People in Sanctuary
United Methodist congregations are sheltering immigrants facing deportation who seek to remain in the United States for humanitarian reasons. This information comes from "A Call to Action for United Methodists in Response to the Plight of Migrants." (United Methodist Insight Illustration)
UPDATE: The General Commission on Religion and Race endorsed the Call to Action on July 11. GCORR wrote in its announcement: "In 2017, GCORR staff and board of directors crossed the border to see the conditions many refugees face. Please read the earlier statement and actions we asked United Methodists to carry out to demonstrate compassion toward our refugee and immigrant sisters and brothers."
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Bishops and top agency executives have issued a call to action urging United Methodists to respond to the U.S. immigrant border crisis with supplies, advocacy and spiritual support. The statement includes a list of United Methodist congregations currently sheltering immigrations facing deportation who are seeking to remain in the United States for humanitarian reasons.
The call was issued July 9 by Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño, chair of the United Methodist Task Force on Immigration, and three agency executives: Harriett J. Olson, United Methodist Women; Susan Henry-Crowe, Church and Society; and Thomas Kemper, Global Ministries. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), which has been providing supplies and financial support to border ministries, is part of Global Ministries.
Shortly after the call to action came in an email, Bishop Elaine J. W. Stanovsky forwarded the statement to clergy and laity in her Greater Northwest Episcopal Area, which includes Oregon-Idaho, Pacific Northwest and Alaska conferences. Bishop Stanovsky urged churches in her area to "respond with love" to the immigration crisis, including partnering with other agencies along the U.S.-Mexico border currently engaged in legal and other assistance.
United Methodists have been newly outraged in the past month by reports of inhumane and unsanitary conditions, especially affecting children, in border detention centers popularly labeled "concentration camps." Efforts to deliver UMCOR hygiene kits have been rebuffed by U.S. Border Patrol authorities, citing regulations that prohibit volunteer contributions or work in detention centers.
Although stymied in their efforts to gain access to children's detention centers, such as one in Clint, Texas, that has been a news focus, United Methodists have contributed thousands of hygiene kits to transition ministries that aid immigrants in settling while they await determination of their asylum status, according to the Rev. Jack Amick, UMCOR's director of global migration.
The strains of global migration have also caught the attention of the World Methodist Council, an international association of some 80 Methodist and Uniting Church denominations around the world. The WMC held a global migration consultation in June in London, England, which produced a statement, "God Is On The Move: A Call to Be the Church in a New Way." The statement lays out guidelines for Methodists worldwide in ministering to migrant populations.
"How the church works with the phenomenon of migration matters. If the church welcomes the stranger among us – not to be like us and do things our way – but if we truly welcome the stranger with radical hospitality, then, maybe the world will have an example and will begin to adopt migration policies and practices that are more dignified, transparent, and predictable," the World Methodist Council statement reads in part.
"Likewise, only if we, as migrants are willing to change and be transformed, will we be able to live fully into the discipleship to which God has called us and our transformation of the world will not be limited. If we, as the church, reject the other, we cannot expect the world to engage those who are different."
The full text of the United Methodist call to action reads:
A Call to Action for United Methodists in Response to the Plight of Migrants
July 9, 2019
Grace and peace to you in the name of Christ Jesus. On behalf of the United Methodist Immigration Task Force we share with you a deep concern for migrants. You have seen the deplorable conditions under which migrant children and families are being detained in the US right now. We cannot be silent in this hour. The voice and actions of The United Methodist Church must be heard and experienced in this moment.
We give God thanks for United Methodists who are providing compassionate care to migrants at the border. Border Conferences have established relief centers for migrants. United Methodists from other regions of the country continue to support migrants seeking asylum with their time, talent and treasures. United Methodist congregations across the country have opened their doors to provide sanctuary for those immigrants whose lives would be endangered if they were to be deported to their home countries. UMCOR has been a partner in assisting this connectional work. The General Board of Church and Society has led us faithfully in our advocacy work in support of justice for the migrant and the immigrant. United Methodist Women have also been a strong voice in advocating for the rights of immigrant children and families.
Let’s continue to do this good and faithful work. Join us in these actions:
Give to the Advance # 3022144 for Migration. Go to UMCOR – Global Migration for further information.
Join the General Board of Church and Society in our United Methodist advocacy work alongside migrants. Speak out to end child detention by sending drawings and letters from United Methodists of all ages to Congress and the White House.
Encourage your UMW unit to join the action plan set forth at the United Methodist Women website.
We ask that you also speak up in support of persons in Sanctuary and the churches supporting them. In the past week, we have become aware of the Trump Administration’s most recent attack on immigrants who are living in Sanctuary in congregations, among them United Methodist congregations, as they seek to fight for justice in their deportation cases. The federal government is issuing fines of up to $500,000 to these immigrants in Sanctuary. This is an egregiously punitive tactic causing great fear and anxiety to immigrant brothers and sisters who are already deeply burdened by the stress of their circumstances.
Support United Methodist Sanctuary congregations and the immigrants in Sanctuary by praying for them and by sending them a postcard expressing such support. At the end of this letter is the list of multiple United Methodist Sanctuary churches and those immigrant friends whom they are hosting.
Take this moment to act. It will make a difference in these challenging times in the lives of suffering immigrants and the brave churches who are ministering to them. May the words of Paul to Timothy strengthen us all……
"For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline." – II Timothy 2:7
Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño, Chair, United Methodist Immigration Task Force
Susan Henry-Crowe, General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society
Thomas Kemper, General Secretary, General Board of Global Ministries
Harriett J. Olson, General Secretary/CEO, United Methodist Women
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011.
Information on the World Methodist Council came from a report by blogmaster David W. Scott of UM & Global, collaborative blog of United Methodist Professors of Mission.