[Episcopal News Service] A group of Episcopal leaders from across the church issued a statement Oct. 29 in response to the increased use of denigrating rhetoric in this election year to demonize immigrants. The statement comes one week before the Nov. 5 presidential election, in which immigration has been a prominent issue.
The message from the Episcopal Migration Caucus calls for “dignity, not hate” in treatment of “our immigrant siblings, and it denounces “hate speech and violent threats” that have been aimed at certain immigrant communities, particularly the large number of Haitians who have migrated legally to Springfield, Ohio.
The following is the text of the statement:
We are saddened by the need to send this message: hate speech against our immigrant siblings must not be tolerated, and our Church at every level must denounce hate speech and violent threats and act to support migrants.
We are lay and ordained members of the Episcopal Migration Caucus, formed just before the 81st General Convention of our Church in June to advocate for Migration With Dignity. We support the statements of the Rt. Rev. Kristin Uffelman White, Bishop of the Diocese of Southern Ohio, Words Matter – Speaking Up Against Hate in Springfield and the Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop of Washington, Dignity Versus Contempt. We join Bishops White’s and Budde’s call to oppose hate speech and violent threats with their devastating consequences for targeted populations and public officials.
We cannot be indifferent to the increasing anti-immigrant hate speech in our nation. While statements, resolutions, and prayers in support of immigrants are essential, they are not enough. Together we must act to:
Offer help and support to newcomers in our communities as they make their way in this country.
Affirm and spread The Episcopal Church’s call to Migration With Dignity embraced by our General Convention.
Live up to our baptismal covenant to strive for justice and peace and to respect the dignity of every human being.
Hate cannot be conquered by hate. As Bishop White urges, let us “stand strong and use the words and stories Jesus taught us. Together, we can confront this hate with love, this fear with compassion, these words of evil with the words of the Good News: that the way of Jesus is the way of God’s boundless and never ceasing love.”
Let it be so.
EPISCOPAL MIGRATION CAUCUS SIGNATORIES
(Affiliations provided for identification purpose only)
Rev. Hannah E. Atkins-Romero, Rector, Trinity Episcopal Church, Houston TX
Rev. Michelle Boomgaard, Rector, Christ Episcopal Church, Springfield, Ohio.
The Rev. Luz Cabrera Montes, Canon Missioner, Christ Church Cathedral, Houston TX
Rob Coulston, Episcopal Diocese of Lexington KY
Rev. Leeann Culbreth, Episcopal Diocese of Georgia
Martin Dickinson, Washington National Cathedral Sanctuary Ministry
Rev. Sally Ethelston, Deacon, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Hyattsville MD
Gale Hall, Oro Valley Episcopal Church of the Apostles, Oro Valley AZ
Silvia Huth, Episcopal Diocese of Michigan
Rev. Josh Kulak, Episcopal Diocese of Texas
Jack Lloyd, Episcopal Diocese of Chicago Sanctuary Task Force
Rev. Rex McKee, Deacon, Episcopal Church in Minnesota
Richard K. MacMaster, Episcopal Diocese of Florida
Michelina Nicotera-Taxiera, Oro Valley Episcopal Church of the Apostles, Oro Valley AZ
William Niedzwiecki, The Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe
Rev. Robert Osborne, St. Joseph of Arimathea Episcopal, Hendersonville TN
Phillip M. Palmer, All Saints Episcopal Church, Palo Alto CA
Rev. Cristina Rathbone, Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
Fr. Vidal Rivas, Priest in Charge, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Hyattsville MD
Rev. Alyssa Stebbing, St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, Austin, TX
Christine Tibbetts, Episcopal Diocese of Georgia
Rev. Michael Wallens, Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande TX
Linda Watson-Lorde, Episcopal Diocese of Long Island NY
James H. Wiley, Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, Missoula MT