At the August 2019 Churchwide Assembly, the ELCA became a sanctuary church body. If you have had the opportunity to read the text of the memorial, you will see that it contains important information about what is meant by “sanctuary.”

The memorial directed the ELCA Church Council to provide guidance to all three expressions of the ELCA on sanctuary. Here is your opportunity to give your input. Results from this survey are anonymous. Visit surveymonkey.com/r/PMWFTY6 to participate.

Refugees and their supporters, including Bishop Deborah Hutterer, went to the Arizona Capitol on Monday to urge the state Legislature to pass a resolution welcoming those who escape violence and persecution.

Among them was Jolie Nabigondo from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She explained at a news conference that she was imprisoned in the late 1990s and tortured. Nabigondo later fled to Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya before coming to the United States.

A federal judge in Maryland has blocked a recent executive order allowing state and local officials to refuse refugee resettlement.

The preliminary injunction is part of a lawsuit by three faith-based organizations against the U.S. government over the order.

In September the synod council, staff, and conference deans gathered in Tucson for a weekend of church business, worship, fellowship, and a border immersion experience. The experience comes out of our commitment to live into our strategic plan of communicating Jesus: “We will grow our public witness through advocacy, integrating our ELCA theology and engagement with current issues and contextual realities.”

The workshop included time to examine our perceptions around border issues, to cross the border and visit our Lutheran-Episcopal ministry, Cruzando Fronteras, and worship with the GCS’s oldest Spanish speaking congregation, Iglesia San Juan Bautista.

View reports, resources, and reflections of the participants.

The Congregational Vitality Team is reaching out to Directors for Evangelical Mission and their mission partners with a special opportunity to worship together on the beach at the United States – Mexico border.

San Diego, CA, February 18, 2020: This experience will take place the day before the Congregational Vitality Training Event in San Diego in February 2020. Reservations are due by November 15, 2019.

Bishop Deborah Hutterer joined refugee advocates in response to President Donald Trump's decision to lower the cap on refugee admissions over the next 12 months to 18,000, saying it will hurt Arizona socially and economically.

"Let me reaffirm that refugees do not bring terror when they resettle. Rather, they are the ones who are fleeing terror," Hutterer said. "It's refugees who contribute to our community, both economically and with their passion for this country, (and) bring with them their diverse cultures and backgrounds that only enrich the United States."

Read the full story »

From Mary Campbell of AMPARRO (who recently spoke at the synod council and conference deans workshop), comes this opportunity to join court-approved interviews of Flores class member minors detained at CBP facilities in Tucson, on October 3-4, 2019. 

The Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law helps reunify the thousands of refugee children that have been separated from their mothers and fathers. Register here.

The 2nd Annual Border Ministries Summit provides an opportunity to share information, build partnerships and increase awareness of the important ministries taking place on both sides of the border. 

November 21- 23, 2019, St. Philip’s In The Hills, 4440 N. Campbell Ave., Tucson, AZ 85718.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre, Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, CO. Learn more »

Every year, the President of the United States determines the number of refugees that can be admitted to the country. This is called the Presidential Determination, and is set in early October for the upcoming year. 

This October, administration officials will reportedly propose the number of refugees allowed into the United States in 2020 be set to zero. 

Give thanks to God for our church and for our ecumenical and interreligious partners as they work for the humane treatment of all who present themselves at our borders seeking asylum. Give thanks for our agencies and faith communities that have welcomed, engaged and served migrant families. And pray for those migrants, who have arrived in the United States seeking safety, justice, reconnection with families and relatives, and the opportunity to build new lives without fear.

In this statement, Presiding Bishop Eaton provides clarifications and helpful talking points:

Dear siblings in Christ, as many of you know, last week the ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted a resolution that, among other things, declared the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) a sanctuary denomination. Many of you are asking, “What does this mean?”