Artwork: “Unto Me” by Joy Soltis
Inspired by Matthew 25:40, Unto Me layers a partial world map and Trinitarian symbolism. The face of Christ is superimposed on each displaced person, affirming the sacred dignity of immigrants and the biblical call to welcome the stranger. Joy Soltis attends Bellingham Covenant Church in Bellingham, Washington.
Covenant churches in the Twin Cities are adapting their ministries to care for neighbors amid increased immigration-enforcement activity.
In December, JD Larson, pastor of North City Covenant Church, connected with several local Latino churches, including some with Covenant connections. One church that was in the process of joining the Covenant essentially shut down “because it was no longer safe,” Larson said. “We have another church that took all their social media down. Became completely underground basically.”
Erika Clauson, former global personnel in Mexico and interim pastor at Brookdale Covenant Church, wrote in a Facebook post that the Latino congregation that meets in their building has struggled to discern whether they should continue to meet for worship services.
Rose Lee-Norman, executive pastor at Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis, said her church has long had a twice-a-week food pantry that serves their community. Immigrants make up a large portion of both the guests who come for food and the volunteers. As a result of the increase in immigration-enforcement activity, Lee-Norman said, “We’re seeing far fewer in-person guests,” so they’ve shifted their focus to home delivery. “We have an incredible volunteer team who’s willing and who have stepped up.”
Ten miles away on the other side of the city, Polly Inestroza, pastor of children and adult ministries at Crosstown Covenant Church, described a similar shift. As people increasingly felt the need to stay home, the church pivoted to home delivery for their food-distribution ministry. Now Inestroza says their focus is shifting again. “The first wave of need was bringing food and diapers to people,” she explained. “Now it’s providing rent and utilities.”
In addition to these pivots to existing ministries, pastors also noted creative ways their congregants have responded to their neighbors’ changing needs. “All sorts of people are driving kids to and from school,” Inestroza said. “Our schools have already shifted to online learning, because some kids are not going to school at all.”
Lee-Norman said it has been amazing to hear individual congregants describe the creative ways they’re trying to love their neighbors. “I know members who are flying to El Paso, offering rides to strangers being released from detention and driving them back to Minneapolis,” she said.
Edith Soto López, Latino ministry coordinator for the Northwest Conference, said that at a recent meeting with Northwest Conference staff, she felt a stirring in her heart to do something different. “Let’s go do something positive,” she suggested. “Let’s go pray together like a family.”
That idea turned into a prayer gathering for Covenant churches throughout the Twin Cities. In addition to their prayers, attendees also brought food, toiletries, and baby supplies such as diapers and wipes. Donations totaled more than 3,000 pounds of food, much of which was collected by students at Minnehaha Academy.
“God is so powerful,” Soto López said. “You can feel the Spirit of the Lord in the people. La gente estaba unida en un mismo sentir.”
Reports, including a recent NPR investigation, indicate that detentions have included immigrants with legal status, U.S. citizens, and Native Americans. Lee-Norman said that from what she’s seen, the operation started as a focus on undocumented immigrants, but she believes enforcement has expanded beyond undocumented immigrants. “There have been so many people detained without clear explanation,” she said.
However, some say that when they share their experiences with friends and family in other parts of the country, the response has been disbelief. “It’s a common experience that has jarred some of our people,” Larson said. “Several congregants have come to me and said, ‘I told people that this specific thing happened to me.’” He said they have been shocked and hurt when loved ones dismiss or explain away their experiences.
Some congregants have also chosen to participate in public demonstrations. Clauson noted that on their own initiative, her school-age daughter and friends created protest signs, prompted by their concerns for classmates who haven’t been to school.
Lee-Norman has participated in a group called Singing Resistance, which she described as “a collective of people who simply want to sing as a form of protest.”
Throughout the challenges, Covenanters expressed continued faith in God and a commitment to living according to that faith day by day. “Every day we just show up, and we bring food to those we can bring food to, and we’re faithful with what God has asked us to do,” Inestroza said.
Lee-Norman recalled a woman at a prayer meeting who told her, “It’s simply a blessing to be inconvenienced for the sake of our neighbor right now.”
“If I were to characterize the shift for my community,” Larson said, “I think our understanding of what it means to be kingdom people has shifted in the last month.”
Ultimately, pastors say their congregations are turning to God for an end to the fear and confusion, and they hope their communities will follow. “Minnesota needs the Lord more in these times,” Soto López said. “The police cannot stop this. The government cannot stop this. But the Lord—he can.”
“Es tiempo de buscar a Dios,” she added. “Es tiempo de correr a Dios.”
