Photos by Edgar Torres
There are many reasons that a church may feel a need to adapt its ministry practices. New developments in the world around us, across times and seasons, prompt the church to find new ways to serve both congregants and neighbors, and consider what it means to follow Jesus in new circumstances.
Many Covenant churches across the United States have found themselves in just such a season in recent months, as they address the impact of an increase in local immigration-enforcement activity.
Edgar Torres, president of Asociación Latina De La Iglesia Del Pacto Evangélico (ALIPE), the Covenant’s association for Latino pastors, estimates that Covenant churches with majority Latino congregations have “lost close to 50 percent of their congregants due to fear of going to church.”
That was the experience of Dianira Ulin, a pastor at Iglesia del Pacto Belen in Cicero, Illinois, outside of Chicago. Autumn began with a lot of excitement as the congregation moved into a new building. Ulin said they chose the new location after nearly four decades in Chicago to better minister to their congregation.
“We moved in the first week of September,” Ulin said, adding that everyone was “happy and joyful that we have a new building.”
But worship attendance dropped soon after the move, from around 180 to 60 or 70. The sudden shift happened soon after Operation Midway Blitz began, which is an operation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Chicago area. The city has also seen a heavy presence of Customs and Border Protection officials.
Although the operation is officially focused on undocumented immigrants with criminal histories, detainees have also included non-criminal immigrants, as well as US citizens. The result is a widespread sense of fear, with more people choosing to stay home.
In her role as director of clergy support for the denomination, Rev. Dany Flores says she has heard similar stories from clergy throughout the country. They describe their own fears, as well as those expressed by their congregants. “Actually, one pastor said, ‘Dany, it’s not fear, it’s terror,’” Flores recalled. “It’s beyond fear.”
Increased immigration enforcement has the potential to detrimentally impact many US churches. A March 2025 report found that “roughly one in 12 Christians in the United States are vulnerable to deportation or live with a family member who could be deported.” That number includes people who currently have a lawful status that may be temporary and subject to sudden policy changes, such as the recent terminations of Temporary Protected Status for many people from Venezuela and South Sudan.
A drop in worship attendance is not the only impact on Covenant congregations. Churches have had to cancel or scale back outreach ministries, interchurch gatherings, and even the annual summer baptism service for Latino churches in the Central Conference at Covenant Harbor Bible Camp in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
Yet not everyone is staying home. Torres noted that some congregants are willing to take more risks and feel that no matter what, they need to be at church. “People’s sense of danger is very different,” he explained. “That’s kind of the reality of how people are reacting to the situation.”
Evelyn Perez, Latino ministries coordinator for the Pacific Southwest Conference, has also seen an overall drop in church attendance. However, she says that some congregations are actually growing as people in their communities notice how the church is responding. Newcomers are seeing the church as a source of much-needed spiritual support.
“There is a level of trust that is already built with families in the community,” Perez explained. “Because they’ve seen how the church has stepped in and supported certain families, they also want to come in.”
For Flores, this is emblematic of the power of the gospel. “In the midst of this chaos, this is a great opportunity to share the good news,” she said. “We have hope.”
Central Conference Superintendent Danny Martinez reflected on the current moment, saying, “In spiritual direction, we’re often asked, ‘Where is the Holy Spirit?’” It’s a question that invites the church to stay attentive, to not miss what God may already be doing.
Pastors and other leaders have found creative ways to connect with their members. Flores co-pastors Vida Plena Covenant Church, which she and her husband, Sergio González planted together. She says they have talked about hosting a Bible study group via Zoom for those who fear leaving the house. “Otherwise, there are people who we are going to lose if we don’t provide something for them besides Sunday [services],” she explained.
Churches have also sought to provide for members in tangible ways, such as bringing food to families or walking kids to school. In some cases, pastors accompany members to appointments with immigration officials.
“I do see how difficult, heavy, and challenging this is,” Perez reflected. But, she added, “I also see how we’ve become such a witness of what it means to be the church.”
Such ministry efforts are made more difficult by the decreased tithes and offerings that have paralleled the drop in attendance. Perez shared her concerns about how the changes in church financial situations have affected pastors, saying, “A lot of our Latino pastors are carrying the weight of the financial hardship.” In the midst of increased ministry needs and decreased funds, “pastors carry the responsibility and the financial, immediate response to supporting families.”
Though Latino churches have been most directly affected by the changes in immigration-enforcement policies and practices, other Covenanters have also sought to respond to the challenges. “I’ve had calls from other Covenant churches who have asked, ‘Hey, is there something we can do?’” Torres said.
Some Covenanters who don’t feel targeted by the heightened enforcement have visited Latino churches or offered to help walk around the neighborhood of the church during worship services. Torres said that churches have also reached out to him to say they’re praying.
On October 11, leaders from ALIPE, Serve Locally, and the Central Conference collaborated to host a prayer gathering at Iglesia del Pacto Albany Park in Chicago, a congregation who had one of their families detained by Customs and Border Protection.
Flores recalled that in the early planning for the gathering, the idea was to have a day of prayer for Latino Covenanters. But when the event actually came, only about a quarter of the 80 attendees were Latino. Once again, fear and risk seemed to be a prime factor.
“It was surprising, but at the same time was encouraging to have others stand in solidarity with us,” Flores said. “That was a really nice experience.”
The prayer gathering included a time of worship, as well as four prayer stations: lament, God’s sovereignty, intercession, and remembering the promises of God.
Reflecting on the service, Torres said, “I think that was extremely powerful, because we didn’t just stand together, but we prayed together.”
As people seek to help churches that are struggling, Perez says that means “trying to figure out ways we can listen to the voices of the community that’s being directly affected, and how we can best support them.”
“I think this is a call to action as a church to more than ever really lean into the stories, and to more than ever have a posture of listening,” she said.
Torres sees opportunities to pursue faith for all congregations, no matter how one is affected by these changes. “I hope our churches in general—the Covenant churches—continue to lead with faith, and protect with love, and serve people with hope,” he said.
