The United Methodist Church position on global migration and U.S. immigration reform
The 2008 General Conference of The United Methodist Church called upon the whole denomination to become involved in addressing the root causes of global migration, which currently affects nearly 1/4 billion residents of the Earth. It also calls upon the whole denomination to "rethink church," engaging in new and transformative ministries with populations not fully engaged by and with the church's ministry.
2008 General Conference resolutions
Statements by the Council of Bishops
- Holy conferencing
- May 2009 resolution on immigration
- November 2009 resolution on ICE raids and children
- Council of Bishops meeting in Panama on November 9, 2010 opposes racism, backs immigration reform
- Council of Bishops meeting in Panama November 2-6, 2010 issues pastoral letter on "The Beloved Community."
Statements by individual bishops
- Welcome and Message given by Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño at SB 1070 interfaith service held on 7/29/10
- Statement by Bishop Julius Calvin Trimble on May 17, 2010
- Statement by Bishop Hee-Soo Jung
- Statement by Bishop Peggy Johnson on "Eliminating poverty" on October 26, 2010
- Statement by Bishop Deborah Kiesey on "A Christian Conversation" on November 2, 2010
- Statement by Bishop Lindsey Davis - a "Pastoral letter to Kentucky United Methodists" - January 2011
Stories
- A Detroit Conference pastor is caught in an inefficient immigration system (January 2012)
Christians at the Border
Although there are good economic, historical, and political reasons for immigration reform and for the humane and neighborly treatment of immigrants, our reasons as a church stem from our biblical and United Methodist traditions. At the 2009 sessions of the Desert Southwest Conference, Dr. M. Daniel Carroll R. presented a series of Bible Studies based on his book Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church and the Bible. We recommend this book to you and your church as a first study of the immigration question from a Christian perspective. It is available for purchase from Cokesbury for $13.59.
Immigration: a United Methodist Perspective
Several churches have also studied the document prepared by the Desert Southwest Conference Board of Church and Society, Immigration: a United Methodist Perspective, which looks at the immigration issue using The United Methodist Church's Wesleyan quadrilateral of scripture, tradition, reason, and experience.