Faith Leaders Condemn Live Stream Execution

Dear Fellow Clergy and People of Good Will Everywhere:

When a government invites the public to watch a human being die, it asks us to become spectators to an act that should trouble every conscience. I write with profound disgust and moral outrage at the announced plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan by firing squad. The proposal reaches beyond the already grave question of capital punishment and asks us to accept the broadcasting of a deliberate killing as an appropriate exercise of government power. As a bishop and pastor, I believe this moment demands a clear and public response. I invite fellow clergy, people of every faith, and all people of good will to join me in condemning this return to the dark ages.

Our condemnation must begin with an unwavering commitment to the victims of the Fort Hood murders, the survivors, and the families whose lives were forever changed. Hasan's crimes were horrific, and nothing in this appeal excuses his actions or diminishes his responsibility. Those who mourn deserve enduring care, and those who survived deserve support that continues long after public attention moves elsewhere. Justice requires accountability, and public safety requires that a person responsible for such violence be prevented from harming others. Life imprisonment can provide that protection without another killing. Broadcasting an execution cannot restore a stolen life, heal a wounded body, or resolve the grief of a family. We honor the victims through remembrance, compassionate action, and a commitment to justice that preserves our own humanity.

That commitment carries particular weight for Christians, whose faith centers on Jesus, who suffered a public execution. He knew the violence of the state, the humiliation of being displayed before a crowd, and the abandonment that can surround a condemned person. From the cross, he prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). His example challenges us to practice mercy when anger makes mercy difficult and to recognize human dignity when a person's actions make that recognition painful. People of other faiths, together with those who profess no religious belief, can stand alongside us in refusing to make cruelty a public virtue. Our traditions and convictions may differ, but we can share the determination that no human death should become a spectacle.

Because this matter is so grave, I am attaching copies of the letters I wrote and mailed earlier this week to the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense. In those letters, I expressed my opposition to Hasan's execution and appealed for a response grounded in the sanctity of life, justice, and mercy. I urged the President to grant clemency and substitute life imprisonment for the death sentence. The subsequent announcement of a planned livestream makes it even more urgent that these concerns be shared publicly. I offer these copies so that you may read my appeals and consider adding your own voice.

The next step belongs to all of us who believe that conscience must shape public life. I ask you to join me in calling upon the President and the Secretary of Defense to abandon this proposed broadcast and halt the execution. Speak within your congregations, from your pulpits, among your neighbors, and through letters to public officials. Bring this concern into prayer and public witness while continuing to remember the victims, survivors, and grieving families of Fort Hood. Even those who disagree about capital punishment can recognize the moral danger of inviting the public to watch a person die. Religious leaders have a particular responsibility to challenge the use of faith to bless vengeance or excuse cruelty. People of good will have an equally essential role in insisting that government exercise its power with restraint and respect for human life. Our response should be clear, principled, and persistent, offering a witness that outlasts the outrage of a single news cycle. Let our witness teach the next generation that human dignity is ours to defend, even when the person before us has violated the dignity of others.

- 

In Christ's Love, 

✠ William

Most Rev. William R. Cavins

Bishop

Diocese of Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs

5330 Poinsetta Ave, Winter Park, FL 32792

Re: Opposition to the Planned Execution of Nidal Malik Hasan 

Dear Secretary Hegseth: 

The authority to command others carries a profound obligation to distinguish what can be done from what ought to be done. As Bishop of the Diocese of Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs, of the Reformed Catholic Church, I write to condemn your recommendation that Nidal Malik Hasan be executed by an Army firing squad. I urge you to reconsider that recommendation, support presidential clemency, and pursue every lawful measure within your authority to prevent this execution. Life imprisonment without parole would provide permanent accountability and protection without requiring military personnel to take the life of a prisoner in custody. The gravity of Hasan’s crimes makes this decision consequential, but it does not make execution morally necessary. 

The Fort Hood attack was a terrible violation of human life and of the trust that members of the military should be able to place in one another. Thirteen people were killed, many others were wounded, and families and survivors continue to carry the consequences of that violence. Hasan bears responsibility for those crimes and must remain accountable for them. My appeal does not excuse his actions or presume that those he harmed should feel any particular way about his punishment. Their grief must never become a rhetorical instrument for either side of the debate over capital punishment. Our common obligation is to honor those killed, accompany those who survived, and provide lasting support to the people whose lives were changed. 

The scriptural foundation of my concern begins with the belief that every human being bears the image of God. Genesis describes humanity as created “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27), making each murder an assault upon a life of sacred worth. That same conviction places limits on how we treat the person who committed the murder. Jesus teaches, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7), and calls us to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Such teaching is most demanding when the person before us has caused devastating harm. Mercy in this situation can take the form of lifelong confinement rather than execution, preserving public safety while refusing to declare a human life disposable. It is a disciplined exercise of moral responsibility. 

Scripture also cautions against allowing punishment to become vengeance. Paul writes, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves” (Romans 12:19), and then urges believers to “overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). I recognize that public authority has duties different from those of an individual, including the duty to restrain violence and enforce lawful judgments. Yet those duties do not place government beyond moral scrutiny or establish that every legally available punishment should be imposed. Where secure imprisonment can protect the community, choosing death requires a justification that the seriousness of the crime alone cannot provide. I believe the planned execution fails that moral test. 

The proposed use of an Army firing squad also deserves particular reflection because it would direct military personnel to carry out the killing. Those assigned to such a duty are people with consciences, families, and their own moral and spiritual responsibilities. We should not assume that the existence of an order resolves every ethical question for those required to obey it. The military’s commitment to discipline and lawful service can be expressed through secure custody and permanent confinement. Asking service members to end the life of a prisoner when those alternatives are available places an avoidable burden upon them. 

Secretary Hegseth, I respectfully ask you to withdraw your support for this execution and recommend that the President commute Hasan’s sentence to life imprisonment without parole. I further ask you to work within your authority with the President and the Secretary of the Army to prevent the execution while clemency is considered. At the same time, I urge a renewed commitment to sustained care for Fort Hood survivors and the families of those killed. Our nation owes them more than the completion of a punishment; it owes them faithful remembrance and continuing support. Honor their lives through a decision that protects others, preserves accountability, and refuses to make another death the final word. 

Respectfully, and 

In Christ’s Love, 

Most Rev. William R. Cavins 

Bishop

Faith Leaders in Orlando Stand for Voting Rights

 

As faith leaders, we stand for justice and fairness. We believe in protecting the dignity and rights of all people. We work to bring people together across every divide and we know that our democracy is strong when everyone is treated with dignity and when all voices are heard. As we approach the 2026 November elections, our freedom to vote and elect the leaders we choose is under threat. As clergy across faith, race and geography, we are joining together to protect our voting rights and the voting rights of our neighbors. 

We are speaking out against decisions that limit the access eligible voters have to the ballot box and efforts that appear aimed at preventing eligible voters from voting. We are deeply concerned about the executive order severely restricting vote-by-mail, and we are outraged by the rapid gerrymandering of racially discriminatory election maps in many states following the Supreme Court’s decision to end the Voting Rights Act commitment to racial equality in elections.

Vote-by-mail is particularly important for elders in our communities, for those with mobility concerns, for those in rural areas, and for those whose job status or life circumstances makes it difficult to vote in person on election day. In some states, all eligible voters are sent a mail ballot. This executive order threatens to take the vote away from countless eligible voters in our communities, causing confusion and chaos and the denial of fundamental constitutional rights. Vote-by-mail has been proven to be accurate, reliable, and efficient across the country, and it helps ensure that eligible voters are able to exercise their constitutional right to vote.  

Our faith traditions affirm the dignity, worth, and agency of all people. Patterns of action that prevent eligible voters from voting and that dilute voter’s power to choose their elected leaders violate our faith traditions’ affirmation of human dignity. Complicated registration rules, fewer voting options, threats to deploy ICE to polling places, barriers based on financial ability, requests that states turn over voter rolls despite privacy and security concerns, and discriminatory gerrymandering of maps all offend our core faith values as well as core democracy values. These efforts limit access to the ballot box and intimidate eligible voters, especially eligible voters of color and poverty. This makes us less free and gives us less power as voters to choose our leaders. 

We call on our Secretaries of State, election administrators and all elected officials in our states to join us in publicly opposing these efforts. We call on elected officials to join us in protecting our elections, our democracy, and the ability of all eligible voters to be able to access the ballot box and vote.   

We are coming together to protect our voting rights and the voting rights of our neighbors. We will continue to oppose attacks on the freedom to vote. We call on our elected leaders to do the same. 

Mary at the Tomb

art in the christian tradition 

used by permission 

This morning, we read the account of Jesus' resurrection from the gospel of John. Mary here takes center stage. If you recall, when the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 writes about the resurrection.  Paul lists out a tradition that he had received of the account of scores of people that witnessed the resurrected Christ. Paul lists Peter, James, and the twelve, and 500 others, and himself. Surprisingly however, Mary Magdalene is left off this list. Many who read this list asks themselves this question, why did Paul leave Mary off. Scholars have pondered why. One possible explanation is that Paul was attempting to convince his ancient audience and they wouldn't have taken him seriously if he had included her because back in that day, many people didn't take the word of a woman seriously. But Jesus and the gospel writer refuses to silence Mary, they knew that if you took Mary out of the garden, you took the heart out of the resurrection. She wasn't only a witness, she was the first person commissioned to announce that New Creation had dawned in the world. 

We know a little about Mary Magdalene. She is one of the first of Jesus' disciples, she is from the town of Magdala or Migdal from where her name is derive, a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. She is mentioned though more than 12 times in the scriptures, that is actually more than most of the other disciples of Jesus. She is someone that is mentioned in (Luke 8:2) as one who was cured from evil spirits and infirmaries. She is one of the women that traveled with Jesus and who supported Jesus financially again a rarity in that time. She was at Jesus' crucifixion and watched, she was on her way with spcies to the tomb to finish preparing Jesus body for burial. Clearly, she is a devoted follower of Jesus, who had encountered Jesus' love and loved him very much, and had her life changed by that encounter. 

Mary may have been used to having people discount her, or overlook her, she may have felt unimportant. At any rate, we find her in the garden distraught, overwhelmed in her sadness. She might have felt quite alone. There is a poem by Caitlan Glaspell called “Alone” 

No One will ever truly know me.

How can they when they never even try,
because I smile they assume I am happy.

No One Knows Me.
I hide behind a mask,
they just never did get it.

No One Knows Me.
It is a difficult task,
always there for people but they are never truly there for me.

No One Knows Me.
Friendships, I have many, if I do why do I still feel alone in this world?

She may have felt alone and unseen but the reality was quite different, she wasn't alone, Jesus was there with her even though she didn't recognized him. She mattered, she mattered to God, and she mattered to Jesus, and the Spirit of Christ was there with her in that garden. She wasn't alone. 

The story of Mary Ann Bird

I will never forget hearing the story told by the Rev Tom Long of Mary Ann Bird, she was born with a cleft palate and a disfigured face, Mary Ann also had lopsided feet and so an ungainly way of walking. Naturally, she was the target of all the school-age cruelty the other children could muster and was often bullied. 

One year her teacher was Miss Leonard. Miss Leonard was a teacher that shined with kindness. Back in those days teachers were required to administer a kind of homespun hearing test. The teacher would call each student up to her desk, have the student cover first one ear and then the other, and the teacher would whisper something to see if the child could hear. Usually the teacher would say simple things like “The sky is blue” or “You have on new shoes today.” Well, Mary Ann dreaded this test because she was also deaf in one ear and so this test would be yet another chance for her to be singled out for her deficiencies in life.

On the day of the test when it came time for her turn, Mary Ann waddled and shuffled forward. She covered up her bad ear first and then, as Miss Leonard leaned in close, Mary Ann heard words that would change her life. Because for Mary Ann’s hearing test, Miss Leonard whispered, “I wish you were my little girl, Mary Ann.” And through those words and in the midst of her personal darkness and weakness, Mary Ann heard the voice of Jesus, the voice of love, the voice of grace. 

This changed Mary Ann. She grew up and became a teacher herself and now she shies with kindness and grace to her students. And this is what Easter does for us, it is meant to change us. When Jesus says her name “Mary”, it is a personal moment, a recognition of who she is, God knows her deeply and intimately and love her unconditionally. Yet Mary is immediately connected with her siblings, her community. She is not alone and Jesus reminds her she is part of something greater. 

But go to my disciples and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

When we are feeling alone, and that no one really knows us, we wear masks that conceal who we are or stand alone in our gardens, Jesus calls to us, Jesus knows our scars and with one word, our name, reminds us that we are seen and loved, and that we are called to reach out to others, and not keep that love to ourselves, we are a part of a greater community, and every day that we live until our last, when we are reunited with that community in God's presence, we are never really alone.  The message of Easter is one that reminds us that we are connected to a community of faith, the church, in which we live and grow. 

I remember as a child walking around a big box store, my parents would shop and they would allow me to go find gumballs.  On one such trip, I got lost in the store.  I found my gumball but I didn't find my way back to my parents.  Then I heard my mother call.  I followed the sound of her voice.  When I found her I felt 'at home.' safe.  Yet it was more than safety, it was what my family meant to me; values, music, food, love, kindness, teaching, others.  Likewise, for us, Jesus connection Mary to her faith community was so much more; salvation, support, spiritual growth, new creation, connectedness, faith, grace, mercy.  This Easter, let us hear Jesus call to us; yes Jesus loves us all intimately and personally, but Jesus also calls us to connect with others in the same spirit of love and faith.  

Mississippi 1955

 Mississippi—1955

Langston Hughes

(To the Memory of Emmett Till)

Oh what sorrow!

oh, what pity!

Oh, what pain

That tears and blood

Should mix like rain

And terror come again

To Mississippi.

Come again?

Where has terror been?

On vacation? Up North?

In some other section

Of the nation,

Lying low, unpublicized?

Masked—with only

Jaundiced eyes

Showing through the mask?

Oh, what sorrow,

Pity, pain,

That tears and blood

Should mix like rain

In Mississippi!

And terror, fetid hot,

Yet clammy cold

Remain.

In 1955, 14 year old Emmett Till was brutally murdered bringing attention to the racial violence and injustice in Mississippi.  While visiting relatives, till went to the Bryant store and was accused of whistling at a white woman.  He was kidnapped, tortured and brutally murdered, his body dumped in the Tallahatchie River. The two individuals who murdered Emmett were acquitted, outraging the African American community.  This began mass sit ins, meetings, and marches demanding equal treatment under the law.  in 2023 President Biden created the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument. It was his mother that insisted on an open casket, showing the world the cruelty and injustice of Mississippi.  The shocking cruelty and injustice perpetuated on a young boy of fourteen galvanized the civil rights movement and will always be a reminder of the dangers of racism, and what happens when a society allows racism to fester and grow.  As a Presbyterian, we believe that every human is created in the image of God (Imago Dei), this was a sacrilege against God's own image and creation. In our Confession of Belhar, the church is called to testify against all forms of injustice.  We cannot truly honor our duty to God if we remain silent about the desecration of God's image against our neighbor. 

In the Confession of 1967, our confession states that God has created the people of earth to be one universal family.  In his reconciling love, he overcomes the barriers between brothers, and breaks down every form of discrimination based on racial or ethnic differences, real or imaginary...Therefore, the church labors for the abolition of all racial discrimination and ministers to those injured by it..."  Lastly, the book of Genesis 4:10 cries out, "The Lord said, "what is it you have done, Listen, Your brother's blood cries out to me, from the ground."  In the book of Hebrews 11:4 we read that by faith (Abel) who cain murdered, "still peaks, even though he is dead..."

As a Presbyterians and a Christians, our faith demands, our biblical obedience. We should not move on from injustice without an act of holy Lament and sacred remembering. May we honor Emmett Till's memory and never repeat the sins of the past.  

Belhar Confession

American Experience

Emmett Till and amie Till Mobley Memorial

PCUSA report on Racism Truth and Reconciliation

A Statement of Faith - Repost

This is what my deeply held religious belief is ...

I believe in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a God of grace, mercy and love.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Divine Creator made the universe, and the earth teeming with life and beauty as a sign of grace to all.  God created humanity to delight in God's glory, to live in harmony with the natural world and with each other in community.  Yet humanity fell into sin, setting up systems of oppression, enslavement and bondage.  Taking God's gracious gifts, we selfishly destroy God's good creation and ourselves with it.  Allowing sin to reign, we became separated from our Divine Source of Life. 

So God demonstrated the ultimate act of love and friendship coming into our world in the person of Jesus Christ, as promised in the covenants. Baptized into our humanity, Jesus came in the power of the Holy Spirit, healing the sick, preaching the good news to the poor, proclaiming Jubilee, lifting the powerless and the downtrodden, and setting the prisoner free. Jesus came with the liberating power of God's love. Yet, rejecting God's sovereign love, humanity crucified Jesus, showing its own corruption, cruelty, and inhumanity. Jesus was buried, but on the third day, he was vindicated by God and rose bodily, triumphing over sin, death, and evil. Jesus' resurrection brought about a new humanity and a new creation. Christ opened up a path back to the Divine Source of all Life. 

This covenant community declares the good news of Jesus Christ that once again reconciles God, humanity and the world.  United by grace through faith, we are united again with the Divine Source of Life.  Defined by a radical welcome, the church is called to be a house of prayer for all people, breaking down every barrier that divides humanity and uniting us regardless of race, culture, human distinction, gender identity or sexual orientation. The church as the community of the faithful, continues Christ's work in the power of the Holy Spirit. Baptizing into God's new covenant, through the waters of baptism, and nourished by the Eucharist, the Spirit lifts our hearts to feast with the risen Christ, empowering us to live into the new creation, bearing spiritual fruit both today and in the world to come. 

Sources: 

UCC statement

ELCA

PC(USA) statements of faith on LGBTQ+ people

Episcopal Church 

Conservative Judaism 

Reformed Judaism 

Islam 

Remembering Renee Nicole Good

Remembering Renee Nicole Good

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
John 15: 12–13

Jesus teaches that there is no greater love than the willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice for others, to lay down one’s life for someone else. It is to offer oneself unselfishly for the sake of others, especially the defenseless and the vulnerable.

On Wednesday, Jan. 7, Renee Nicole Good was shot while moving her car, attempting to follow the orders of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer. Her last words, captured on video, were, “I’m not mad at you.”

We lament and mourn the loss of Ms. Good, a widow of a veteran, a wife and a mother who put herself in harm’s way not out of any desire to do harm, but to observe and bear witness to the actions of ICE. We affirm the right to peaceful protest and lawful observation for all Americans, without the threat of repressive or deadly responses by government and law enforcement authorities.

Alongside Ms. Good, we remember George Floyd, whose life was taken at the hands of law enforcement in 2020, within one mile of where Ms. Good was murdered at the hands of enforcement officers, a stark and enduring reminder of the deadly consequences of injustice and the unfinished work of truth, repentance, and transformation to which God continually calls us.

As Presbyterians, we hold a twofold connection to Renee Good. First, we are bound by our shared faith in a God of justice, who calls us to engage the powers of this world and to counter hate with love. Our tradition compels us to oppose injustice with a prophetic word from the Lord and to participate in the transformation of the world God loves.

Our second connection is more personal: Ms. Good was one of us. She was a fellow Presbyterian. Edgewater Presbyterian Church in Illinois remembered her with these words: “Renee Nicole Good lived out the conviction that every person deserves kindness, regardless of their background. … Her story is a testament to the power of the Presbyterian mission and a challenge to our conscience. We mourn a fellow Presbyterian whose quiet smile and creative spirit touched lives from Colorado to Northern Ireland to Minnesota.”

In the coming week, we will remember the life and witness of the martyred Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who called this nation to a “radical revolution of values.” Values that demand divestment from racism, materialism and militarism. Ms. Good’s life and death echo this same moral call.

Her memory also stands in a sacred lineage of faithful witnesses who have risked and lost their lives in defense of human dignity. We remember the four Maryknoll Sisters — Sisters Ita Ford and Maura Clarke, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel and Lay Missioner Jean Donovan — who were abducted, abused and murdered in El Salvador in 1980 for standing alongside the Salvadoran people.

We also remember the Rev. Elijah Lovejoy, who was murdered for his opposition to the evil of slavery and for whom the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy is named. These are not isolated tragedies but part of a continuing story of costly discipleship.

We must remember her name: Renee Nicole Good. We remember her as a testament to Jesus’ teaching that God does not change the world through violence but through faithful presence amid struggle, and that love refuses to abandon the work of acceptance, justice and compassion.

Ms. Good’s wife, Rebecca Good, offered a fitting memorial:

“On Wednesday, Jan. 7, we stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns. We were raising our son to believe that no matter where you come from or what you look like, all of us deserve compassion and kindness. Renee lived this belief every day. She is pure love. She is pure joy. She is pure sunshine. Renee was a Christian who knew that all religions teach the same essential truth: We are here to love each other, care for each other, and keep each other safe and whole.”

Through this remembrance, we rededicate ourselves to advocacy in the name of Christ Jesus. We stand with those who are detained or killed by ICE, treated unjustly and vilified, whom God defends as bearers of the divine image. We proclaim a God who values all people and who calls us again and again to remind the world to value the lives of all.

Original Article

People gathered for a vigil in South Minneapolis following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good. (Photo by Chad Davis via Wikipedia Commons used under Creative CommonsAttribution 4.0 International license.)People gathered for a vigil in South Minneapolis following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good. (Photo by Chad Davis via Wikipedia Commons used under Creative CommonsAttribution 4.0 International license.)

Presbyterian Church Office of Public Witness

 

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness is deeply concerned by reports that refugees who have been lawfully admitted to the United States are being detained. Families who have already been welcomed into safety and passed extensive screening should not be uprooted again, separated from the communities supporting them, or made to live under renewed fear and uncertainty. Scripture calls us to welcome the stranger and protect the vulnerable, and to honor the dignity of those who seek refuge among us. We believe our nation must not undo the safety it has already promised, but instead uphold justice, compassion, and the rule of law for our newest neighbors. 

On Jan 9, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Operation “Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening” (PARRIS), which reopens and intensively re-examines certain refugee cases after resettlement. The operation’s initial focus is reported to be approximately 5,600 refugees in Minnesota who remain in refugee status while awaiting green cards. In recent days, refugee-serving organizations have reported that refugees, including children, have been detained, with limited public information about the standards being applied, the scope of enforcement, or the due process protections available.

This is not a routine administrative review. It is a sweeping action that undermines the promise of protection the United States makes when it resettles refugees. It is unjust to detain people who are here legally, and it is especially cruel to subject families to detention and secrecy after they have already survived persecution and displacement.

Just as importantly, these actions risk communicating to the world and to refugee communities that the United States will not honor the protection it has promised. They reflect a deeply troubling and cold-hearted turn toward a refugee policy shaped more by suspicion than by compassion, and they weaken the moral credibility of our nation’s commitment to welcome those who have fled persecution.

The United States has made binding commitments under international law to protect refugees; this operation contradicts those commitments.

Our denomination’s stance is clear and longstanding. Presbyterians have repeatedly affirmed the call to welcome refugees, to support their resettlement, to seek family reunification, and to oppose policies that endanger refugees or return them involuntarily to harm. Across decades of General Assembly action, the PC(USA) and our predecessor denominations have urged the United States to uphold humane refugee policy, uphold the rule of law, and resist cruelty and discrimination.

The Office of Public Witness calls on the administration to:

• Immediately halt detentions of lawfully resettled refugees connected to Operation PARRIS
• 
  
• Guarantee due process, including access to legal counsel and clear, timely procedures
• 
  
• Provide transparency about the legal authority, criteria, and implementation of this operation
• 
  
• Protect family unity and ensure refugees are not isolated from their communities and sponsors
• 
  
• Reaffirm the U.S. commitment to refugee protection, rather than weakening it through fear-based enforcement
• 
  

We urge Congress to conduct immediate oversight, demand public answers, and ensure that refugee policy is carried out humanely and lawfully.

We call on Presbyterians and people of faith to continue to stand with refugees, support resettlement communities, and live out Christ’s call to love our neighbors. In this moment, we urge our nation to choose welcome over suspicion, truth over secrecy, and hope over fear.

Learn about the immigration work of various PC(USA) offices, advocates and partners here.

PCUSA Office of Public Witness