New Video Describes Episcopalian Support for Immigrants

There are four Episcopal dioceses that hug the border between the United States and Mexico, and the bishops of each diocese describe in a new video the work being done to support immigrants in what Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry called “a humanitarian crisis.”

• The Rt. Rev. Susan Brown Snook discusses the work of RefugeeNet, an agency of the Diocese of San Diego that for years has provided food, education and casework services for refugees.
• The Rt. Rev. Jennifer A. Reddall says more than 20 congregations in the Diocese of Arizona are actively involved in immigration-related work.
• The Rt. Rev. Michael Buerkel Hunn of the Diocese of the Rio Grande describes how El Paso congregations participated in an ecumenical effort in response to the practice of dropping off immigrants at the bus station, saying: “Bring them to us, and we will house and feed and clothe them and get them ready to go on their journey to their sponsoring families.”
• The Rt. Rev. David Reed says congregations in the Diocese of West Texas have made a variety of efforts,”from providing food and supplies and clothing, to providing places where legal services can be offered, to  pastoral care for law enforcement who are overwhelmed by the stress and the ever-changing picture.”
• And because immigration has implications beyond the border area, the Rt. Rev. Thomas J. Brown says the Diocese of Maine is working with city leaders and others to welcome immigrants from the Congo, Angola and elsewhere, “not to say, well, they’re here temporarily, but to say, ‘these are our new neighbors’.”

See the video and find out more about the Church’s ongoing work supporting refugees and immigrants.

Kirk Petersen

Matt Townsend

Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.