I grew up in a very Catholic community in Detroit, MI, I hardly knew anyone who wasn’t Catholic. Moving to Lexington was a surprise, where were all the Catholics? It helped me to look at my faith as a relationship with God and not just my culture of how to celebrate and act throughout the year. When I went to Lexington Theological Seminary my eyes and heart were opened to ecumanism and the richness of different faiths and ways to worship and serve God. 

When MQ was invited to join BUILD honestly I was most excited about the Ecumenical aspect, we would be working together with people of other faiths, races, neighborhoods, together building the Kingdom of God. I didn’t know a lot about all the issues yet - I had good housing, my kids had good education, I had health insurance, but I have learned SO MUCH from listening to diverse people in BUILD that my experience (and luck or privilege) was not an excuse to not stand with people who were struggling in these areas as well as others. My faith was calling me to take action.

In the next few months our BUILD team will be having listening sessions to hear what issues the people of MQ and all the other 25 congregations throughout Lexington are experiencing. We are currently working on education, mental health, drugs, and crime and violence and are interested in your related stories, as well as other issues of concern for you and your family. It is still not clear if we can meet in person or will be Zooming or talking 1:1 to listen to what issues are important to you and the people of Lexington. But we will have a listening session!

If you want to be listened to and participate in taking action on serious community problems contact Kabby Akers (kakers@uky.edu, 859-285-9695).