Dear Companions in Christ in the Episcopal Church in Connecticut:
Last Friday, January 27, 2017 President Donald Trump signed the Executive Order entitled: "Protecting
the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States". This
far-reaching and sweeping Executive Order includes, but is not limited
to: suspending our country's refugee resettlement program for 120 days,
suspending the resettlement of Syrian refugees for an indefinite time,
reducing the number of refugees to be admitted to the United States in
this fiscal year from 110,000 to 50,000,and prohibiting entry into the
United States of citizens from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria,
and Yemen for a period of 90 days.
This Executive Order contravenes our
American values of welcoming immigrants and refugees to our shores and
makes a mockery of the words on the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...."
As Christians, welcoming the alien and stranger is a fundamental
feature of our faith. Hebrew Scripture over and over underscores the
importance of treating the alien with hospitality and justice. "You
shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the
land of Egypt." (Exodus 22:21) "Cursed be anyone who deprives the
alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice." (Deuteronomy 27:19) We
recall that our Lord and Savior was a refugee, fleeing with his mother
and father into Egypt to escape persecution and death. (Matthew 2:13-15)
And Jesus reminds us that in welcoming the stranger, we are welcoming
Christ himself into our midst. (Matthew: 25:31-46)
For over 35 years the Episcopal
Church in Connecticut has worked to welcome refugees to Connecticut,
first through Episcopal Social Services and currently in cooperation
with Integrated Refugee and Immigration Services - IRIS http://www.irisct.org.
Our last three diocesan Annual Conventions articulated our support of
IRIS and refugees. In 2014 we entered into a covenanted relationship
with IRIS promising to work together closely in settling refugees. Read
resolution here.
In response to the growing refugee crisis in Syria, we committed
ourselves in 2015 to co-sponsoring the resettlement of a minimum 30
refugee families in 2016. Read resolution here.
And at our last Annual Convention in November we reiterated our support
for IRIS and asked parishes and individuals to give to IRIS and
consider sponsoring a refugee family. Read resolution here.
We cannot be idle as this Executive
Order threatens to undermine the values that we stand for as Americans,
as Christians, as Episcopalians in Connecticut. We, your bishops, urge
the parishes and people of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut to take
action in one or more of the following ways:
Pray: Pray for all
who are adversely affected by this Executive Order and whose lives are
threatened by these actions. Pray also that our President and his
administration will have an amendment of heart and reconsider this
order. We particularly invite you to add the prayer For Social Justice
found on page 823 of the Book of Common Prayer to your personal prayers
and Sunday Prayers of the People:
Grant, O God, that
your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, and
especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which
divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our
divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen
Speak Out: Use your
voice to share your concerns about the Executive Order. Write an
editorial to your local paper; use social media to connect; participate
in vigils, gatherings, and witness opportunities; and sign onto
petitions. Along with other faith leaders, we your bishops have recently
signed the Interfaith Immigration Coalition Letter to President Trump. See letter here .
Advocate: Write,
call, email, and text your local Congressperson and Senators Blumenthal
and Murphy sharing your position on the Executive Order and encouraging
their efforts to work against the Executive Order.
Attend: Participate
in the annual ECCT Companions in Mission Ministry Network conference:
"Refugees and Immigrants: Across the Street and Around the World" to be
held at St. John's Episcopal Church in West Hartford on March 4, 2017.
Registration can be found at here.
Collaborate:
Work with your parish, other parishes in your area, ecumenical and
interfaith partners, and community organizations to welcome refugees
into your neighborhood through IRIS and other refugee resettlement
agencies.
Give: Donate generously to IRIS http://www.irisct.org/index.php/financial-donation/ and other refugee resettlement agencies such as Episcopal Migration Ministries http://www.episcopalmigrationministries.org/how_you_can_help/donate_now.aspx so that they can continue their work resettling immigrants and refugees.
Additional ideas for how you can help are found on the Episcopal Migration Ministries website here.
Thank you for your attention to the
plight of refugees and immigrants in the world, and especially in the
United States at this time. May we see Christ in those who are different
from us, welcoming strangers and aliens with open arms of hospitality,
love, and generosity. God's mission of restoration and reconciliation
compels us to continue to settle immigrants and refugees in our country.
Faithfully,
Bishop Diocesan Bishop Suffragan
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