Episcopal church transforms sanctuary into immigrant-focused art gallery

From New Hampshire-

A new art exhibit showcasing the immigrant experience goes on display at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Londonderry tonight.

“We’re turning the church into an art gallery,” said the Rev. Colin Chapman.

The exhibit, entitled “Our Neighbors, Ourselves,” is part of a string of programs designed to draw attention to the state of immigration in New Hampshire and nationwide, Chapman said.

The spark for the idea came last summer from Chapman and seminarian Kathy Boss, who were inspired in part by some of the news stories about family separation at the southern border the year prior.

The hope was to showcase the daily lives of immigrants in the country and in the Granite State, and dispel the notion of immigrants being something “other,” he said.

More here-

https://www.unionleader.com/nh/arts_and_ent/episcopal-church-transforms-sanctuary-into-immigrant-focused-art-gallery/article_c235ad27-c77a-56ef-ad1d-2c60acdd160d.html

Anglican Bishop’s Son Faces Deportation To El Salvador

From Huffington-

The son of El Salvador’s top Anglican leader is facing deportation from the U.S. back to his home country, where his father says gang members have threatened to murder him.

Bishop David Alvarado’s son, 34-year-old Josue Alvarado, is currently in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a detention center in Ohio, Reuters reports. The bishop told the Episcopal News Service that his son sought refuge in the U.S. in 2016 after being kidnapped and receiving death threats from gangs in El Salvador. 

“We are sad and worried because he can be deported and he is in great danger here in the country,” Alvarado told ENS on Friday.

Gang members forced the bishop’s son, who worked as a taxi driver, to drive them around and distribute weapons and drugs, his father told Reuters. When the younger Alvarado refused to continue, he received death threats, the bishop said. His son eventually filed a complaint with the police, Reuters reports.

More here-

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/josue-alvarado-el-salvador-deportation_n_5e208cdcc5b673621f72149d

Louisiana church leaders: Expanding immigrant detention in Louisiana a tragedy

From Louisiana-

Because of our commitment to upholding the dignity of human life and our recognition that redemption and forgiveness are core principles of our Christian faith, we welcomed with great joy news earlier this year that the total number of persons imprisoned in Louisiana in 2018 was almost 19 percent lower than its peak in 2012. 

However, our relief and gratitude that our state has begun to reduce the number of Louisianans sent to prison soon turned to shock and disappointment when we learned that newly empty prison beds are now being used, through local agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to detain vast numbers of immigrants.

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/article_f6c45d82-1789-11ea-afa6-1bf07cf5a7b8.html

Episcopal Church in Minnesota wants Whipple name removed from immigration court building

From Minnesota-

The Episcopal Church in Minnesota is calling for the removal of Bishop Henry Whipple’s name from the Fort Snelling federal courthouse that processes deportation cases — or the eviction of immigration enforcement offices from the building.

The church and other faith groups denounced the immigration court as a “deportation machine” and pointed out that Whipple, the first Episcopal bishop of Minnesota who died in 1901, was known for his advocacy for Native Americans. He sought clemency for 303 Dakota men set to be executed after the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, though President Abraham Lincoln still approved the killing of 38.

“The activities that go on in this building are a violation not only of the spirit of this sacred land but they are a violation of that name, Bishop Whipple,” said the Rev. Jim Bear Jacobs, director of racial justice at the Minnesota Council of Churches. If the federal government will not evict U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from the facilities, he added, “we demand that you remove … this good name from this horrible building.”

More here-

http://www.startribune.com/episcopal-church-in-minnesota-wants-whipple-name-removed-from-immigration-court-building/564040182/ 

and here-

https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2019/10/29/ice-critics-protest-outside-bishop-henry-whipple-building-demand-name-change/

and here-

https://www.courthousenews.com/minnesota-clergy-want-bishops-name-off-ice-building/

Campaigners protest ICE activity in Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building

From Oregon (but really Minnesota)

Bishop Henry Whipple, the first Episcopal bishop of Minnesota, is known in Faribault as the founder of the Cathedral of Our Merciful Savior and a proponent of Shattuck-St. Mary’s School.

On a larger scale, Whipple is known for persuading former President Abraham Lincoln to spare the lives of 303 Native Americans who would have been hung in the Dakota Uprising of 1862.

Today, some believe the deportations being carried out at a building bearing Whipple’s name leave an ugly stain on the bishop’s legacy.

While serving as U.S. senator between 1964 and 1976, Walter Mondale named a Fort Snelling federal government building in Whipple’s honor. The building today houses federal agencies like Veteran Affairs, but it also houses Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) headquarters and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for a five-state region.

More here-

https://www.bluemountaineagle.com/life/national/campaigners-protest-ice-activity-in-bishop-henry-whipple-federal-building/article_f1b6312a-b176-57f0-8c12-9ecb3b47a452.html

The suffering of migrant children and families in detention demands action

From San Francisco-

Like most people in this city and across the country, I have been reading with continuing, ever- increasing dismay the news of the government’s actions at the borders. Last week’s policy announcement allowing indefinite detention of migrant families and children is yet another tragic development. The distressing images of children huddled in cages; of pre-teen children, themselves frightened and afraid, caring for young infants; of heartbroken parents crying for their daughters and sons – these are lodged in my heart as in the hearts of so many.

As a priest, as for teachers, medical professionals, social workers, first responders and numerous other professionals, I am a mandated reporter of child abuse. The California Department of Education states: “All persons who are mandated reporters are required, by law, to report all known or suspected cases of child abuse or neglect.”

It is against the law for me and other mandated reporters to NOT report any case of child abuse that we suspect is happening. If this is true of what we suspect in family homes, how much more it must be true of the abuse we see happening on such a brutal scale at our borders!

More here-

https://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/the-suffering-of-migrant-children-and-families-in-detention-demands-action/

Winchester’s Parish of the Epiphany receives social justice award

From Massachusetts-

Every month for the past two years, members of Winchester’s Parish of the Epiphany, along with other faith groups, have gathered at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Boston and Burlington to pray, sing, and hold signs of support for the detainees. From inside the building, the detainees pressed signs against the windows, saying “thank you” and “we love you,” acknowledging parishioners’ presence.

But the social justice work of the Parish of the Epiphany isn’t limited to immigration; neither is it new -- the Winchester church has been active in social justice work since the 1960s.

In June, the parish’s long commitment to social justice was recognized with an award from the Episcopal City Mission, a faith-based organization that works with local groups on social and economic justice projects. The award, called the M. Thomas Shaw Award for Social and Economic Justice, pays tribute to the legacy and justice work of Rev. Thomas Shaw, a former bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts who died in 2014 of cancer. The previous recipients of the award are the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mattapan, Diocese of Massachusetts Creation Care, Boston Warm Day Centers, and Grace Episcopal Church in Medford.

More here-

https://winchester.wickedlocal.com/news/20190906/winchesters-parish-of-epiphany-receives-social-justice-award

NWA New Sanctuary Network provides physical sanctuaries for immigrants

From Arkansas-

The Northwest Arkansas New Sanctuary Network will provide a physical sanctuary for immigrants in need. 

The group is made up of four congregations: Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Rolling Hills Baptist and St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville and All Saints' Episcopal Church in Bentonville. 

Rector Evan Garner with St. Paul's Episcopal Church said northwest Arkansas is in critical need of a group like this. 

"We have a lot of people in our community who live in fear, either as individuals whose status as immigrants is uncertain, or for loved ones in their family. When there's a knock at the door, there's worry," Garner said. 

The churches will welcome immigrants into their congregations, creating miniature sanctuary cities, providing shelter and safety for those in need. 

More here-

https://www.4029tv.com/article/nwa-new-sanctuary-network-provides-physical-sanctuaries-for-immigrants/28931474

Western Massachusetts Episcopal Bishop Douglas Fisher joins suit challenging President Trump’s border wall construction

 From Massachusetts-

The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts is among the 75 religious organizations to file a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit challenging President Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers to secure funds to build an expanded wall along the U.S. southern border with Mexico.

In his appendix entry to the brief, Diocesan Bishop Douglas Fisher calls Trump’s action “a clear violation” of the right of Congress to approve how funds from the U.S. Treasury are to be spend.

"The President's use of government funds for building the southern border wall is a clear violation of the Congress' power of the purse,” Fisher’s statement reads.

“The situation at our southern border may quite rightly be seen as a crisis as the President's policy shifts have stranded asylum seekers in Mexico for an indeterminate time. The impact of his change to national policy has endangered the lives of people who seek safety here. What has been done to the children under orders from the President, is immoral and an affront to human dignity. I join this amicus brief on behalf of the Episcopalians in Western Massachusetts who have promised to uphold the dignity of every human being."

More here-

https://www.masslive.com/politics/2019/08/western-massachusetts-episcopal-bishop-douglas-fisher-joins-suit-challenging-president-trumps-border-wall-construction.html

Mississippians March Against Immigration Raids

From Mississippi-

Some churches are going beyond comfort and material aid, with their response flaring into political opposition. The state’s Catholic, Episcopal, United Methodist and Evangelical Lutheran bishops denounced the raids in a joint statement Friday.

The bishops said they would help the immigrant families, saying there is “an urgent and critical need at this time to avoid a worsening crisis.”

“We are called … to speak the truth. And the truth is, this is not right,” said Bishop Brian Seage of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, at a news conference one day after the raids.

On Sunday, Trump administration officials defended their actions, despite emotional pleas from children to let their parents go. Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan acknowledged that one video of an 11-year-old sobbing was “emotional” but said the girl was reunited with her mother.

More here-

https://www.courthousenews.com/mississippians-march-against-immigration-raids/

'Let our voices be heard': March against immigration raids

From Mississippi-

The bishops said they would aid the immigrant families, saying there is "an urgent and critical need at this time to avoid a worsening crisis."

"We are called ... to speak the truth. And the truth is, this is not right," said Bishop Brian Seage of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, speaking at a news conference one day after the raids.

On Sunday, Trump administration officials defended their actions, amid emotional pleas from children to let their parents go.

Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan acknowledged that one video of an 11-year-old sobbing was "emotional" but said the girl was quickly reunited with her mother.
"I understand that the girl is upset. And I get that," Morgan said on CNN. "But her father committed a crime."

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan acknowledged that the timing of the raids was "unfortunate," coming hours before Trump visited El Paso, Texas, where a man who told authorities he was targeting Mexicans killed 22 people on Aug. 3. But McAleenan told NBC the operation had been planned for more than a year.

More here-

http://newjersey.news12.com/story/40903057/let-our-voices-be-heard-march-against-immigration-raids

An entire Lutheran denomination has declared itself a ‘sanctuary church body,’ signaling support for immigrants

From The Washington Post-

More than 500 years ago, a monk named Martin Luther nailed 95 theses outlining his grievances with the Roman Catholic Church to the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany.

On Wednesday afternoon, members of the mainline Protestant denomination bearing Luther’s name taped 9.5 theses — expressing their concern for immigrants and refugees — to the door of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Milwaukee.

The action was part of a prayer vigil for migrant children and their families during the ELCA Churchwide Assembly this week at Milwaukee’s Wisconsin Center.

It took place on the same day the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America declared itself a “sanctuary church body,” signaling its support for immigrants.

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/08/08/an-entire-lutheran-denomination-has-declared-itself-sanctuary-church-body-signaling-support-immigrants/?fbclid=IwAR3qN0IbqDjMDUNIVQCOowxPe49N-4UDdx6eR6hxoli1hITSJkd8H8mxsNA

Ministers at immigration talk: Christians must weigh obedience, laws

From Texas-

The call for Christians to balance obedience to God and complying with their nation’s laws is louder these days when it comes to immigration, a group of ministers concluded Tuesday during a monthly discussion of faith-based responses to practical problems.

“Some Christians call civil disobedience divine obedience,” the Rev. Bill Carroll told about 75 people attending Theology On Tap at the Oil Horse Brewing Co. in downtown Longview.
 

No specific disobedience to immigration laws was spoken about by the four ministers leading the discussion on “The Christian Response to Today’s Immigration Debate,” but there were numerous citations of lawbreaking by God’s people in both the Old and New Testament eras.

Carroll, the new minister at Trinity Episcopal Church in Longview, said Christians who sat in at lunch counters during the civil rights era are a good example of letting conscience trump civil law.

More here-

https://www.news-journal.com/news/county/gregg/ministers-at-immigration-talk-christians-must-weigh-obedience-laws/article_029454ba-b893-11e9-babd-cf0dc43e10db.html

Texas Episcopal bishops issue joint statement about Border Patrol detention centers

From Texas-

A joint statement signed by eight Texas bishops of six dioceses of the Episcopal Church decries the conditions of detention centers where thousands of migrants are being held.

With Texas accounting for 700 miles of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, residents of the state especially feel the impact of the situation, the statement said.

“We call on our state and national leaders to reject fear-based policy-making that targets people who are simply seeking safety, and a chance to live and work in peace. The situation at the border is, by all accounts, a crisis. Refugees come in desperation; border personnel are under stress,” the statement reads.

The statement quotes Matthew 18:2-6, where Christians are called to love their neighbors as themselves.

They also refer to Leviticus 19:33-34, “‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”

More here-

https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/news/local/2019/07/14/texas-bishops-statement-border-patrol-detention-centers/1718223001/

New London church places Holy Family in cages to protest border conditions

From Connecticut-

Ahead of the city's big summer festival, Sailfest, members of the St. James Episcopal Church have placed the Holy Family inside two cages off Huntington Street to protest conditions migrants are facing at the southern border.

Per the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible, Joseph, Mary and Jesus were fleeing persecution in Bethlehem when they crossed into Egypt.

“If they were crossing over from Central American countries to the United States today, they would be put in these internment camps like the migrant children and families,” said the Rev. Ranjit Mathews, rector of St. James.

Recent reports from TIME, the New York Times and other national outlets have described deplorable conditions at U.S. migrant detention centers.

Adults and children have been held for weeks without access to soap, toothpaste or places to bathe. Some children have slept on concrete floors, while some adults have had to stand for days in cramped holding areas. Conditions including chicken pox and scabies have spread like wildfire.

More here-

https://www.theday.com/article/20190712/NWS01/190719818

Walk in Love border tour starts in San Antonio

From Texas-

The humanitarian crisis on the border has drawn Episcopal church leaders from across the country to San Antonio, where they’ve begun what they’re calling the Walk in Love border tour. 

The Rev. Ann Fraser, associate rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church downtown, said the tour is based on Ephesians 5:2, which reads, “Walk in love, as Christ loved us.” 

“Whether they’re asylum seekers, ranchers, Border Patrol agents, everybody is in a terrible struggle right now,” said Bishop Anne Hodges-Copple, who is with the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina but is originally from Texas. 

The bishop said they hope to find “the humanity in this humanitarian crisis.” 

More here-

https://www.ksat.com/news/walk-in-love-border-tour-starts-in-san-antonio

Guatemalan woman prepares to mark two years in sanctuary

From North Carolina-

A woman from Guatemala has been living in sanctuary longer than anyone else under the Trump administration. Juana Ortega is staying at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Greensboro to avoid deportation. Thursday marks two years since she's taken up sanctuary there. 

Though there is a language barrier, Ortega has made friends at St. Barnabas. Church members distract her from a harsh reality. Her immigration case is closed, and she can't stay in the country outside of this building. Ortega said, "I'm feeling a little desperate honestly, because I didn't realize I'd be here this long."

Speaking through a translator, Andrew Willis Garces, Ortega explained that what she misses most is her family. She has a husband, four kids ages 30-17, and two granddaughters. Their lives are the subject of a documentary airing Thursday at the church on the two-year anniversary of her stay there. 

More here-

https://www.wxii12.com/article/guatemalan-woman-prepares-to-mark-two-years-in-sanctuary/27413039

Mother who sought sanctuary in church basement is still there 2 years later

From NY Daily News-

Nearly two years ago Juana Tobar Ortega was ordered back to Guatemala by federal authorities, but that was not an option for the mother of four who arrived in the U.S. illegally 25 years ago.

Instead she packed up her belongings and headed to St. Barnabas Church near her Greensboro, North Carolina home, seeking sanctuary. She has been there ever since.

“We need to violate the law in order to do the right thing, and the right thing for me is to be a mother,” Ortega told NBC News earlier this month. “They’re laws created by men who don’t understand what it means to be a mother.”

Since Donald Trump took office as President in early 2017, non-criminal immigrants who arrived here illegally have been given the same treatment as those who’ve been convicted of crimes, according to NBC News. The U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has been cracking down on everyone regardless of their potential for violence.

More here-

 https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-news-sanctuary-church-basement-guatemala-20190303-story.html

Mother who sought sanctuary in church basement in 2017 is still there

From North Carolina-

Jackeline Tobar noticed the signs of her mother’s absence immediately. Flowers weren’t blooming in the garden. Furniture wasn’t constantly being rearranged in the living room. And then there was the kitchen.

“She always uses vegetables to cook,” Tobar, 23, said, “but after the first week, the vegetables were still sitting there, rotting.”

That was almost two years ago.

In April 2017, her mother, Juana Tobar Ortega, was ordered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to self-deport to her native Guatemala by May. Instead, she packed up her clothes, left her home and family in Greensboro, North Carolina, and moved into a nearby church where she sought sanctuary.

She has not stepped out the church since.

More here-

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/mother-who-sought-sanctuary-church-basement-2017-still-there-n978166

Outspoken priest Rod Bower raises ire of Jewish groups

From New Zealand-

Activist priest and Senate hopeful Rod Bower has been rebuked by Jewish groups for the “offensive” and “irresponsible” comparison of the processing of asylum-seekers on Manus Island and Nauru to the Holocaust. 

The Rector of the Gosford Anglican Church used his now ­famous parish sign to offer support to another priest, Catholic Father Bob Maguire, who said pictures of refugees on the islands “reminded” him of Nazi concentration camps.

Father Bower, who announced plans to run for the Senate last ­October, erected his own sign which read: “Manus is how the Holocaust started.”

More here-

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/outspoken-priest-rod-bower-raises-ire-of-jewish-groups/news-story/dbaf0b7552af768f5dbd755baa3d4ea1