The Right to worship

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19-22

When we gather together to worship and honor God, we are united. When we enter that sacred space, race, class, and other inventions of this world do not exist to divide us. Such a sacred space should be a place where all parishioners feel safe and welcome. Instead, many churchgoers must now live in fear that their place of worship may be raided by ICE employees.

On his second day in office, president Donald Trump threw out policies which prevented ICE employees from entering sensitive areas such as schools and churches to make arrests. The now-extinct policy ensured that all people, including migrants, could worship with freedom. These protections ensured the separation of church and state, where the state cannot interfere with the sanctity of the church. With those lines now blurred, our holiest of spaces have become unwilling pawns in a political chess match.

The act of worship is a sacred thing, and the church is a sacred place. When we discuss the separation of church and state, it is not for the purpose of protecting the state from the church, it’s for the purpose of protecting the church from the state. The invasion of our holy spaces for the sake of deporting our fellow Christians, those whom we join in worship, is a gross violation of the freedoms our country was built upon.

We must protect our right to worship. And when we say our right to worship, we mean OUR right to worship. Everyone who gathers in the church to worship God is His child, and all have the equal right to feel safe in the church. Remember that God judges us not by our words, but by our actions. It is our duty to God to love one another and support those with whom we worship. Our churches must remain sacred. 

Read here about how to handle if ICE comes into your church.