Joint Statement on Immigration by bishops

ELCA, Episcopal Presiding Bishops Urge Advocacy in Immigration Policy
08-006-JB

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The presiding bishops of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Episcopal Church called
for members of their churches "to advocate for just national
policies on resettlement and migration." The Rev. Mark S.
Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, and the Most Rev. Katharine
Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, made
the comment in joint statement released Jan. 30 at a gathering
here with refugees, staff and friends of Interfaith Refugee and
Immigration Ministries (IRIM).
The gathering was at the Episcopal Church of the Atonement.
Jefferts Schori is here in advance of the Feb. 2 consecration of
the new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. The ELCA,
based here, and the Episcopal Church, based in New York, are full
communion partner churches. The churches are affiliated with
IRIM through Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service or
Episcopal Migration Ministries.
In their statement, the presiding bishops noted that there
are 33 million people worldwide who are refugees. They wrote:
"The current migration climate in this country is often focused
on exclusion and restriction. As people formed by a generous and
embracing gospel, we must challenge our leaders to avoid
cultivating an unwarranted atmosphere of fear. We must not
encourage building walls or denying basic human rights to those
who clamor for security and justice. Our perspective should be
one of abundance, for we are blessed with abundance and guided by
the mandate to love all as part of God's good creation."
Two refugees, served by IRIM, told their personal stories to
the presiding bishops. One refugee, Baraka Kubaya, came to the
United States through Egypt, after he and his wife were forced to
leave their home in Sudan. Sponsored by St. Luke's Lutheran
Church, Park Ridge, Ill., Kubaya and his wife resettled here in
2006 with IRIM's help.
"That day was like a new page in my life," he said. "For
the first time in my life, I felt secure. IRIM prepared
everything for us. They deserve good credit for the work they
are doing here."
"Most of us in this country, if we're willing to go back far
enough or even just a few years, have stories (in our histories)
of oppression, of hunger, of warfare, of not knowing what it is
to live in peace with justice," Jefferts Schori said. "We are
called to transform this world into something that looks more
like what God has in mind for all of us."
Hanson agreed, saying that every person has immigration
stories in their histories. "I'm convinced this culture would be
in a very different place if we would stop, as privileged people,
and simply hear the stories of refugees."
IRIM represents all organizations and people who are living
out their faith by heeding the Scriptures, Hanson said.
Immigration stories "drive us back to the biblical narrative," he
said.
"It's always bewildering for me that people of faith become
so ardently anti-immigrant and anti-refugee because they are
becoming biblically illiterate about their own narrative. God
expects -- requires -- God's people to reflect that covenantal
relationship in the extension of justice to the sojourner, the
refugee among us," Hanson said.
Founded in 1982, IRIM provides support and services for
2,500 people annually who have resettled in the Chicago area. It
has served people from 64 countries, said Gregory J. Wangerin,
executive director.
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Information about Interfaith Refugee and Immigration
Ministries is at http://www.irim.org/ on the Web.

Craig Nessan on Willhelm Loehe

This year is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Willhelm Loehe. Craig Nessan provides a nice introduction to his legacy.

'There really is hope'

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Excellent article on the church and its ministry to end hunger in our day.

New Orleans | ELCA Youth Gathering 2009

The ELCA Youth Gathering will be in New Orleans in 2009. The LCMS Youth Gathering will be in New Orleans in 2010. This means two years in a row Lutheran youth will have an unparalleled opportunity to live in relationship and service with each other in the name of Jesus Christ.

I just returned from a week in New Orleans in training as our synod coordinator for the Gathering. Being in the city is really an overwhelming experience, and takes some time to process. Much of the tourist/central section of New Orleans, is completely rebuilt. So if you stay in the hotels near the French Quarter you can get the illusion that all is back to normal. Since we were in New Orleans the week before Fat Tuesday, there were already a lot of parades going on. It felt like the New Orleans that is so often celebrated, with jazz and festivities.

But you don't have to go very far from this district to see the places where there is still much work to be done.

While there, we worshiped at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. You can hear an interview with their pastor, Rev. Patrick Keen, on Grace Matters. It was very meaningful to worship with this congregation. We did not get to spend a lot of time there, because we had to catch our train back to Chicago shortly after noon. Nevertheless, we were incredibly thankful for their hospitality.

I do not want to imply that I know tons about New Orleans or Hurricane Katrina. In fact, I confess that before we visited, I was much less informed and involved than I should be. When the disaster struck, like many people our family donated money for disaster relief. I kept thinking of volunteering and traveling to the Gulf Coast to help with clean up effort- but a variety of factors kept me from doing so. Most of them were excuses. Nevertheless, I was thankful for a reason to be in New Orleans and learn about the continuing ministry and necessary work being done there.

God bless you if you have been involved in the reconstruction efforts. Feel free to share your comments here, or tell your story.