The Stranger Among Us:
The US, The Northern Triangle, and Asylum
Explore the history, theology and policy that brings us to today’s asylum crisis.
Tuesdays 6:30 to 8:00
May 3, 10, 17, 24
Grace UCC Conference Room
Email bridgetorutland@gmail.com
OR call 802-779-4217 to reserve your place
See poster (PDF) for more info.
The Learning with Grace committee will be providing more info soon …
Send an email to your officials with one click!
This week images of U.S. Border Patrol agents ruthlessly chasing and rounding up Haitian immigrants have shocked and horrified us all. Right now there are thousands of people from Haiti seeking safety in the United States who are fleeing the devastation wrought by natural disaster and civil unrest. Instead of responding to those needs by offering safety and welcome; the administration continues to deploy deportation and detention as their primary response. There is a long history of humanitarian failures to Haiti and these actions undermine the laws that determine access to asylum and more importantly undermine our moral standing as a country.
It is critical that Congress put pressure on the administration to end their practice of using Title 42 as justification for these expulsions. Title 42 is a public health order that allows the administration to not allow for entry, even for those seeking asylum. There is no public health benefit to this and it is being used to deport those legally presenting themselves to ask for asylum and safety. Instead there should be administrative actions taken including expanding the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation, offering Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) designations and the option to use humanitarian parole for Haitian arrivals.
Congress must also hold those responsible for the egregious abuses and open violence that Haitian migrants are being subjected to. There must be an investigation and consequences for the flagrant human rights abuses.
Answering the call to love our neighbor looks like a lot of different things, but it is unambiguous in intent – we must do more and do better for care for our Haitian neighbors. Join with us as people of faith to urge Congress and the administration to take these critical steps.
Send an email to your officials with one click!
Source: United Church of Christ
Join us for this event on Immigration sponsored by the Spiritual Growth Committee. In lieu of our Aug. 18 date, we will be meeting on September 29, 2019.
Immigration and Michaelmas!
When: Sunday, September 29, 2019 after our 10am worship service.
Where: Fellowship Hall
About: What is Michaelmas, and what does it have to do with our immigration work? It’s an ancient Christian holiday that celebrates the Archangel Michael defeating evil in the world! Join us for a Potluck luncheon discussion about Grace Church’s next steps with the wider Rutland community – what would it take to sponsor one or more families in Rutland? During this time, we will also have crafts/card-making to send to our brothers and sisters on the Border.
*A free-will offering will be collected for those working with detainees at the Border.
The Spiritual Growth Committee invites YOU to share in an evening of discovery and civil discourse about IMMIGRATION: Mexican Migrants in VT and Central American Asylum Seekers on our Southern Border.
When: January 31, 2019, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Where: Grace Church Fellowship Hall
We are located on the corner of Court and West. For parking, enter our lot from
West Street. Street parking is also available on Court Street.
The handicap entrance may be accessed through the north side portico of Grace Church via the parking lot. The elevator is located in the central part of the building.
About: The Spiritual Growth Committee invites YOU to share in an evening of discovery and civil discourse about IMMIGRATION: Mexican Migrants in VT and Central American Asylum Seekers on our Southern Border. Please bring a potluck dish to share at this night of discussion. Child care is also provided to families who wish to attend.
Questions to think about:
Do Mexican Migrants in VT and Central American Asylum Seekers on our Southern Border have anything in common? What do they have to do with our faith and spiritual growth?
You will also have the opportunity to make a donation to the border ministry.
VT UCC minister, Marjorie MacNeill, will be traveling to border towns of in Arizona.
With the funds, she will be purchasing and donating needed supplies for several programs & churches doing amazing and difficult work with the people who have made their way across the Mexico-US border.
She hopes to also provide help to a network of churches and shelters in Tucson who have been offering welcome and assistance to those families with children released from detention. With no resources, these families were dropped off at the Tucson bus station. One of our UCC congregations there recently offered welcome, rest, food, encouragement, support, and needed supplies to over 500 mothers, fathers, and children as they made arrangements to get to families/sponsors across the country.
More assistance is still needed to offer such hospitality and friendship in the city. She’ll also be visiting and bringing needed supplies to a Presbyterian mission on the border in Douglas, AZ and to the border/food-shelf ministry at The Good Shepherd UCC in Sahuarita, AZ near Green Valley. If you have been wanting to offer direct help for such ministry at the border, they would be grateful for financial donations and would handle them faithfully and carefully.
