Bishops issued pastoral letters urging Episcopalians to care for marginalized and vulnerable people after President Donald Trump’s Inauguration and the new administration’s wave of executive actions affecting immigrants, refugees, asylum-seekers, and transgender individuals.
The Rt. Rev. Craig Loya, Bishop of Minnesota, denounced Trump’s inaugural address as “dehumanizing and scapegoating” of immigrants and transgender people.
“While faithful Christians can disagree about any number of political matters, rhetoric and policies that threaten the dignity and inherent worth of any individual or group is an affront to, and inconsistent with, the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Loya said.
Among the executive orders related to immigration, Trump has moved to end birthright citizenship, bar asylum for those newly arrived at the Southern border, and suspend the nation’s refugee admissions program. Trump further signed orders establishing the “policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” and changing placements for transgender people in federal prisons.
Several bishops called for standing in solidarity with those affected by these actions.
“We remember our families — our families of blood and/or friendship,” said Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows of Indianapolis. “Our families include migrants, undocumented immigrants, trans kids and adults, and LGBTQIA siblings. Those who are threatened by the recent executive orders are not ‘other’ — they are us. And we remember our churches — sacred places of worship, care, and service that will not be co-opted for ends that are counter to Christ’s gospel of love.”
The Rt. Rev. Deon Johnson of Missouri said churches are called to be places of sanctuary for vulnerable and displaced people.
“Over the last few years, we have seen a dramatic increase in vitriol and violence against immigrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers who have, in many cases, sacrificed everything in pursuit of a better life for themselves and their loved ones,” said Johnson, who immigrated from Barbados to New York as a teen. “This time calls on us as people of faith to live into our mandate to be places of safety and sanctuary.”
“Now more than ever, the Church needs to be a visible compassionate voice for immigrants, asylum-seekers, and refugees,” he added.
Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe and President of the House of Deputies Julia Ayala Harris issued a pastoral letter this week in response to Trump’s executive orders, urging Episcopalians to advocate on behalf of Dreamers (children and young adults helped by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and to stand against mass deportations.
That Trump’s inauguration coincided with Martin Luther King Jr. Day served as a frame for several bishops’ remarks.
In a joint letter, the Rt. Rev. Jeffrey Mello, Bishop of Connecticut, and the Rt. Rev. Dr. Laura Ahrens, Bishop Suffragan, cited King’s 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in their response to Trump’s executive orders: “Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”
“The Episcopal Church in Connecticut will continue to be a place where all are seen, loved, and treated as beloved children of God, regardless of their immigration status, race, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or political affiliation,” the bishops wrote. “The Episcopal Church in Connecticut will continue to be a place in which the legacy of chattel slavery and white supremacy — in the Church, in the country, in the world — are named, lamented, repented, and dismantled.”
The Rt. Rev. E. Mark Stevenson, Bishop of Virginia, echoed those sentiments.
“Every human being will be respected from our pulpits, in our pews, and through our ministries,” Stevenson wrote.
He added: “[I] must say that the use of Christian language, or of any scriptural language, to advance a case that God values one nation in this day and time more than another is contrary to the gospel. For God so loved the world, not one people, that he sent Jesus to bring salvation.”
Bishops implored Christians to live in a way that reflects the ultimate lordship of Christ, not temporal leaders.
“You cannot, and do not need to, do or fix it all,” wrote Loya of Minnesota. “We can, and must, give all our love to every small thing that is in front of us. In the midst of a world full of those hungry for power projecting a false lordship, we proclaim as the true Lord the one who achieves victory, not through becoming one more strong and violent actor who rules by defeating their enemies, but who fearlessly meets the world’s madness with a humility and vulnerability that are deeply rooted in the unshakable power of love.”
The Rt. Rev. Dr. DeDe Duncan-Probe, Bishop of Central New York, called for mutual care across political divisions, alluding to the imperative in Romans to “rejoice with those who rejoice” and “mourn with those who mourn.”
“Whatever mood you may be feeling, whatever your emotions are, … as followers of Jesus Christ we have an obligation, we’re commanded by Jesus, to care for one another as if the other is Jesus,” Duncan-Probe said in a live video on Facebook. “So, if we’re delighted, then we’re to care for the people who are despairing, and if we’re despairing, to care for those who are delighted. And so, whatever place you may find yourself, our faith remains the same. Our help is in the name of the Lord — not a political party, not an institution, not a government, not a person, not a human, but our help is the name of the Lord, of the risen Christ.”
The Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, Bishop of Washington, garnered national attention after making an appeal to Trump during her sermon at Washington National Cathedral’s interfaith Service of Prayer for the Nation on January 21.
“In the name of our God, have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now,” Budde said to Trump, citing gay, lesbian, transgender children, and undocumented people.
Trump later that day denounced the sermon and demanded an apology on the social media platform Truth Social, calling Budde “nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart.”
Meanwhile, many of her colleagues praised the sermon.
“I thank God for Bishop Budde’s courageous witness to Jesus Christ’s amazing grace,” said the Rt. Rev. Thomas Brown of Maine.
“Her posture and voice in that moment provide a great model for how followers of Jesus are called to stand in the face of every challenge we might face,” Loya said.
Lauren Anderson-Cripps is a domestic correspondent for TLC.