Week 3

This week I started calling churches to ask them if I could send them the endorsement form that I have been working on for the Reform Immigration for America campaign.  This has been somewhat challenging and I have felt like I imagine a telemarketer must feel on a daily basis.  It has challenged me to be able to convey my ideas clearly and make a connection with people in a very brief period that will catch their attention.  This skill of “selling” ideas is something that I have not had experience with in the past, but I think it could be a helpful skill to have in many different fields.  It is obviously very applicable in the political arena and in organizations like MIFN where lobbying politicians is part of their job.  I have somewhat considered the possibility of going into immigration law in the future, and I think knowing how to talk about immigration issues and being able to communicate ideas effectively and get people to agree with you, would be very helpful in that field.  I have also already encountered some negative responses, which is probably a good experience as well.  I felt somewhat discouraged and taken aback at first, but I think learning how to overcome that and stick with the idea that you support even when people disagree with you is vital to bringing about any kind of change in our society.  It will be interested to learn more about people’s perception of immigration as I am calling them to talk to them about the Reform Immigration for America campaign.

 

 

Week 2

This week I drafted an endorsement form to send to churches. This was interesting for me because I had to write about immigration in religious language. I had to make a case for why immigration policy falls within the realm of religion and is something that churches and clergy should care about. I used resources from people and organizations that have already tried to do this, such as a proposal at the last Minneapolis ELCA Synod Assembly and the language used in sermon's and available on several organizations' websites. It made a lot of sense to me to that immigration is a religious matter and besides my convictions, there are many texts, Christian and otherwise, that support that. That makes me hopeful that if I decide to go to seminary, I will still be able to be involved in the movement for immigrant rights. The first letter I wrote used ecumenical language, drawing from the Bible and Qu'ran and other texts. However, after further consideration, I decided to write another letter that only uses Christian language. I talked to a couple people who thought it might alienate conservative clergy if I use ecumenical language. This seems true in my experience, so I wrote another one. The church is big part of shaping and perpetuating people's view of the world. I think I need to figure out what views I will be expected to perpetuate and whether that will compromise my beliefs before I pursue a career in the church.

Week 1

This week I found out a little about what the faith community is doing about the issue of immigration in America. The Minneapolis synod of the ELCA recently approved a statement on immigration calling for the cessation of immigration raids and for reform of immigration policy appealing to biblical ideas about both strangers and neighbors. I was asked to draft an endorsement form for the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom network that could be given to churches because of my experience with the church. They want to ask churches to endorse the Reform Immigration for America campaign, which is working to put immigration reform through congress in the fall.

I talked to several people involved in the church, including Lutheran pastors, Catholic nuns, and a UCC pastor. This gave me some insight into what is necessary to combine church and state in a productive way without threatening the limits that churches impose on themselves not to get involved in the political. It seems to differ depending on denomination. Some denominations have structures that are very democratic and therefore something like an endorsement would have to go through church councils and would take months. However, I am not sure if that is true of all denominations. I may end up getting endorsements from clergy rather than churches. However, there are clergy who are working in ways that are very political, for example having a church service on the anniversary of the Postville Immigration raid to call for immigration policy change. There seems to be a fine line between what churches can or cannot do in the political realm. There is definite hesitation on the part of the church to get involved. However, it seems that if politics affect issues of social justice, the church must become involved if it is going to fulfill its mission. The church is uniquely placed with both human and financial resources which it can use in many ways. It is interesting to think about the ways in which the church can either strengthen or challenge the hold that patriarchy and kyriarchy have on society. This is something that I need to think about as I consider what I want to do in the future. I have considered going into pastoral ministry and this power of the church is something that I must wrestle with as I make decisions for my future.