Local and National UCC leaders denounce hate, stand with Haitian community in Springfield
News Brief by Cassy Benefield | FāVS News
In a written statement, the United Church of Christ (UCC) general minister and president, the Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson, recently condemned “xenophobic, racist and violent rhetoric against immigrants,” particularly the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio.
Local UCC pastors expressed gratitude she did so.
“I was grateful for Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson’s letter denouncing the vitriolic lies that are circulating about Haitian immigrants,” said the Rev. Bob Feeney, Spokane’s Westminster Congregational United Church of Christ pastor. “In today’s media environment, even true words become amplified and displaced from their original context, and can quickly take on a life of their own.”
Haiti is currently experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis, and the U.S. has opened pathways for legal entry, contributing to the growth of the Haitian community in Springfield.
Thompson wrote her statement in response to former President Donald Trump and Senator J.D. Vance spreading lies about Haitian immigrants. Stoking fear and threats of violence, she wrote, these words have brought upon Springfield bomb threats, school closures and widespread fear in the community.
Immigrants’ humanity questioned
Pullman’s Community Congregational UCC’s pastor, the Rev. Mike Bass, said these false rumors call into question the humanity of Haitian migrants seeking refuge.
“This hateful rhetoric seems rather upside-down and contrary to a long-held American value to provide shelter for the tired and huddled masses who have found themselves displaced from their foreign homes due to unrest, violence and economic loss,” Bass said. “God would have us offer words of welcome to those seeking safety rather than stirring fear and anger.”
The Rev. David Long-Higgins, minister of the UCC Heartland Conference — where Springfield is located — has also written a pastoral letter urging people to stand with Haitian siblings “as the beloved children of God that they are and utterly reject such false narratives.”
The UCC urges all its congregations to stand against hate, advocate for immigrant rights and work for peace and justice.
They also call for truth and love to prevail in supporting migrants, offering them hope and welcome and countering false narratives with actions of kindness and mercy, Thompson wrote.
She ended her statement with a prayer asking God for discernment to know what’s true and what isn’t and then to speak against injustice in response to that truth.
“God of all peoples, in whose image each one is created, grant us a spirit of discernment for hearing the truth when it is spoken,” Thompson writes. “Guide us to stand in kindness and mercy with the vulnerable in our communities. Give us the courage to speak out against injustice and always to listen and respond in love.”
Hi Cassy, Thanks for the article about Springfield and some response from a few regional pastors. Here’s my little contribution: I’ve been in contact with 2 United Methodist pastors in Springfield this past week – one via email and another by phone. They both were quick to seek people’s prayer support and contacts so they are reminded they aren’t alone in their struggles against the consequences of such ugly lies. The pastor I talked with happens to be African-American, and that fact increases her own fear-level some. As we spoke, she mentioned a video was sent to her computer that showed, in rea time, a group of Neo-Nazis protesting outside of the Mayor’s home. I’ve been so thankful to see stories of how so many people are showing their support for the Haitian community in intentionally neighbor-ways.