Pastor's Message
[Click here to read blog posts by Pastor Linderman.]
August 15, 2019
Some of you are already aware of this, but some actions taken by the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly, which met in Milwaukee last week, made national news. These were a protest march to ICE headquarters in Milwaukee, and then the official pronouncement by the assembly announcing the ELCA as a "Sanctuary" church. The second action even made the television show, “Fox and Friends”. This caused a stir in media accounts. As of this communication, I have not been contacted by members of Redeemer about these events.
To help clarify what transpired, I've put together a resource that I hope will contextualize what this does and does not mean for us. In the first resource post, you will find links to various letters by some bishops, including our own New Jersey Synod bishop, the Rev. Tracie Bartholomew, which will help interpret these events. I suggest you start with the Bishops’ letters.
If you would rather start with an overview from the media, here is a news article about these events (that is fair and impartial).
Here is the 1st resource page post, with links to the Bishops' letters.
Here is the 2nd resource post, a guide to the background of the ELCA "sanctuary" action.
And here is the 3rd resource post, a brief explanation of the protest march on August 7.
This is a lot of information to read through, but if you have time, that is the best way to get a sense of the history of this action by the ELCA last week. I hope it is clear to those of you who have taken the time to read through the links above that this process is built on theological responses to human situations. Through this action, the ELCA is saying to the world that it believes we are called by the Gospel to respond mercifully and humanely to humans in any migrant or refugee situation. It is clear also from the Metro NY resolution that that synod, and now the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, believes that current US governmental practices are violating this mandate to treat people in these situations humanely. Support for migrants, whether they are technically refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants or opportunists, is a mandate in the Bible. (Read the Metro NY resolution to see all of the Bible verses that refer to this very human predicament of being a migrant.) The government is charged with carrying out the law, but the church is free to demand that it do so humanely.The church is also free to disagree with laws that it feels harms or takes advantage of vulnerable people. This doesn’t mean that the ELCA advocates breaking the law. The church is merely taking people "as they come"—i.e. as migrants fleeing from some type of oppressive, unhealthy or dangerous situation. The issue is first, how do we help those who are in a vulnerable position? Second, how can we change how those who violate immigration law are characterized in political discourse, and how they are treated by authorities?
Because of our local context, and unlike Lutheran congregations in major cities, or in southern border states, Redeemer finds itself at a short distance from those people most affected by migrant issues. Yet, like many other ELCA churches, we already support ministries to and for migrants through Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. In fact Redeemer has worked with LIRS twice in the past to help settle refugees, first from Vietnam and then from Bosnia. Also, Redeemer is partnered with St. Stephan’s Community Church in Newark, and we help support their ministries, which include ministry to a large immigrant community. So Redeemer has already been doing some of the work of “sanctuary” for years.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Linderman
Some of you are already aware of this, but some actions taken by the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly, which met in Milwaukee last week, made national news. These were a protest march to ICE headquarters in Milwaukee, and then the official pronouncement by the assembly announcing the ELCA as a "Sanctuary" church. The second action even made the television show, “Fox and Friends”. This caused a stir in media accounts. As of this communication, I have not been contacted by members of Redeemer about these events.
To help clarify what transpired, I've put together a resource that I hope will contextualize what this does and does not mean for us. In the first resource post, you will find links to various letters by some bishops, including our own New Jersey Synod bishop, the Rev. Tracie Bartholomew, which will help interpret these events. I suggest you start with the Bishops’ letters.
If you would rather start with an overview from the media, here is a news article about these events (that is fair and impartial).
Here is the 1st resource page post, with links to the Bishops' letters.
Here is the 2nd resource post, a guide to the background of the ELCA "sanctuary" action.
And here is the 3rd resource post, a brief explanation of the protest march on August 7.
This is a lot of information to read through, but if you have time, that is the best way to get a sense of the history of this action by the ELCA last week. I hope it is clear to those of you who have taken the time to read through the links above that this process is built on theological responses to human situations. Through this action, the ELCA is saying to the world that it believes we are called by the Gospel to respond mercifully and humanely to humans in any migrant or refugee situation. It is clear also from the Metro NY resolution that that synod, and now the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, believes that current US governmental practices are violating this mandate to treat people in these situations humanely. Support for migrants, whether they are technically refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants or opportunists, is a mandate in the Bible. (Read the Metro NY resolution to see all of the Bible verses that refer to this very human predicament of being a migrant.) The government is charged with carrying out the law, but the church is free to demand that it do so humanely.The church is also free to disagree with laws that it feels harms or takes advantage of vulnerable people. This doesn’t mean that the ELCA advocates breaking the law. The church is merely taking people "as they come"—i.e. as migrants fleeing from some type of oppressive, unhealthy or dangerous situation. The issue is first, how do we help those who are in a vulnerable position? Second, how can we change how those who violate immigration law are characterized in political discourse, and how they are treated by authorities?
Because of our local context, and unlike Lutheran congregations in major cities, or in southern border states, Redeemer finds itself at a short distance from those people most affected by migrant issues. Yet, like many other ELCA churches, we already support ministries to and for migrants through Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. In fact Redeemer has worked with LIRS twice in the past to help settle refugees, first from Vietnam and then from Bosnia. Also, Redeemer is partnered with St. Stephan’s Community Church in Newark, and we help support their ministries, which include ministry to a large immigrant community. So Redeemer has already been doing some of the work of “sanctuary” for years.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Linderman
