Oral History Project and Timeline?
The narrative and oral histories begin
in 1968 and proceed to the present. We
ask that interviewees and survey
respondents attempt to "attach" a memory
to a year whenever possible.
For example, in completing my history, I
would choose 1996 as the year I
discovered Metropolitan Community
Churches in Milwaukee and 1998 as the
year that I joined Exodus MCC in
Abilene, Texas. I attended my first
General Conference in 2003 in Dallas, my
second in 2005. I remember meeting Troy
Perry for the first time in 2003.
These are the questions to which
interviewees and survey respondents
are asked to respond:
- What is your legal name?
- What do you like to be called by
your friends and family?
- Where were you born?
- What place do you call "home?"
- If you have a life-partner or
spouse, do you wish to name them in
this interview?
- If so, please fill in the
blank.________________
- If you answered yes to # 5, do you
celebrate an anniversary? YES/NO
- If yes, you may choose to provide
the date of your anniversary in this
blank:
_______________________________.
- Did you grow up in a church? If
yes, which one? (Fill in the blank)
- When did you first discover
Metropolitan Community Churches?
(Please fill in year)
- How did you hear about MCC?
Friend, family, advertising, Troys
book, other
________________Please describe
- Describe your first visit to MCC.
Please include the churchs name.
- How many years have you belonged
to a MCC? (If applicable)
- Who preached the sermon that youve
never forgotten?__________
- Do you remember the name of the
sermon? ____________________
- Where were you when you heard
it?_________________________
- Who influenced you the most in MCC?
- Describe how this person
influenced you.
- If you attend a MCC now, please
give its name.
- What do you like best about your
local church? (If applicable)
- What do you like best about the
movement, ministry and community of
MCC?
- What was the moment when you felt
most proud to be a member of MCC?
- Have you attended a General
Conference? Yes/no
- Tell how many you have attended.
____ (#)
- What do you like best about
General Conferences?
- What do you remember about the
Inclusive (Including) Language
Project?
- What do you remember about the
ordination of women and people of
color?
- What do you remember about the
beginning of ministry to transgender
persons?
- What do you remember about the
first childrens ministry in your MCC?
- What do you remember about MCC
ministry during the beginning of the
AIDS pandemic?
- Please include any other memory
that you wish to share.
You can omit any question that you
do not wish to answer. We do ask
that you honor the limitations on
length of response so we can ensure
enough space to include everyone in
the final publication on-line.
Thank you so much for participating in
this
MCC Oral History Project and Timeline.
I have provided a rudimentary timeline
below to help you think of memories that
you want to include. We know we wont
capture everything that is considered
important, but we hope you will help us
build a rich history for the next
generation of MCCers to enjoy.
Metropolitan Community Churches
P.S. Why not begin your participation in
the
MCC Oral History Project and Timeline
right now? To schedule
an interview at General Conference,
write to
AngelCollie@MCCchurch.net. Or
to complete your survey on-line,
CLICK HERE
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