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the

WHITE PAPER

We found the churches using FaithStreet and the Archdiocese of Washington's directory. These two websites were selected in order to find as many churches as possible within the project's limited time frame.

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We selected 100 churches to send the survey to, with the intention of the church disseminating the survey to its congregation. Churches in the database were separated based on denomination. We then calculated what percent of the total database each denomination made up. Each full percentage equaled one church that would receive the survey. All remaining churches under a full percentage received the remaining allotments at random.

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We categorized the churches as AFFIRMING, ACCEPTING, TOLERANT, DISCRIMINATING or OTHER based on any of the criteria below:

AFFIRMING:

  • Pride Flag: Pride Flag is displayed on the website.

  • Pride Symbols: Pride Symbols are displayed on the website.

  • Affirming Language: Language affirming LGBTQ+ people, sexuality or gender freedom is listed on the website.

  • Inclusive Language: The church is inclusive of LGBTQ+ people as described on their website.

  • Inclusive Marriage: Marriage of gay or lesbian people is affirmed on the website.

  • Affinity Group: The church has a group where LGBTQ+ people can connect.

  • Group Education: The church has a group that teaches others about inclusion of LGBTQ+ people.

  • Member of Affirming Church Network: the church is a member of a network of churches that are affirming of LGBTQ+ people

ACCEPTING:

  • Accepting Language: The church has website language showing that they are accepting of LGBTQ+ people

TOLERANT:

  • Nonspecific Inclusive Language: Church describes itself as welcoming and references other marginalized groups. However, gender and sexuality are not mentioned.

DISCRIMINATING:

  • Marriage Restrictions: Marriage is described on the church website as something exclusively for heterosexual people. This is either stated explicitly of by listing bible verses.

  • Derogatory References: Describes homosexuality as a sin.

OTHER:

  • None: Website does not reference LGBTQ+ people, sexuality or gender in either a positive or negative way.

  • Not Available: The church does not have a website.

  • Language Barrier: The church’s website is in a language not used by someone on the project team.

Want even more details on how we did it?

Download and read our full white paper here.

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