An Opportunity to Name Your Love of New Neighbors

An Opportunity to Name Your Love of New Neighbors

The Central Pacific Conference is partnering with six other regional church bodies to name our love of neighbors from other countries. Each of the seven judicatory leaders has endorsed this Statement on Immigration written by the ELCA Bishops in our region, and we invite Christians throughout Oregon to study the statement and endorse it as individuals. 

Our prayer is that this will give you courage as you see the number of other Christian Oregonians who are Immigrant Welcoming. You are loved and you have partners in the struggle for justice, whether you are a longtime Oregonian or a newcomer!

You can see the statement, along with the endorsing leaders, and sign it here.

Why only Oregon?
For those of you in Washington and Idaho, please know that Tyler is working with the judicatory leaders in those states as well. The statement was endorsed by all three members of the Wholiness Conference Project (Pacific Northwest, Montana-Northern Wyoming, and Central Pacific). In Washington, our ecumenical partners chose to make the statement a public letter from judicatory leaders without local church involvement. That statement was picked up by one newspaper, and you can read the story here. In Idaho, five judicatory leaders have endorsed it, but our ecumenical partners have not reached consensus on how to proceed publicly. The great news is that this is the first time Tyler has been invited into the same room with these five leaders, and the complicated conversations are Fostering Stronger Connections ecumenically. 

Why only Christians?
We value our interfaith partners, and we know that many new neighbors are not Christian. We also know that much of the hatred of new neighbors is fueled by Christian Nationalism, so it is particularly important for Christians to speak directly to that hatred as Christians. This opportunity came to us from the ELCA Bishops who had already drafted the statement from a Christian perspective, and it gave us a good opportunity to lean into the call we heard at the Justice and Witness Listening Session to Amplify Prophetic Voices that are both Christian and progressive.