 The statement – dubbed "Our Common Humanity, Our Shared Dignity" – stresses the church's position that it "must openly embrace God's people of all sexes, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions".The apology statement's groundwork first came up in 2014, when a gay man articulated during the church plenary his query about the church's plans for sexual minorities.This led to discussions among the newly elected set of national youth officers, led by an openly gay president and a lesbian executive vice president, which would later be succeeded by another openly gay president.