Catholics & Evangelicals Call for Immigration Reform
Joint Letter is Statement of Christian Conviction
Leaders ask Minnesota Christians to urge their Congressional Representatives to pass just, compassionate immigration reform
Transform Minnesota and the Minnesota Catholic Conference released a joint statement today urging our state’s congressional representatives to work together to pass just and compassionate immigration reform.
More than 100 influential evangelical, Catholic and Lutheran leaders have signed the letter called “A Christian Call for Immigration Reform” (Download the letter here – or read below)
Across the United States evangelical denominations and influential leaders have worked tirelessly to support immigration reform, including the Southern Baptist Convention and Assemblies of God – two of the largest evangelical denominations in America – and the Evangelical Free Church of America, headquartered here in Minnesota, together with the National Association of Evangelicals representing 40 evangelical denominations.
Transform Minnesota has joined these evangelical denominations and many others in the Evangelical Immigration Table that outlines these same principles as the basis for immigration reform.
In December 2012 Transform Minnesota’ board of directors adopted a resolution supporting comprehensive immigration reform based upon Biblical principles that guide our treatment of immigrants and views about immigration policy. The joint statement released today reflects those principles.
SIGN THE LETTER
If you would like to add your name to this letter, click here to sign. The letter has already been sent to each of Minnesota’s congressional leaders, but your name will be added to the online version as it is updated.
A Christian Call for Immigration Reform
June 26, 2013
We join our voices together as Christian leaders in Minnesota to urge our state’s congressional representatives to work together to pass just and compassionate immigration reform that provides a road map to citizenship for undocumented people of good moral character, creates a temporary worker program, promotes family reunification, ensures due process of law for all people, secures our borders, and strengthens our society.
The Bible speaks clearly and repeatedly of God’s concern for those who, for many reasons, have had to leave their homeland and settle elsewhere. Our Lord Jesus Christ himself was one such migrant, fleeing Palestine for the safety of Egypt. The scriptures guide the Christ-follower toward principles that should inform both the interpersonal ways that we interact with our immigrant neighbors and the public policies that we support.
Therefore, because of our commitment to following what God has revealed to us in Scripture, we are driven to address the needs of immigrants in our country. As leaders we commit to treating immigrants with love, respect, and mercy in our churches and organizations, while also urging our elected representatives to work towards a bipartisan solution on immigration that:
- Upholds the human dignity of all persons and work against any injustice that compromises the dignity of immigrants;
- Promotes the importance of family unity and gives priority to the reunification of families;
- Provides more functional legal mechanisms for temporary workers that protects both the immigrant workers and US Citizen workers;
- Establishes an equitable process towards earned legalization for foreign nationals of good moral character;
- Follows due process in the enforcement of immigration laws and does so with respect for human dignity and the rule of law.
To be sure, we recognize the sovereign right of nations to secure their borders and make decisions about the identity and number of immigrants allowed into their country. We also believe that our government has a duty to consider immigration’s impact on our domestic economy and national security.
As priests, pastors, and other religious leaders we have, however, experienced first-hand that our nation’s current immigration system fails to reflect our nation’s commitment to the values of human dignity, family unity, and respect for the rule of law that define us as Americans. A broken system needs to be fixed for reasons of justice for all.
Today there exists both the urgency and opportunity to pass comprehensive reform. This historic moment is even more compelling because of the way in which it can be a symbol of people coming together to achieve real solutions to difficult social problems. In this way, it can be model for future action that transcends partisanship and brings diverse communities together.
Signatures of Minnesota Clergy and Christian Leaders
Jason Adkins
Executive Director, Minnesota Catholic Conference
Oscar Aguilar
Permanent Deacon, Diocese of Maracay Venezuela
Sergio Amezcua
Pastor, Brooklyn Park Free Evangelical Church
Jon Anderson
Bishop, Southwestern Minnesota Synod-ELCA
Anne Attea
Pastoral Associate, Church of Ascension, Minneapolis
Dennis Beach, OSB
Monk, St. John’s Abbey
Albert Botchway
Pastor, Bethany Baptist Church
Matt Brown
Think Eternity
Rev. Peg Chemberlin
Executive Director, Minnesota Council of Churches
Rev. Herman Colon Jr.
Senior Pastor, Iglesia Maranatha Minneapolis
Rev. Yolandita Colon
Executive Justice Pastor, Iglesia Maranatha Minneapolis
Tom Correll
Retired Missions Pastor
Dr. John Crosby
Senior Pastor, Christ Presbyterian of Edina
Rev. James Devorak
St John’s Catholic Church
Brian Doten
Pastor, Northwood Church, Maple Grove
Rev. Dennis R. Edwards
Senior Pastor, Sanctuary Covenant Church
Rev. Leo A. Endel
Executive Director, Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention
Rev. Richard J Ensrud
Senior Pastor, Brooklyn Park Church
Rev. Dr. Paul Erickson
Assistant to the Bishop, Saint Paul Area Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Rev. Chad Erlenborn
Lead Pastor, Maple Grove Covenant Church
Father Kevin Finnegan
Divine Mercy Catholic Church, Faribault
Rev. Joel Goff
Senior Pastor, Ridgewood Church, Minnetonka
Jose M Gonzalez Jr.
Pastor, Faith Temple
Dr. Steve Goold
Senior Pastor, New Hope Church
Andy Gray
Pastor, The Urban Refuge
Jeff Groen
Pastor, Evergreen Church-Bloomington
Rev. John Guttermann
Interface Coalition on Immigration
Rev. Dr. William Hamel
President, Evangelical Free Church of America
Rev. Brian P. Harris
Director of Adult Ministries, Trinity EFC, Lakeville
Pastor Jeff Heidkamp
Lead Pastor, Mercy Vineyard Church
Lucio Hernandez
St Joseph
Most Reverend Michael J. Hoeppner
Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Crookston
Rev. Jeff Horejsi
St Andrew, Sacred Heart
Erik Hyatt
Rev. Dr., New City of Nations Church
Fr. Thomas Joseph
St. Nicholas Catholic Church
Rev. Kevin Kenney
Pastor, Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church
Hollis Kim
Pastor, Good Shepard Covenant Church, Blaine
Jin S. Kim
Senior Pastor, Church of All Nations
Most Reverend John F. Kinney
Bishop of Catholic Diocese of St. Cloud
Father Anthony Kroll
Retired Priest, Diocese of St. Cloud
Br. David Paul Lange
College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University
Rev. David Landt
Lead Pastor, Mills Church
Douglas Lee Patterson
Pastor, Evergreen Church, New Hope
Most Reverend John M. LeVoir
Bishop of Catholic Diocese of New Ulm
Pastor Msgr. Eugene Lozinski
St. Mary
Kateri Mancini
Coordinator of Mission Education, Catholic Diocese of St Cloud
Jon Marsden
Lead Pastor, River Heights Vineyard Church
Craig McClun
Mission Network Director, ELCA ReachGlobal
Reverend Kevin M. McDonough
Sagrado Corazon/Incarnation
Peter A. Meier
Rev. Dr., MN South District, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Father Thomas Merrill
Priest, Catholic Church of St. Mary
Father Eugene Michel, O.F.M
Pastor, Scared Heart Catholic Church
Father Gregory Miller, OSB
Sacramental Minster, Catholic Church of the Ascension
Superintendent Tom Mouw
North Central District, Evangelical Free Church of America
Carl Nelson
President, Transform Minnesota: the evangelical network
Elizabeth Neville
Director of Missions Office, Diocese of St Cloud
Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt
Archbishop of Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Rev. James Olson
Senior Pastor, Bethel Christian Fellowship
Jeff O’Rouke
Pastor, Mosaic Christian Community Church of the Nazarene
Rev. Donald Piche
St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church
Most Reverend Lee A. Piché
Auxiliary Bishop of Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
Most Reverend John M. Quinn
Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Winona
Mark R Radeke
Pastor, River of Life Church-Cambridge
Samuel P Raia
Board Member, Transform Minnesota-The Evangelical Network
Reverend Daniel Rakotojoelinandrasana
Lutheran Congregations in Missions for Christ
Oswaldo Ramon Roche Gerdel
Igelsia Catolica, Saint Cloud
Bishop Peter Rogness
Saint Paul Area Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Rev. Terrance Rollerson
The Compass Covenant Church
Phonh Sinbondit
Pastor, New Life Christian Reformed Church
Most Reverend Paul D. Sirba
Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Duluth
Rev. Paul Slack
President of ISAIAH and Pastor of New Creation Church
Rev. David J Smith
Senior Pastor, Rose Hill Alliance Church
Father Leland Smith
Rev. Mike Smith
Senior Pastor, Redeeming Love Church
Roxanne Smith
Social Justice Director, St Joseph the Worker
Sam Snyder
Pastor, Bethel Christian Fellowship, Minneapolis
Mauro Souza
Pastor, Dayton Ave Presbyterian Church
Rev. James Spahn, O.P.
Pastor, Holy Rosary-Santo Rosario Catholic Church
Reverend Joseph A Steinbeisser
Church of St Philip of Litchfield
Joseph Cornelius Sutton
Pastor, Spirit of the Lord
Reverend Donald Tauscher
Monk, St John’s Abbey
Rev. Fr. Craig Timmerman
Catholic Church Diocese of New Ulm
Priest Frank S. Tomasiewicz
St Mary Catholic
Tin Tran
Pastor, Vietnamese Grace Church
Elaine Tymchak
Global Outreach Director, Berean Baptist Church
Harold Usgaard
Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Rev. Archie VanderHart
Pastor, Faith Christian Reformed Church
Father Anthony VanderLoop
Pastor, Catholic Church of St. Henry
Rev. Alberto Vargas
Baptist Church of Renovation
Reverend Steven J. Verhelst
Catholic Area Faith Community of Jesus Our Living Water
Rev. Anne E. Vining
Senior Pastor, First Covenant Church of Saint Paul
Christopher Walchuk
Deacon, St. Teresa Catholic Church
Dan Woodbury
Minnetonka Community Church
Lawrence Wohlrabe
Bishop, Northwestern Minnesota Synod-ELCA