Bishops: Church transcends national borders
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Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker urges
hospitality to immigrants while addressing a United Methodist conference
on the Biblical response to the challenges of immigration. A UMNS photo
by Kathy L. Gilbert.
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By Kathy L. Gilbert*
Feb. 8, 2007 | LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. (UMNS)
Hospitality to the stranger is not an option for Christians, say two
United Methodist bishops serving in areas with large populations of
immigrants.
Bishops Timothy W. Whitaker, Florida Area, and Hee-Soo Jung, Chicago
Area, were part of a conference sponsored by The United Methodist Church
on the biblical responses to the challenges of immigration in the
United States.
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"The church has to claim this is God's universe. We have got to proclaim this
is a big place, a beautiful place for all people," says Bishop Hee-Soo Jung.
A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert.
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"In Florida, we have watched families torn apart and children left
behind," said Whitaker. "Can you be silent about public policy that
leaves children orphans?"
In Chicago, a mother and her son have found sanctuary from deportation to Mexico in a United Methodist church.
Elvira Arellano and her 7-year-old son have lived in Adalberto United
Methodist Church since mid-August when she was threatened with
deportation. "She is a member of the church; she is a lay leader," said
Jung. "The law says she broke the law, but I am relating to her as her
bishop, as a pastor.
"Our immigration laws, the legal system is sometimes not embracing
the whole diverse challenge and the changing of our society. I believe
we need to practice Christian hospitality as a rule of life. When there
is hurt, we need to go help the hurt."
Whitaker and Jung were worship leaders at "Our Call to Hospitality: A
Biblical Response to the Challenges of Immigration," held Feb. 1-3 at
the United Methodist Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center. The
event was sponsored by the Southeastern Jurisdiction, which stretches
from Kentucky to Florida, and the United Methodist Board of Church and
Society, the social advocacy agency of the denomination.
Participants were urged to work for comprehensive immigration reform.
Personal involvement
Whitaker said becoming personally involved with people is the key to understanding the immigration issue.
"As we have gotten more involved with the new people in our
community, we become more aware of some of the issues pertaining to
immigration law in this country," Whitaker said. "I have thought for a
long time we needed to have more of an intentional public conversation
about immigration and try to educate ourselves and the people in our
churches about the problems that exist."
Jung said the way immigrants are treated is a faith issue. "We have
deep trouble in our faith if we are not embracing the divinity and the
kingdom which is really for all of us," he said.
Keeping families together
The issue of separating families is a big part of the debate and an important issue to both bishops.
Whitaker told the story of a young mother with two children who were
separated from their husband and father by a "knock on the door in the
middle of the night" to be deported by U.S. immigration authorities.
"That was two years ago," Whitaker said. "They are members of our
church and they are struggling. When you experience these kinds of
things, it really makes you want to be part of the public debate. I
think if most Americans realized how some of our laws are being
administered, they would say, 'Wait a minute. Is this what we really
want to do? Is this the kind of nation we really are?'"
The Christian community is not encouraging people to break or
sabotage the law, "but I think Christian witness sometimes means risk
taking," Jung said. "When injustice happens, how are we going to be a
neighbor? How are we going to be a witness of Jesus' love? That is
beyond legal questions sometimes."
"I think the church and the state have different roles," Whitaker
adds. "If the church is an alternative, distinctive community in
society, it is important for the church to be the church. That means the
church has to live according to its own self-understanding which it
gets from the Scripture and from Christian tradition."
The immigration debate is based on "scarcity mentality," Jung said,
citing a U.S. perception that the nation does not have enough jobs or
property to share. "The church has to claim this is God's universe. We
have got to proclaim this is a big place, a beautiful place for all
people."
Whitaker said that, while there must be order and a system for
letting people come into the United States, "there is a lot of hostile
attitudes toward people who are really proving to be very good neighbors
in our society."
Tension always will exist between church and the state, Whitaker
said, "because the membership of the church transcends national
borders."
*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.
News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Video Highlights
The Rev. Joan Maruskin: "God gave us the mandate."
The Rev. Clark Jenkins: "It's appalling we seek to build a wall."
Audio Interviews
Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker: "We need public conversation about immigration."
Bishop Hee-Soo Jung: "We need to go help the hurt."
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Resources
United Methodist Board of Church and Society
Immigration Articles
Southeastern Jurisdiction |