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)