Love should be shown without pretending. Hate evil and hold on to what is good. Love each other like the members of your family. Be the best at showing honor to each other. Don’t hesitate to be enthusiastic—be on fire in the Spirit as you serve the Lord!  Be happy in your hope, stand your ground when you’re in trouble, and devote yourselves to prayer. Contribute to the needs of God’s people, and welcome strangers into your home.

-Romans 12:9-13

Grace and peace to you in the hope that is ours in Christ.

When the kids were little, we liked to walk in county or state parks. It was not uncommon for Rachel to see a toad or frog and pick it up. You know the inevitable question: ‘Dad, can we keep her?’

I would explain. ‘Rachel, that little frog has a mom, maybe a dad or grandpa or little brother, and soon they will start missing her. She will want to go home to her table for supper, and you can imagine how sad it would be for them if their little girl did not come home. She will miss them. They will miss her. Let’s let her go so she can hop home.’

I don’t know if that was a gold standard answer, but both kids learned empathy. They are kind to animals. They live out Christian love even if they do not set worship attendance records. Rachel is a social worker who manages others and engages the most challenged of those who live in Milwaukee without housing. Once, someone who was distressed asked the police to call her by name. Andrew loves to serve. Siblings in Christ, we belong to each other. Archbishop Tutu of South Africa has described life as ‘a bundle of belonging.’

In her book, Who Do We Choose to Be? Margaret Wheatley says a decent human being must be willing to serve an inhumane and indecent time. More than being decent, what might a Christian be willing to do in an inhumane, indecent time?

Despite the fact that the federal government has built a concentration camp in Florida and has resorted to burning food aid rather than feed hungry children, I am still answering angry letters from the Council of Bishops’ epiphany letter, read in our churches, that sought dignity for immigrants.

I feel as if I am crouching down in my gentle fatherly voice and saying, ‘the 34 people per cage have a mother, a sister, or a child. They are exposed to the elements and live in their own stench. Most are guilty of no crime. For the first offense, being in the US illegally is a misdemeanor, and when did misdemeanor crimes warrant incarceration in a concentration camp away from family and legal recourse? Their children are traumatized from missing their fathers. Let them go. Let them go back to their dinner tables.’

Bishop Tom Berlin, our bishop assigned to the Florida conference, has raised his opposition to a concentration camp built in Florida that costs $450 million per year to operate. Inmates are given food infested with maggots. Mosquitoes, some carrying disease, are everywhere. The lights are left on so inmates cannot sleep. Of course, immigration reform is needed. Of course, persons who have committed serious crimes must be addressed. How do you defend a concentration camp with your Christian faith? Might the FEMA money used to maintain this be better spent in Texas or on a natural disaster?

Siblings in Christ, we have been divided by powerful, moneyed voices. Many hearts have been turned to revile immigrants by allowing ourselves to fear them in the most criminal terms.  Consider how many United Methodists approve of this example of structural and systemic racism. Who would want to join that church?

Contact your representative and your senator. Join in prayer and protest. Feed those widowed because their husband has been swept up in a needless raid. Contribute to the Texas flood relief through UMCOR or a short-term mission trip. Love your neighbor. The neighbor, says Luke 10:37, is the one who showed mercy.

Know that your witness to Jesus and your service of the reign of God is critically important. Thank you for your witness and faithfulness. It is good to be in ministry with you.

Peace,

Dan Schwerin, Bishop
Northern Illinois-Wisconsin Episcopal Area 
The United Methodist Church