From The General Board of Church & Society:
Passed by South Carolina Annual Conference
FLORENCE, S.C. — The South Carolina Annual Conference passed a resolution at its annual meeting last month that calls for reform of U.S. immigration policies. The resolution criticizes legislation being considered in the state senate and encourages every United Methodist congregation to study the biblical basis of hospitality to all.
The resolution was approved at the conference’s annual meeting, called the “The Wesleyan Way,” June 10-13 at the Florence Civic Center. The legislation, “A Resolution for Immigration Reform,” was proposed by the conference’s Hispanic/Latino Committee.
The resolution asserts that U.S. “immigration policy has not adapted adequately to changes to the global nature of the world.
The resolution encourages congregations to “welcome newly arriving people in their communities, to love them as we do ourselves, to treat them as children of God, to see in them the presence of the incarnated Jesus, and to show hospitality to all in our midst, believing that through their presence we are receiving the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
It raises concern about Senate Bill 20 “that will create division in our communities, will continue to encourage racial discrimination, will bring economical hardship on our state and in its passing says to the rest of our nation and the world that our state and our annual conference does not see our migrant brothers and sisters in Christ as equally valuable as ourselves in the sight of God.”
The resolution specifies that a copy of it be signed by S.C. Bishop Mary Virginia Taylor and the Secretary of the Annual Conference and be delivered to members of the South Carolina legislature.
The resolution follows:
A Resolution for Immigration Reform
Whereasthe 2008 General Conference of The United Methodist Church passed a resolution on immigration reform stating that migration is not new to human beings, in itself is certainly not bad or evil, and that theologically and historically it is has been an opportunity of receiving God’s grace; and
Whereas The United Methodist Church is a global church and in the United States immigration makes up the story of most of those who live in this country, as they or their ancestors migrated here “seeking safety, economic betterment, and freedom of religious and cultural expression.” (Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church 2008, #3281); and
Whereas the U.S. immigration policy has not adapted adequately to changes to the global nature of the world or taken into consideration that “globalization has lessened the geographical distance between the poor and affluent,” or that globalization “has also greatly exacerbated the chasm between those with access to resources and those denied that same access.” (Book of Resolutions#3281); and
Whereas Jesus in Luke 4:18 reading from the scroll of Isaiah stated: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,” and as scripture continuously shows Jesus’ compassion for the vulnerable and the poor, his “incarnated hospitality as he welcomed people and ministered to their greatest need, [and how] Jesus’ presence on earth initiated the Kingdom reality of a new social order based on love, grace, justice, inclusion, mercy and egalitarianism, which was meant to replace the old order, characterized by nepotism, racism, classism, sexism and exclusion.” (Book of Resolutions, #3281); and
Whereasthe 2008 General Conference recognized and stated in its resolution that the U.S. immigration system is broken and that our community and church responses have reflected old order; and
Whereasthe state of South Carolina legislature is considering Senate Bill 20, a bill that will create division in our communities, will continue to encourage racial discrimination, will bring economical hardship on our state and in its passing says to the rest of our nation and the world that our state and our annual conference does not see our migrant brothers and sisters in Christ as equally valuable as ourselves in the sight of God; and
WhereasThe United Methodist Church has started two new Hispanic/Latino Missions in the past two years and has sensed a call to ministry with the least of these; be it
Resolvedthat the South Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church discourage the South Carolina legislature in passing and implementing SB 20, and be it further
Resolvedthat the South Carolina Annual Conference calls upon all United Methodist congregations to study the biblical basis of hospitality to all: “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord, your God.” (Leviticus 19:33); and to advocate for the comprehensive reform of the U.S. immigration system; and be it further
Resolvedthat the South Carolina Annual Conference calls upon all United Methodist congregations to welcome newly arriving people in their communities, to love them as we do ourselves, to treat them as children of God, to see in them the presence of the incarnated Jesus, and to show hospitality to all in our midst, believing that through their presence we are receiving the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ; and be it further
Resolvedthat a copy of this resolution be signed by the Bishop and the Secretary of the Annual Conference and be delivered to the members of the South Carolina Legislature.
— Respectfully submitted, the S.C. Hispanic/Latino Committee of The United Methodist Church
The resolution was passed on June 5.
Filed under: immigrant community, Law, Racism, S.B. 20 Tagged: | Mary Virginia Taylor, S.B. 20, South Carolina Annual Conference, The United Methodist Church
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