Called to Speak

A Statement of Witness

from the Session of First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor

We, the Session of First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor, seek to witness to the gospel in this time of violence, fear, and division. We do not speak as political partisans. We speak as Christians whose faith refuses despair.

We acknowledge that we have not always stood where we should. When Christian symbols and language have been invoked to serve the powerful rather than protect the vulnerable, we have not always named what we saw or said what we believed. The teachings of Jesus and the confessions of our Presbyterian heritage now call us out of that silence to speak what we see and discern what to do.

Here in Washtenaw County, we see families and individuals living under the threat of ICE’s enforcement actions, including human warehousing. These actions treat human beings as problems to be solved and objects to be relocated. Many of these families and individuals are longstanding and vital members of our wider community. Too often they have been exploited for their hard and reliable labor, denied legal rights, and treated with contempt.

We see the language of public life hardening and the reckless recourse to expressions of hate in public and online life increasing. We see normalization of everyday violence; constriction of programs assisting the most vulnerable; abandonment of commitments to protect the environment; and recourse to war at the expense of diplomacy.

We see Christian language and symbols attached to the agenda of patriarchal White Christian Nationalism. That agenda advances narrowed terms of national identity and citizenship, redefines compassion and love of neighbor as weakness, and silences the church’s prophetic witnesses.

Throughout his ministry, the wandering Jesus engaged those whom religious, political, and economic systems pushed to the margins—the sick, the foreign, the indebted, the outcast. In each encounter, Jesus refused the hierarchies of deserving and worthless humanity that organized the world around him. When Jesus stood in the synagogue at Nazareth to announce his mission, he named his audience precisely: the poor, the captive, the oppressed, those awaiting release.

And when he described the judgment of the nations, he located himself with the hungry, the stranger, and the imprisoned, measuring the faithfulness of his followers by how they treated “the least of these.” The gospel does not permit us to speak of love in the abstract while remaining unmoved by the suffering of the particular human being before us.

The Confession of Belhar teaches that God “in a special way is the God of the destitute, the poor and the wronged” and that the church is called to “stand where God stands, namely against injustice and with the wronged.” The Reformed tradition affirms that God alone is Lord of the conscience, and that the church’s loyalty belongs to Jesus Christ and not to any particular race, ethnicity, nation, party, regime, or piece of land.

We therefore affirm the following:

•        Since all people bear the sacred imprint of God our Creator, they are entitled to recognition, dignity, security, and protection under the law.

•        Scripture commands Christians to welcome the stranger, love the neighbor, seek justice for the oppressed, and refuse complicity with systems that dehumanize the vulnerable, all in service of sustaining human flourishing.

•        Presbyterian teaching specifically embraces the importance of religious plurality and warns against the dangers of interventions by civil governments to curtail religious practices or establish a national religion.

•        Practices and agendas that subordinate the reign of God to the interests of the state and powerful state actors are distortions of the gospel to be resisted wherever they appear.

In light of this affirmation, we are using resources of our tradition and the fellowship of our congregation to understand what faithfulness requires (see below). Our obligation is to more faithfully welcome, accompany, and advocate for all people in our community. Doing so calls us to engage in an ethics of social responsibility: Learning about affected communities and people and prioritizing their well-being. Listening respectfully to the wisdom and witness of affected people. Responding in word and deed through visible signs of solidarity that are substantive rather than performative. Collaborating with partners in the Presbyterian Church, such as the Presbytery’s Office of Public Witness, and partners in local organizations and non-profits.

Silence, in this moment, is not an option our faith permits.

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Resources

First Presbyterian Church Resources

Our church, through the Adult Ministries activities, the Mission and Justice Committee, and the Exploring the Faith presentations of the Adult Faith Formation working group, has engaged with speakers on topics related to this statement’s focus.

•        Lopez, William D. “Raiding the Heartland: An American Story of Deportation and Resistance.” Exploring the Faith series, First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor. Streamed live January 11, 2026. YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/live/vFkBVrnjdqI

•        Adams, Mark. “Serving Christ in the Borderlands.” Exploring the Faith series, First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor. Streamed live January 25, 2026. YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/live/9hj8uUTiXeo

Local Resources

•        Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County. “Resettlement and Immigration.” https://www.jfsannarbor.org/resettlement-and-immigration.html

•        Movement for Immigrant Rights Action (MIRA) Washtenaw. Homepage. https://sites.google.com/view/mira-washtenaw/

•        Schoettle, Sarah. “Seeking Dignity and Opportunity in Washtenaw County.” Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (blog). https://michiganimmigrant.org/blog/seeking-dignity-and-opportunity-washtenaw-county

•        Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights. Homepage. https://wicir.org/

•        Women’s Center of Southeastern Michigan. “Migration and Immigration.” https://www.womenscentersemi.org/immigration

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Resources

Our denomination, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has spoken clearly and repeatedly on these matters through General Assembly actions, the Office of Public Witness, and pastoral resources that call congregations to welcome, accompaniment, and advocacy.

Denominational policy and advocacy

•        PC(USA) Immigration hub — policies, worship aids, resources: https://pcusa.org/how-we-serve/global-engagement/immigration

•        OPW Action Alert — Lawless Law Enforcement and the Militarization of ICE: https://www.votervoice.net/PCUSA/Campaigns/133070/Respond

•        OPW statement — Detention and scrutiny of refugees (January 15, 2026): https://pcusa.org/news-storytelling/news/2026/1/15/detention-and-scrutiny-refugees-prompts-statement-office-public-witness-during-time-fear-based

•        OPW response — We stand with our immigrant brothers and sisters (June 23, 2025): https://pcusa.org/news-storytelling/news/2025/6/23/we-stand-with-our-immigrant-brothers-and-sisters

Congregational action and accompaniment

•        Sanctuary: A Discernment Guide for Congregations (PDF): https://pcusa.org/sites/default/files/pc%28usa%29_opw_sanctuary_final_6.21_edit.pdf

•        Toolkit: Congregations Faithfully Accompanying People Seeking Asylum (PDF): https://pcusa.org/sites/default/files/2025-02/Congregations%20Faithfully%20Accompanying%20People%20Seeking%20Asylum%20Toolkit%202023.pdf

•        We Choose Welcome: 2023 Action Guide (PDF): https://pcusa.org/sites/default/files/2025-02/We%20Choose%20Welcome%20Action%20Guide%202023.pdf

•        Immigration, Asylum, Refugee and Immigrant Defense Resources (December 2025 PDF): https://pcusa.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/Immigration_Asylum_Refugee_Immigrant_Defense_Resources_Dec2025.pdf

Worship and formation

•        Immigration Worship Resources: Lent and Holy Week (PDF): https://pcusa.org/sites/default/files/lenten_lectionary_resources_final.pdf

•        Advent Guide: Welcoming the Holy Family, Standing with Immigrants (PDF): https://pcusa.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/2025_Dec_Immigration_advent_policy_guide.pdf

Christian nationalism and confessional identity

•        Confronting White Christian Nationalism — GACEIR FAQ and liturgy (PDF): https://pcusa.org/sites/default/files/2025-06/Final_FAQs_liturgy_XN_Nationalism_GACEIR_2025.pdf

•        Honest Patriotism — 223rd General Assembly, 2018 (PDF): https://pcusa.org/sites/default/files/2024-10/Honest-Patriotism.pdf

•        God Alone Is Lord of the Conscience (CenterNet): https://centernet.pcusa.org/what-we-believe/lord-of-the-conscience/

•        The Belhar Confession — PC(USA) Book of Confessions resource page: https://pcusa.org/resource/belhar-confession

Books for Further Reading

•        Carroll R., M. Daniel. Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2013.

•        Carroll R., M. Daniel, and Leopoldo A. Sánchez M., eds. Immigrant Neighbors among Us: Immigration across Theological Traditions. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2015.

•        De La Torre, Miguel A. Reading the Bible from the Margins. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2002.

•        Du Mez, Kristin Kobes. Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. New York: Liveright, 2020.

•        González, Karen. The God Who Sees: Immigrants, the Bible, and the Journey to Belong. Harrisonburg, VA: Herald Press, 2019.

•        Heimburger, Robert W. God and the Illegal Alien: United States Immigration Law and a Theology of Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.

•        Kim, Grace Ji-Sun. Embracing the Other: The Transformative Spirit of Love. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2015.

•        Lopez, William D. Separated: Family and Community in the Aftermath of an Immigration Raid. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019.

•        Romero, Robert Chao. Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2020.

•        Takei, George, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott. They Called Us Enemy. Illustrated by Harmony Becker. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions, 2019.

Index of Scripture Citations

Listed in canonical order. Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Hebrew Bible

Genesis 1:26

²⁶Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” (NRSVue)

Exodus 22:21–23

²¹You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. ²²You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. ²³If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry…. (NRSVue)

Leviticus 19:18

¹⁸You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. (NRSVue)

Leviticus 19:33–34

³³When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. ³⁴The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. (NRSVue)

Deuteronomy 10:17–19

¹⁷For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, ¹⁸who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. ¹⁹You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (NRSVue)

Esther 4:14

¹⁴For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this. (NRSVue)

Lamentations 3:21–23

²¹But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: ²²The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; ²³they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (NRSVue)

Isaiah 1:17

¹⁷[L]earn to do good; seek justice; rescue the oppressed; defend the orphan; plead for the widow. (NRSVue)

Isaiah 10:1–2

¹Woe to those who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes, ²to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, to make widows their spoil and to plunder orphans! (NRSVue)

Jeremiah 20:9

⁹If I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. (NRSVue)

Amos 5:21–24

²¹I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. ²²Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them, and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. ²³Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. ²⁴But let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (NRSVue)

Micah 6:8

⁸He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? (NRSVue)

New Testament

Matthew 25:31–46

³¹When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. ³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ ³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ ⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You who are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.” (NRSVue)

Luke 4:18–19

¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, ¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (NRSVue)

Luke 10:29–37

²⁹But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. ³¹Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³²So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ ³⁶Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” ³⁷He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” (NRSVue)

John 10:10–11

¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ¹¹I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (NRSVue)

Acts 5:29

²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.” (NRSVue)

Romans 5:5

⁵[A]nd hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (NRSVue)

James 4:12

¹²There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor? (NRSVue)