Published by the Salt Lake Tribune July1, 2009

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 ELCA NEWS SERVICE

June 23, 2009

Lutherans Open Their Church Doors To Immigrant Families

09-136-MRC

CHICAGO (ELCA) — For Howard Lamont being welcoming to the immigrant population is “simply part of the Christian message.”

“Congregations must develop a passion to reach out to strangers,” said Lamont, a member of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Spring Branch, Texas, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). “Jesus would not have us build walls around our churches,” he said.

Lamont said he’s been impressed with Houston’s growing diversity since moving there in 1977. People from Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and Europe, moved to the city and work across the economic spectrum, he said. Lamont is co-chair of an immigration task force of the ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod. He said the task force contacted Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) to help congregations of the synod welcome and respond to the needs of immigrants.

LIRS is one of the nation’s leading agencies in welcoming and advocating for refugees and immigrants. Based in Baltimore, LIRS works on behalf of the ELCA, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. There are more than 10 million people who are undocumented living in the United States. People who migrate here come to join their families, work or seek refuge from persecution or violence.

LIRS hosted a “Be Not Afraid” workshop at Holy Cross in April.

The workshop addressed “anti-immigrant attitudes that have become prevalent in our society” and “debunked common myths used to encourage anti-immigrant attitudes,” Lamont said. LIRS’ Be Not Afraid program also prepares Lutherans for possible immigration raids, helps immigrant families know their rights and illustrates how congregations can advocate for immigration policies that maintain “good order” while preserving the dignity and safety of immigrant families. The program was initially funded by the ELCA Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission.

“We also learned to appreciate the complexity of the issues embedded here,” said Susan Giesecke, a member of Holy Cross since 1965 and co-chair of the synod’s task force on immigration. “Everyone enjoys the skills and gifts brought to our society by immigrants, yet are afraid to address the humanitarian and economic issues raised by documentation, family separation and worker abuse,” she said.

Giesecke describes Holy Cross’ journey in welcoming immigrants as “interesting.” “Many of our initial assumption sand preconceived expectations were way off the mark. Looking back, as an individual, I was so insensitive to the challenges faced by our new worshipers and the intense personal struggle each family faces,” she said.

One pivotal moment for Cheesecake came when a young girl asked at a congregational meeting, “Why do we, the Spanish speakers, worship in the gym when the English speakers worshiping a beautifully decorated sanctuary?” “Once the worship moved into the main sanctuary we grew,” said Giesecke. “We worship(as) human beings created by God, not ‘documented’ or ‘undocumented’ aliens.

“In Austin, Minn., immigrants serve to fulfill some of the town’s labor needs. While some long-time residents welcome immigrants, others are not always welcoming, according to the Rev. Glenn L. Monson, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Austin.

“Immigration is complicated,” he said. “It has produced stress for people in town, churches and elsewhere.”In an effort to address immigration, Monson met with 30clergy serving Methodist, Catholic and other denomination sin Austin. “We’re a fairly small town, and all pastors are impacted in some way. But how do you talk about this? What’s true and what’s not true?” To help get some answers, Monson said LIRS conducted a Be Not Afraid workshop there.”We needed to be informed on how to approach and speak about immigration. We made immigration the major topic for the year in the local ministerium,” he said. To enhance the overall dialogue, the pastors heard from others in town such as school district representatives, the police chief and mayor, hospital administrators and leaders of Austin’s major employer.

“We asked them how immigration has impacted their particular area of influence, and we learned a great deal,”Monson said. “I learned that 40 percent of our kindergarten class in our area is Hispanic. This tells me that whole families are moving here, which has made the community much more stable and not so much migratory.” According to the police chief, there has not been an increase in crime or incarceration with the expanding community, he said.”I keep asking the question, can our congregation connect with immigrants and their families?” Monson said.”I want to be better informed, to be a partner with people in some kind of ministry. I’m hoping that we continue to explore the complex issue of immigration and find a way to build relationships.”

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Information about Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is at http://www.lirs.org on the Web. “Be Not Afraid” materials will be available on the LIRS Web site in June. For information contact:John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.orghttp://www.elca.org/newsELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog

 Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

The Revs. Steve Klemz, left, and Joel Nau are calling for the Utah State Legislature to refrain from making cuts to human-needs programs until a new federal stimulus plan is revealed.

See Article in the Deseret News

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705280330,00.html

On Sunday, February 1st, Linda Hilton from Crossroads Urban Center and the Coalition of Religious Communities (CORC) will be our guest speaker at both worship services. She will also be available after the 11am worship for conversation. Please plan to attend and discuss the current budget cut crisis ongoing with the Utah State Legislature. 

Setting boundaries

Public Forum Letter

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated: 12/24/2008 07:17:45 PM MST
 

The young couple came looking for shelter, a place to rest for a while; she was pregnant, they were unmarried and afraid, but there was no place for them to stay. We all know couples like this. They come to be counted, hoping to find a life where they will count for something. They come, not great with child, but pregnant with the promise of a new life. What do we do with people like this? “Whatever you did (or did not do) for the least of these, you did (or did not do) for me.”

The problem lies not with “people like these” but with the “innkeepers” who stand safely behind the registration desk, setting the boundaries, counting to see who measures up, assigning rooms, determining who’s in and who’s out. No love lost there. Some “in-keepers” flaunt their power in God’s name or the law’s. They cannot comprehend what Archbishop Desmond Tutu meant when he said, “Love is more demanding than the law.”

In this season of hope, we celebrate the light that shines in the darkness, making room for peace and goodwill. I still cling to that hope, even though the immigration bill SB81 leaves us standing in the dark, safely behind our registration desks, justifying ourselves with simple answers to complex questions, setting boundaries that ignore “the least of these.”

Rev. Steven Klemz

Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church

Salt Lake City

Stating that Lutherans have a long history and significant experience related to health and human services, relief and development, and refugee proteciton and immigration, four Lutheran leaders wrote to the major political party candidates for U.S. President.  In their letter the leaders, including the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), suggested specific policy priorities and urged presidential leadership on a series of topics.  The text of the letter is available at http://archive.elca.org/bishop/messages/candidatesletter.html and copies are available in the church entrance hall.

Humanity and dignity

Public Forum Letter

The Salt lake Tribune 02/02/2008 12:12:34 PM MST

I love Utah. This is a great place to be a pastor. This is the place where religion is the topic of conversation every day. This is the place where public policy is shaped by our core values of family unity and our heritage of hospitality. This is the place where people readily enter the public arena to explore ways that we live out the full meaning of our calling as children of God.
I am grateful to learn that leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have reminded us that “we are talking about human beings” when we address issues with the undocumented immigrant community in Utah (”LDS urge empathy in immigrant legislation,” Tribune, Jan. 24).
This reminder reframes immigration reform, moving from a place of fear to a posture of faith. There are no easy answers, and differences exist among persons within our religious communities. Yet, from our faith perspective, compassion compels us to see the person who has entered this country without authorization not simply as an “illegal alien,” but as a brother or sister made and loved by God.
This is not the case in our national debate, where immigrants are sometimes portrayed as locusts, bacteria or an occupying army. By dehumanizing people and posturing immigration in a climate of fear, some would have us believe that issues can be solved by keeping people out, kicking people out and getting tough with new immigration laws. But as Archbishop Desmond Tutu reminds us, “Love is more demanding than the law.”
As we consider immigration bills in this year’s state Legislature, I hope Utah can be the place where we embrace the humanity and dignity of all people.
   
Rev. Steven A. Klemz Pastor, Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
Salt Lake City Read more at: http://www.sltrib.com/Opinion/ci_8150598