PLEASE READ THIS CONSENT IN IT'S ENTIRETY.
BY CONTINUING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SURVEY YOU ARE GIVING YOUR CONSENT TO THE INFORMATION HEREIN.
STUDY: Assessing the UCC "God is Still Speaking" Campaign: A quantitative research study revealing attitudes to encourage openness to spiritual experiences, enhance pastoral care for persons who report such experiences, and promote prophetic action as a result.
Principal Investigator: Rev. Kathryn Foster, Iliff School of Theology, Denver Colorado. Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Katherine Turpin, Professor of Practical Theology and Religious Education, Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colorado who can be reached at kturpin@iliff.edu
You are invited to participate in a research study assessing the United Church of Christ (UCC) “God is Still Speaking” or “Still Speaking God” campaign ideology. The research study consists of a survey asking questions about your thoughts on how you may perceive God speaking to you, a member, active visitor or authorized pastor of the United Church of Christ, familiar with the idea and marketing campaign. The purpose of this study is to discover the attitudes of UCC members as it pertains to what they believe with regard to this statement. You were selected as a possible participant in this study because you consider yourself a participant in a UCC church located in Pennsylvania, are healthy and 18 years of age or older.
If you decide to participate, please understand your participation is voluntary and you have the right to withdraw and discontinue participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. The alternative is not to participate.
If you decide to participate, click the link to complete the following survey. Your completion of this survey indicates your consent to participate in this research study. The survey is designed to determine attitudes about the God is Still Speaking or Still Speaking God campaign ideas. It will take about 15 minutes to complete the survey. You will be asked to answer questions about how you feel if God communicates, or “speaks” to you, in what ways this communication may occur, if you think this phenomenon is helpful to you, and if it might urge you to action when communicated. Additionally, you will also be asked to supply demographic information such as age, gender, Conference location, and some local church specifics. You will not be asked to identify yourself by name or date of birth. No benefits accrue to you for answering the survey, but your responses, in aggregate form, may be used to inform UCC leadership and other interested persons about these attitudes among participants. All individual survey data will be destroyed when the research is concluded. Any discomfort or inconvenience to you might include anxiety related to discussing personal or spiritual feelings or ideas you may have; but this is not expected to be any greater than anything you encounter in everyday life. However, we encourage you to consult others for advice, such as a pastor or psychologist, should you feel the need prior to participation. Data will be collected using the Internet. No guarantees can be made regarding the interception of data sent via the Internet by any third party. Confidentiality will be maintained to the degree permitted by the technology used.
We strongly advise that you do not use an employer issued device (laptop, smartphone etc.) to respond to this survey.
Your decision whether or not to participate will not affect your future relationships with the researcher, Kathryn Foster, the Penn Northeast Conference, or any other UCC Conference or Association which decides to distribute this survey. The only person who will have access to the data returned in the survey will be the researcher. The UCC Conferences are only distributing the blank surveys; they are not collecting any responses or data contained in them. If you decide to participate, you are free to stop at any time; you may also skip questions (except for questions #1 annd #2 which are integral to the study) if you don't want to answer them or you may choose not to submit the survey.
Please feel free to ask questions regarding this study. You may contact the researcher if you have additional questions: Kathryn Foster, kfoster@iliff.edu, or 610-554-7364; or the Faculty Mentor at Iliff School of Theology, Denver Colorado, Dr. Katherine Turpin, B.A., M.Div., PhD., kturpin@iliff.edu.
If you are not satisfied with how this study is being conducted, or if you have any concerns, complaints, or general questions about the research or your rights as a participant, please contact the University of Denver (DU) Institutional Review Board to speak to someone independent of the research team at IRBAdmin@du.edu.
De-identified data from this study may be shared with the research community at large to advance science and health. We will remove or code any personal information that could identify you before files are shared with other researchers to ensure that, by current scientific standards and known methods, no one will be able to identify you from the information we share. Despite these measures, we cannot guarantee anonymity of your personal data.
Thank you for your time.
By clicking the "next" button below, I confirm that I have read this form and decided that I will participate in the project described above. Its general purposes, the particulars of involvement, and possible risks and inconveniences have been explained to my satisfaction. I understand that I can discontinue participation at any time. My consent also indicates that I am at least 18 years of age.