Sunday morning has come and gone…
now what?

If we want to empower and equip people to be difference makers and to resist injustice, I am convinced that the Church must challenge people to go deeper. We, the Church, have to help people know and experience the relevancy of the Gospel and to see how it still speaks and has the power to liberate and transform people and systems. If the Church is to reclaim its prophetic role in the world and in people’s lives, we must create spaces and opportunities for people to GO DEEPER: to build relationships that go beyond the lines that separate the one from the other; to engage in meaningful dialogue that discuss the critical controversial issues and struggles that concern and threaten people’s lives and our common life together; and to organize and mobilize people for action. If we want to conquer evil and hate and if we want love, justice and peace to prevail, we must go deeper.

Listed below are resources on immigration and refugees to help guide your local church towards GOING DEEPER:

• Welcoming the Migrant to the United States #3281, a resolution from 2016 General Conference
• Resources from the United Methodist Church
• UMCOR resources
• UMW Global Migration and Immigration Rights Resources
• A message from Thomas G. Kemper, general secretary of the General Board of Global Ministries
• Follow this link for a video that shares how United Methodist Churches around Germany are welcoming refugees and migrants
• Follow this link for resources from the General Board of Church and Society regarding immigration. Some of the resources include small group study guides.
• Since the November election, more than 800 places of worship nationwide vowed to shelter and protect immigrants in danger of separation from their families or being returned to countries they fled. Follow this link to learn more.

Bishop Tracy S. Malone
Resident Bishop
Ohio East Episcopal Area
United Methodist Church