‘It’s important that people see the church of Jesus standing where Jesus would be standing’

LOUISVILLE — Nearly 400 people joined the “Faithful Resistance to ICE” discussion Wednesday among three Presbyterian clergy who’ve cared for their immigrant siblings in Minneapolis and Chicago by standing against actions taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in recent weeks.

The PC(USA)’s Office of Public Witness hosted these pastors for a 90-minute webinar:

• The Rev. Margaret Fox, associate pastor for adult ministries at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis
• The Rev. Quincy Worthington, the pastor of Highland Park Presbyterian Church near Chicago
• The Rev. David Black, senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Chicago.

Elinor Hiller, an OPW intern, asked questions of the panelists, starting with one about recent actions they and their churches have taken.

First Presbyterian Church of Chicago began soon after President Trump’s second inauguration, Black said, by organizing a hundred-person working group to support vulnerable neighbors. His own involvement at the Broadview Detention Center began in August, and he was struck on the head with pepper balls the following month. “I’m so proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with Quincy and so many other clergy,” Black said. “It has been extraordinary to witness, and it’s given me a lot of hope.”

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Fox, who preached an extraordinary sermon the day after Alex Pretti was killed, also emphasized the importance of relying on longstanding ministry partners. Because it expanded its building two years ago and constructed underground parking. Westminster Presbyterian Church was able to host an interfaith service in late January with just 48 hours’ notice.

“I got involved specifically because of David’s hard work rallying clergy,” Worthington said. “I started going to Broadview at his invitation and saw excessive violence going on against people practicing their First Amendment rights.“

“It’s hard to think Jesus wouldn’t have something to say about that,” he said. “It has been about coalition work and figuring out how we can support [neighbors] at the congregational level. We have tried to match people with their gifts in order to serve the kingdom.”

Fox said she sees protest “as an act of witness. There is something to being visibly present as clergy. It’s a reminder there is another way of being in the world, as a connector or anchor, especially in heated moments.” Ministry “is something we are all called to. It’s not just for those ordained as teaching elders.” In Minneapolis, “the movement has been a leader-full movement of people of faith and people of no faith.”

Her first act as part of Operation Metro Surge was to serve tea as people emerged from an Islamic center following prayer. “It was hospitality and love, and to receive that back from our neighbors mattered a great deal,” Fox said. “Showing up in an embodied way really matters right now.”

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Black said it’s meaningful for activists to see the moral tradition that clergy represent. Wearing a clergy collar in spaces of activism “signifies my obedience to a larger system of democratic authority.”

“When I show up in this way, people know there are people holding me accountable,” Black said. “It helps to reinforce trust when I walk into situations.”

“I am a big bearded white guy covered in tattoos who has cauliflower ears, and I’m not a Proud Boy,” Worthington said. “The clergy shirt isn’t magic, but it communicates things.”

“It’s important that people see the church of Jesus standing where Jesus would be standing,” Worthington said.

Asked about what role the church ought to play in moments of injustice, Fox said she appreciated a sermon preached around Martin Luther King Jr. day by the Rev. Anna Kendig Flores of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. The sermon had three touchpoints: being embodied, cultivating compassion and imagination, and moving at the right speed — not too fast and not too slow.

While Worthington said he usually sees the world “in Technicolor,” some things are binary. One is “we view people either as precious children of God or we don’t.”

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“Our wants and desires and dreams for our lives need to be laid at the foot of the Cross” in order to follow Christ, he said. “I try to take that call to discipleship seriously, and when I do that, I find it nearly impossible to remain silent in the face of such dehumanizing practices.”

Black said he’s learned through his involvement that “it’s an important time to be Presbyterian.”

“Our democracy and our pluralism are baked into our experience, and Presbyterians understand how to organize around those two pillars,” he said. “All we need to be is good Presbyterian churches and take our history and heritage seriously. Our polity has so much to teach us about what it means to be a good citizen.”

It’s also about “leaning into what connects us with neighbors of other faiths,” Fox said. “What’s also been powerful is the way that people have gotten to know their literal neighbors. The civic threads have become incredibly important.”

“One thing that’s become clear is it’s not enough to be against something. That will get you only so far,” Worthington said. “You’ve got to be for something.” As people of faith, in our DNA is language about kingdom and world building, he said. “The more we can say about our vision for what the world can be — through the gospel and death and resurrection of Christ — we can use that as grounds for kingdom building.”

“We have a unique vision and a unique language others don’t have,” Worthington said. “It’s a big gift Christians can offer this world.”

Panelists also answered questions from the large crowd. Worthington said it’s been important to ask immigrant siblings what will be helpful and what won’t be. “Where we can, we leverage our privilege and take on risks that others cannot, and we let them be identified by the communities we’re supporting,” Worthington said.

No act of kindness is insignificant, he said. When he and others were in Minneapolis marching on the day following Pretti’s killing, “there was no time to stop for food.” Some Methodist women had baked cookies for their pastor, “and that was all I had to eat that day. Those women were a lifeline to us.”

“And praying makes a difference,” he said. “It will take all people doing all things at all levels to make this successful.”

“It’s a question of what gifts do you have to offer in this moment,” Black said. “Come with the understanding of what brings you to life. It’s what your community and this movement need. When we are all brought to life, that’s the start of the kingdom of God.”

“That sense of giftedness is crucial,” Fox said. “It happens in loud and quiet ways, and in our political system, advocacy matters.”

“We read the Bible together and discuss the Bible together, and let iron sharpen iron,” Black said. “Churches should be forums of discourse and formation.”

We must “liberate ourselves from a romantic notion of how things happen. Stop looking for a revolutionary leader,” Black advised. “The kingdom is built through acts of love, conformity to discipleship and the love of Christ.”

Each of the three prayed when it was time to bring the forum to a close. Worthington prayed to a “gracious and restless God” who “doesn’t look away from suffering and asks us not to look away either.”

Fox prayed for neighbors “and all who are hurting and continue to suffer because of the language they speak, the color of their skin and the place where they were born.”

“Empower us to use our imaginations to grow in relationship with one another and with you,” she prayed.

“Give us knowledge of your will to the exclusion of every other will,” Black asked the Almighty. “Continue to animate us in this ministry you have called us to.”