Another article I wrote for the Undocumented blog has now been posted.
“Many church members are too afraid to come to church anymore.” I was attending a meeting of ministry leaders when the well-respected Hispanic pastor stood to share. He told us how the police had begun parking near their church building on Sunday mornings, watching as church members came to the service. “Some of our members have been deported,” the pastor said plainly. Others, regardless of their immigration status, were afraid to risk an encounter with law enforcement and had begun skipping Sunday worship.
The debate about immigration reform is confusing and there is much about the technicalities that escapes me. Here’s what was not confusing as I listened to this man grieve over those he has been called to pastor: experience matters. The way he thinks about immigration is strongly shaped by his real life experience with it. And if experience has shaped his perspective then it has no less shaped yours and mine.
Read the rest at Undocumented.tv.
David W. Swanson 