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Immigration
Most of the Rocky Mountain Synod's southern boundary follows the Rio Grande River, along the border of the United States and Mexico, providing context and opportunity for conversation about immigration.
Who is My Neighbor?
DVD presented by the RMS Immigration Task Force
A 13 minute DVD and study guide is available for use in Bible Study classes or forum discussions. The DVD includes stories from Cristo Rey and from the HKBP Indonesian congregation in Denver. Please contact the synod office to request a copy. A study guide may be downloded.
"Dying to Live: A Migrant's Journey" DVD
Dying to Live is a profound look at the human face of the immigrant. It explores who these people are, why they leave their homes and what they face in their journey
Other films
Cristo Rey Border Immersion Experience
ELCA Mexico City Immersion
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ELCA message on immigration
The ELCA message was approved by the Board of the Division for Church in Society and was adopted by the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on November 16, 1998.
read the entire message
...We recognize and rejoice that our church along with our country continues to change with the steady arrival of newcomers in the United States. Persons who have recently come from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and other areas of the world are enriching congregations throughout the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). We celebrate the liturgy in 33 languages; we worship and sing in Spanish with our new Libro de Liturgia y Cántico. Newcomers are increasingly assuming leadership roles in our congregations, synods, affiliated educational and social ministry agencies, and churchwide ministries. We are beginning new congregations in immigrant communities. We thank God for these developments, and we remember Paul's admonition: "Welcome one another, just as Christ has welcomed you, to the glory of God" (Romans 15:7).
We also recognize the obstacles and difficulties our church and society face in welcoming newcomers. Too often we are slow in, tire of, or even resist fostering a hospitable environment for newcomers. Too often we perpetuate the racism, the fear of, and the animosity toward newcomers that show themselves in our society. Our country's history exhibits an ugly strain of exclusionary attitudes and policies toward newcomers who differ from the majority. In times of economic downturns especially--as happened in the early 1990s--this strain becomes more pervasive and leads to laws that unduly restrict immigration and threaten the well-being of newcomers.
The presence of newcomers in our church and society heightens our awareness of these realities and of the experience of new immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in the United States. This awareness makes us more appreciative of the gifts our new neighbors bring and of the barriers as well as the opportunities they encounter. It deepens our belief that "all people are God's creatures, sinners for whom Christ died" and our responsibility to respect the human dignity of all. [1] This is a fitting time for us to examine anew our attitudes toward newcomers, to strengthen our church's ministry among, with, and for the most vulnerable of newcomers, and to continue to advocate for immigration, refugee, and asylum laws that are fair and generous...
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