Living Faith: Immigration (part 1)

The RMS Office of the Bishop in partnership with leaders across the synod has created a community discussion guide to engage challenging topics as people of faith. Each week we will share a personal reflection on that week's featured social statement.

 The social message on "Immigration" presents basic themes for discernment on questions of immigration that our society is facing. It draws from Scripture and the experience of Lutherans in America as an immigrant church in a country of immigrants. The basic themes are grounded in the call to welcome the stranger (Matthew 25:35) together with the commitment to justice that advocates for fair and generous laws.The message calls for the church to be a welcoming place and points out that immigration, refugee and asylum policies express who we are as a nation and influence the nation's future character. It focuses on questions for discussion and discernment such as facilitating citizenship, newcomers without legal status and the border with Mexico. The message should be read in conjunction with “Toward Compassionate, Just, and Wise Immigration Reform,” a 2009 ELCA social policy resolution on immigration that governs how the ELCA publically addresses contemporary questions about immigration policy reform.

Welcome in the Borderlands
Stephanie González & Kari Lenander, Las Cruces, NM

As an organization that has served the U.S./México border since the ELCA’s Immigration Social Message was called to be written in 1997, we read this statement – more than 20 years later – and reflect...

 Over the years, hundreds (if not thousands) of high schools, universities, church, and community groups have engaged with and learned from immigrants in the borderlands. We acknowledge that in today’s polarized society it seems increasingly important to come together, get to know one another, learn about realities, think critically, and proactively engage with renewed understanding.

In the past few years, the U.S./México borderlands have received hundreds of thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers journeying to the United States. In response, churches, nonprofits, government organizations, and community members from around the U.S. have come together to support families by providing temporary hospitality, addressing basic needs, and providing travel assistance to sponsors. The genuine welcome comes from a combination of addressing physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs; perhaps most importantly, engaging with our neighbors through the recognition of our common humanity.

One Honduran mom, upon departing a Hospitality Center on her journey to her sponsor shared, “Gracias por todo. Aquí nos sentimos en casa y les agradezco todo el amor que nos dan. Que dios los bendiga.”

We are called as individuals and as a church to both give and receive. In gratitude, we are blessed to offer hospitality and create relationships with our neighbors. In return, we are called to receive the gifts of our neighbors and to engage in the hard work of creating just systemic change – both within and without.

...and always, we’re called to welcome the stranger so that – through time and a bit of effort – we may be strangers no longer.

  Link to full discussion guide