Walking Together

Resources to Accompany the Resolution

“I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.” (Matthew 25:36)

Care for immigrants and refugees is an essential part of the Christian and Church of the Brethren ethic of service and peacemaking. As followers of Jesus, the Church of the Brethren has long considered service to others to be a foundational part of our beliefs. This call to serve others is not limited to a few but extended to all. The Church of the Brethren has historically connected the call to serve others to include caring for immigrants and refugees.

This page offers resources for individuals, congregations, and districts to study the biblical and faith foundations that undergird the resolution. Also posted here are resources for congregations and study groups to engage in conversation and worship experiences around the theme of “walking together.”

The resolution

Walking Together: Immigration, Peacemaking, Conscience, and Supporting Our Neighbors – Annual Conference version

Walking Together: Immigration, Peacemaking, Conscience, and Supporting Our Neighbors – Resolution passed by the Mission and Ministry Board

Marcher Ensemble: Immigration, Construction de la Paix, Conscience et Soutien du Prochain

Mache Ansanm: Imigrasyon, Fè Lapè, Konsyans, epi Sipòte Vwazen nou yo

Tafiya tare: Shege da fice, zamanlafiya, lamiri, da Taimakawa makwabtanmu

Resolution: Hindi translation

Immigration resources

A page of information compiled by Intercultural Ministries to help immigrants and those working with them

Deportation Defense Response information

Bible studies for individuals and small groups

Exodus 1-2: The Women vs the Pharoah

Related scriptures (NRSVUE)

God’s Heart for the Stranger & Foreigner

Leviticus 19:33–34
“When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The 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.”
Deuteronomy 10:18–19
“who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
Exodus 22:21
“You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.”
Malachi 3:5
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow, and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.

Hospitality, Protection, and Justice

Leviticus 24:22
“You shall have one law for the alien and for the native-born, for I am the LORD your God.”
Numbers 15:15–16
“As for the assembly, there shall be for both you and the resident alien a single statute, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you and the alien shall be alike before the LORD. You and the alien who resides with you shall have the same law and the same ordinance.”
Jeremiah 22:3
“Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.”
Psalm 146:9
“The LORD watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.”

Migration as Part of God’s Story

Exodus 1–14
The foundational story of liberation begins with a migrant people.
Genesis 12:1–3
“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 47:4
“They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to reside as aliens in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, we ask you, let your servants settle in the land of Goshen.”
Ruth 1:16
“But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you, to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people and your God my God.”

Jesus and the Migrant Experience

Matthew 2:13–15
“Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’”
Matthew 25:35
“for 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”
Luke 10:33–37
“But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. He 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. The 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.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’”
Luke 4:18–19
“’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, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’”

The Early Church & Belonging

Acts 2:5–11
“Now there were devout Jews from every people under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’”
Acts 17:26–27
“From one ancestor he made all peoples to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps fumble about for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us.”
Ephesians 2:12–19
“remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us, abolishing the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God”
Hebrews 13:2
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

Identity, Citizenship, and Hope

1 Peter 2:11
“Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul.”
Philippians 3:20
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Micah 6:8
“He 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?”

God’s Righteousness (His faithful justice)

Psalm 89:14
“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.”
Isaiah 30:18
“Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”
Deuteronomy 32:4
“The Rock, his work is perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God, without deceit, just and upright is he;”
Amos 5:24
“But let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
Romans 3:21–26
“But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets, the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to demonstrate at the present time his own righteousness, so that he is righteous and he justifies the one who has the faith of Jesus.”
Psalm 11:7
“For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.”