At its 2017 annual meeting, University Lutheran Church, by a vote of 52-0 with 4 abstentions, resolved to declare itself a Sanctuary Church to support members of area communities who are under threat of deportation. The church subsequently partnered with other Boston-area groups to form the Cambridge Interfaith Sanctuary Coalition. Current members are:
- Cambridge Minyan
- Congregation Eitz Chayim
- First Church Cambridge
- Faith Lutheran Church
- First Parish in Cambridge
- Friends Meeting at Cambridge
- Harvard Divinity School Student Led Interfaith and Secular Coalition (SLIC)
- Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church
- Old Cambridge Baptist Church (OCBC)
- St. James’s Episcopal Church
- University Lutheran Church
To contact the Cambridge Interfaith Sanctuary Coalition, email cambridgeinterfaithsanctuary@gmail.com.
Read the Cambridge Interfaith Sanctuary Coalition (formerly Harvard Square Sanctuary Coalition) Covenant (PDF).
Events
On Monday, March 5, 2018 at 7 pm, members of the Cambridge Interfaith Sanctuary Coalition gathered at UniLu for Standing Together: A Service of Witness, Lament, Recognition, and Re-commitment, marking our first year of standing with immigrants facing deportation.
On Sunday, February 25, 2018, Porter Square Books in Cambridge hosted “Be the Change Community Action: Immigration” as a fundraiser for the Cambridge Interfaith Sanctuary Coalition. Cambridge author Charlene Galarneau, a member of First Parish in Cambridge, and representatives of the Cambridge Interfaith Sanctuary Coalition spoke, and 20% of all sales at PSB from 3 to 5 pm went to the Coalition.
Pastor Kathleen O’Keefe Reed participated in a panel discussion on immigration and refugee issues in greater Boston on December 8, 2017 at 9:15 am in Andover Hall, Harvard Divinity School. The discussion was part of the Religious Literacy and the Professions Initiative symposium on Religious Literacy and Government. Listen to a recording of the panel on Soundcloud.
“Define American” Panel on Sanctuary for Undocumented Americans with Jose Antonio Vargas, June 11, 2017:
- Highlight: Rev. Cody Sanders, pastor of Old Cambridge Baptist Church explains how he begins conversations about sanctuary for undocumented immigrants at churches.
- Full event
News coverage
2017 Bostonians of the Year Honorable Mentions: The Protectors: Churches offer sanctuary to immigrants facing deportation
by Brian McQuarrie, Boston Globe, December 13, 2017
Sanctuary at University Lutheran
by Jeff Favre,
Living Lutheran Magazine, November 2017, pp. 50-52
Ecuadorian Family Finds Refuge In Cambridge Church, Fights To Stay In US
by Gabrielle Emanuel, WGBH News, July 25, 2017
Harvard Divinity students walk alongside unauthorized immigrants
by Lisa Wangsness, Boston Globe, June 20, 2017
Cambridge Church Protects Undocumented Immigrant From Deportation
by Beth Germano, CBSBoston, May 31, 2017
Woman Facing Deportation Seeks Sanctuary in Cambridge Church
The Associated Press, May 31, 2017
Immigrant From Ecuador Seeks Sanctuary in Cambridge Church
by Eli Rosenberg, NECN, May 31, 2017
In a first for Mass., undocumented immigrant seeks refuge in Cambridge church
by Lisa Wangsness, The Boston Globe, May 31, 2017
Bathing In The Baptistery: The History Of Sanctuary Churches
by Gabrielle Emanuel, WGBH News, 89.7 FM, March 6, 2017
Congregations in Mass. preparing to shelter immigrants
by Lisa Wangsness, The Boston Globe, February 21, 2017
Local Churches Aim to Shelter Illegal Immigrants
Fox 25 WFXT, February 21, 2017
Following Immigration Ban, Religious Leaders Propose Using Places Of Worship As Sanctuaries, by Deborah Becker, WBUR-FM, January 30, 2017.
Lutheran Resources
Resources on refugees and immigration from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) include:
- Ash Wednesday statement addressing refugees and migrants from The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and leaders from The Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (March 1, 2017)
- Letter from Bishop Eaton on the refugee and immigrant executive order (January 30, 2017; PDF)
- The ELCA’s Social Message on Immigration, adopted by the ELCA Church Council in 1998
- AMMPARO: Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities
- Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
- 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly declares the ELCA a sanctuary church (ELCA News, 8/14/2019)