A letter to us from our Bishop Dan Schwerin

I won’t go into the whole routine regarding United Methodist polity, but a very condensed version is: our congregation is connected to about 360 other congregations in our state in what is called the Northern Illinois Annual Conference. Bishop Dan Schwerin is our Conference’s episcopal leader. Earlier this week he sent this letter to us:

Grace and peace to you,

I write to you on the day of Epiphany, praying that we will all be led to Christ in ways that renew our commitments to personal and social holiness.

I bid you a joy-filled year of grace for 2025. Again, I have been praying that we will be led by grace and changed by it. Grace is that unearned, upbuilding love that God has for all people, a love that calls us to serve with love in the everyday.
 
The epiphany story features magi, yes, and a star. Part of the story also involves the courage to resist an empire when “they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod” (Matt. 2:12). Some in the body of Christ flatly resist what they might consider politics in our teaching, but the Gospels were written not that we obey partisan talking points, but that we be led, like the magi, by discerning the Spirit in our days.
 
Our Council of Bishops has prayerfully put together a letter composed of some of our statements in the Social Principles, to invite the church to prayer and welcome for the immigrants among us. I am asking that the Council of Bishops letter be read in every one of our churches this Sunday, and I will pray that we continue to follow Jesus in prayer, dialogue, and grace for each other in the measure that God has offered grace to each of us.
 
Our Council of Bishops’ Immigration Task Force is developing resources for “Know Your Rights” gatherings, which will include a toolkit to assist congregations and pastors in the work of embracing ministry with immigrants and refugees. There will be more to come on this. Our Northern Illinois–Wisconsin area networks are also gathering resources that will help you offer counsel and care for the stranger and sojourner in our midst.
 
Sure, the letter may remind us of our need for comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform, and a full conversation about the principles involved in this. Yes, this seems like a laudable goal. Meantime we must love the neighbors God has given us to love.
 
Thank you for taking the time to read this note as we provide a witness to Jesus in our contexts that offers refuge, healing and hope.

Peace,
 
Daniel W. Schwerin, Bishop
Northern Illinois-Wisconsin Area
The United Methodist Church

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash