ELCA Sanctuary action 3: the protest at ICE offices in Milwaukee

The protest march to the ICE office on Aug 7, 2019, was not technically an ‘official’ ELCA Churchwide assembly action, since it was led by the Bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod. Those members of the ELCA assembly who joined in, including anyone from the public, did so on their own volition.

According to local news coverage, over 570 members of the Assembly, joined by others, marched one mile to the offices of ICE in Milwaukee. The group then conducted a prayer vigil, and leaders spoke to the crowd. The Bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod lead the vigil and read and posted a document entitled, “9.5 Theses: I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Then they taped it to the door of the ICE building. You can read the 9.5 Theses, below. (In 1517 AD, Martin Luther famously protested practices and teachings of the Roman Catholic church by posting 95 theses on the door of the local church near the university where he was a professor.) As is clear from the “9.5 Theses”, the purpose was to protest current ICE practices and US government policies regarding especially the treatment of children and families of people who have come to the southern border seeking asylum and refuge in the US. Each thesis is supported by a quote from the Bible. 

9.5 Theses*
“I Was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me.”

1) When our Lord Jesus Christ said, ``Repent'' (Matthew 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. (95 Theses, #1) We repent of our silence, indifference, and lack of courage as our nation separates immigrant families, inflicts misery on migrant children, and turns away refugees. .

2) Christians are to be taught that a person who welcomes the immigrant stranger with compassion and an open heart has opened their heart not only to the stranger but also to Christ. (Matthew 25:35) 

3) Christians do well to remember that God’s love, mercy, and grace extend equally to all peoples from every nation and place on earth. (Revelation 7:9)

4) Christians do well to remember their own ancestral journeys as they consider the harsh journeys of immigrants in our day. “You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:19)

5) Christians are to be taught that immigration laws and policies are to be measured against the higher law of love. “For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Galatians 5:14)

6) Christians do well to welcome immigrants and refugees equally as citizens and members of God’s family. “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you.” (Leviticus 19:34) 

7) Preaching and teaching the gospel Way of Jesus must include condemnation of human cruelties and social injustices. “Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, ‘Peace, peace,' and there is no peace! (Jeremiah 6:14).” (95 Theses, #92)

8) Christians are to be taught that when the laws of our government violate our faith and our conscience, “we must obey God rather than any human authority.” (Acts 5:29)

9.5) We firmly believe that the treatment of children and families at our border is a moral issue, not a political one. The well-being and safety of children, including ensuring family unity and reunification, must be a priority. Therefore we commit ourselves to an ongoing struggle for just immigration policies . . . 

*Greater Milwaukee Synod Refugee and Immigration Committee. Inspired by Martin Luther’s 95 Theses (1517)

ELCA Sanctuary action 2: a guide for the curious or concerned

What is the ELCA Churchwide Assembly:

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the US, meets every 3 years in a “churchwide assembly” to carry out the business of the overall church body. There are 9000+ congregations across the 50 US states and Caribbean, divided into 65 synods, or dioceses. Each synod has a bishop, and the ELCA has a Presiding Bishop. Members of any ELCA Church, both lay and clergy, are elected by their synods to attend the assembly. These assembly members do not represent a constituency “back home,” but vote their own conscience on the business of the church, and as each person feels the Holy Spirit is leading the church on the issue. This year’s assembly met last week in Milwaukee, WI.

What happened in Milwaukee:

This past week’s churchwide assembly, August 5-10, was full of important votes and actions, including:

●      Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton was reelected for a second six-year term on the first ballot.

●      A declaration of apology to our siblings of African descent, which was received by the African Descent Lutheran Association with thanks and a call for accountability and living into the words shared.

●      Approved resolution declaring the ELCA is a “sanctuary church body,” encouraging participation in the ELCA AMMPARO initiative for migrant children, discernment of care for our immigrant neighbors in our context, and the promise of forthcoming resources for this work.

●      Approved support for the World Council of Church’s Thursdays in Black, awareness movement for a world without rape and violence. 

●      Voted to commemorate June 17 as a day of repentance, in honor and remembrance of the martyrdom of the Emanuel 9.

●      Approved a declaration for inter-religious commitment, reaffirming ecumenical and interfaith partnerships.

●      Approved the recommendations from a strategic taskforce which has been studying how to work toward authentic diversity in our church.

●      Approved memorials: affirming but not “endorsing” the Poor People’s Campaign, care for immigrants and refugees, and other statements.

●      Adopted a new social statement, “Faith, Sexism, and Justice: a Lutheran Call to Action,” and its implementing resolutions. 

●      Deacon Sue Rothmeyer was elected Churchwide Secretary, a full-time position which acts as executive administrator and leader on all constitutional matters and interpretation.

●      Constitutional change for Deacons (rostered ministers of word and service) to be ordained, from the previous practice of consecration.

●      Celebrated the milestones of 50 years of women's ordination, 40 years since the first woman of color was ordained, and 10 years since full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ clergy.                           

 The “sanctuary church” action:

The third bullet point above was the decision to declare the ELCA a “sanctuary church body”. On August 7, day 3 of the Assembly, a memorial, or proposal, was put forth by the Metro New York Synod, that the ELCA declare itself a “sanctuary church.” The resolution was passed with an amendment, by a majority of the over 800 voting members. The amendment asked that the ELCA provide at the next triennial assembly in 2022 written guidance for congregations as to “what it means to be a sanctuary church.”

This is the text of the ELCA’s "sanctuary" resolution:

-“To receive with gratitude the memorial from the Metropolitan New York Synod concerning sanctuary;

-To reaffirm the long-term and growing commitment of this church to migrants and refugees and to the policy questions involved, as exemplified most recently in the comprehensive strategy Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities (AMMPARO);

-To recognize that the ELCA in congregations, synods and the churchwide organization are already taking the actions requested by this memorial; and 

-To request that appropriate staff on the AMMPARO team, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and the Domestic Mission, Global Mission, and Mission Advancement units review the existing strategies and practices by the five current sanctuary synods and develop a plan for additional tools that provide for education and discernment around sanctuary;

-The ELCA declares itself a sanctuary church body; and 

-To request the ELCA Church Council, in consultation with the appropriate churchwide unites and offices, provide guidance for the three expressions of this church about what it means to be a sanctuary church body and provide a report to the 2022 Churchwide Assembly.”

The Metro NY Synod Sanctuary Memorial:

As you can see, the ELCA’s action embraces the Metro NY Synod’s original Sanctuary memorial (full text here), which was passed in that Synod’s annual assembly in May of 2018. In that document, there are 16 resolutions in total, (“Resolved”…) toward the end of the Metro NY memorial document, divided up into 3 sections. If you read through these, it is clear that the bulk of what “sanctuary” means is to be a support to migrants and immigrants, whether legal and illegal or undocumented, as they seek refuge in the US, are detained, and advocate for just policies and practices, networking with other churches and organizations that support migrants’ and undocumented immigrants’ well-being and rights. 

The 13^th resolution is probably the most controversial: “Provide short term respite sanctuary during immediate crisis.” (There are some individual congregations of different denominations across the country that have done or are doing this, and you can look up their news stories online.) The Fox News channel’s “Fox and Friends” segment unfairly took this point as the full meaning of the ELCA’s “sanctuary church” resolution. (They also did not invite any ELCA representative to answer questions.) As you can read in the Metro NY’s resolution, it is much more than that. Individual congregations are free to engage in “sanctuary” activities up to and including crisis shelter, or not. It is up to each congregation how to engage in “sanctuary” as it encounters people who are in need of support. Here is a link to the Metro NY Synod’s description of further actions taken to embody the spirit of their resolution.

The roots of this line of action by the ELCA go back to 2014, when the plight of unaccompanied minors from Central America were highlighted by the media. Several ELCA synod bishops and lay people investigated over the next year, and the ELCA’s AMMPARO initiative finally took shape as a response to this crisis in 2016. It is described in detail on the ELCA website here.

ELCA Sanctuary action 1: ELCA declares "Sanctuary Church"

When the church does something that the public notices, misinterpretations are bound to happen. Let's look at two actions taken by the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly, which met in Milwaukee last week, which 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.  

In this post and the following two posts ("ELCA sanctuary action 1, 2 and 3"), I hope to have provided a resource that will contextualize what this does and does not mean for us. To start, let's look at some letters by 4 bishops, including our own New Jersey Synod bishop, the Rev. Tracie Bartholomew, which help interpret these events. 

-Our Presiding Bishop, the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton’s post-Assembly letter:

Read it here. The text provides a link to a set of “Talking Points” that are very helpful for understanding what the assembly’s action means.

-Our New Jersey Bishop, the Rev. Tracie Bartholomew’s post-Assembly letter:

Read it here. In the fourth paragraph, she writes, “…Because we are church in three expressions (congregations, synods, and churchwide) the decision made at the Churchwide Assembly to become a sanctuary church body, only applies to the churchwide expression. Any congregation or synod wishing to become a sanctuary entity is free to decide to do so, or not. No congregation or synod is compelled to take on that designation. If a congregation wishes to become a sanctuary entity, it should also decide what that will mean.”

-Rocky Mountain Synod bishop, the Rev. Jim Gonia, has written a letter, here.  He writes about the sanctuary decision, “…The fact that the story of our (Lutheran) church is rooted in the experience of Lutheran refugees and immigrants who came to this country faith seeking a better life is what continues to empower our church’s unwavering commitment to accompany refugees and immigrants today.”

-Here is a letter from the bishop of the Pacifica Synod, the Rev. Andy Taylor, which includes a link to a video showing how Lutheran work in Honduras is helping those who have been denied asylum in the US to have a future with hope in their home country. 

I hope these expressions of "sanctuary" help you understand what it can mean. Did you watch the video linked in Bishop Taylor's letter? It's a wonderful testament to the ways the Lutheran World Federation is carrying out "sanctuary" for migrants in its broadest sense among the people of Honduras.

Lutherans and politics (no. 1): God's Two Kingdoms

This is the first in a four-part series on the Lutheran approach to politics. The goal is to provide Christians with an understanding of the concepts the Lutheran Church uses to inspire and guide its forays into the public sphere.  

The political world that Martin Luther lived in was much different than our own. For example, Luther lived in a time before constitutional democracy as we know it.  Yet there are fundamentals about politics that don’t change. The theological points that Luther asserted in his reformation had political repercussions. This is no different from our own day. When the Bishop of the ELCA writes an open letter concerning some public issue, the Lutheran church is venturing into politics, and it is intended to get peoples’ attention.  What we find, indeed, what we would expect, is that some people view this as a welcome addition to the public debate on issues, while others feel that such forays are unwelcome intrusions into politics.  This is the first in a four-part series that seeks to clarify how the Lutheran Church justifies its political involvement as the logical result of having a public theology. 

Our first concept is Luther’s distinction between the Two Kingdoms of God, the kingdom of God’s right hand and the kingdom of God’s left hand. God’s right-handed kingdom represents the spiritual realm, and the left-handed kingdom is the civil realm. Everyone’s job is to try to keep the two kingdoms in balance.  The left-handed kingdom promotes order in the world, keeps sin in check, and provides for people’s worldly needs. The right-handed kingdom promotes faith, teaches about the reality of sin and forgiveness, and provides for people’s spiritual needs. 

The best balanced relationship between the two is when people, who all live in both realms at the same time, are living and interacting in good faith and in accordance with justice and peace in both realms.  Then those in authority in one realm respect those in authority in the other, and they encourage each other to carry out their respective mandates, and all is well. Sometimes, however, the effects of sin, both institutional and individual, on human interaction demand that the authority of one realm be brought to bear on the other realm. For example, on the one hand, crime in the church is to be punished by the state. On the other, unjust laws and corrupt state actions are to be criticized by those in spiritual authority.  

It is the latter example that has inspired this set of articles, because many people either misunderstand the church’s critique of the state, or resent it. The rule of thumb for the church that follows Jesus of Nazareth is that the ends never justify the means. State sponsored cruelty or injustice is never justified, even if the state points to some greater goal.  This is because both “kingdoms” were created by God for the good of society, and both belong to God, who judges both. Neither realm is exempt from God’s demand for justice and mercy. This does make the work of the state and the church more difficult, but there are no exemptions, no excuses, no short cuts.  For its part, the church should continue to support the state in the hard work of keeping sin in check and providing for people’s worldly needs while continuing its own work of promoting faith, justice and mercy in the world. 

Next time, living our lives in the “Three Estates.”  +PL