QUESTION  1.  What Cultural issues were considered when drafting the Human Sexuality; Gift and Trust statement? This question is a result of understanding that we live in a world that has been sexualized.  I believe that several expressions of our gender and sexual identity are part of this conversation, whether or not we acknowledge it.  The recognition that many issues are on the table invites each of us to name them specifically, while doing the hard work which will help us respond in healthy ways to the whole challenge. 

​A response to the refugee crisis in Europe for me includes a travel memory.  While in Egypt, I went to “garbage city”.  This Christian community located in a Zabbalin village on one of the hills of the Mokattam, was the result of a 1969 decision by the Governor to relocate all the garbage collectors of Cairo, to this space.  Hastily built houses of tin were erected.  In 1987 there was a population of 15,000.  The number has doubled now and there is better housing.  There is a stench in the air of the village because all the garbage that is collected by these Christians, who were dis-located by their government, sits on the ground floor of the majority of the houses.  Families live on the second floor, on top of piles of trash, which is sorted to be recycled, sold, and burned.