'Refugees' Tagged Posts
Free webinar on refugee program updates
Episcopal Migration Ministries and the Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations are hosting a one-hour free webinar, Welcome in Action: Education, Advocacy and Outreach at 3 pm on Tuesday, August 15. This webinar will provide the latest updates on the travel ban, refugee funding, and upcoming opportunities to engage in advocacy and outreach in support of refugee resettlement. Lacy Broemel, Episcopal Church Refugee and Immigration Policy Analyst, and Kendall Martin, Episcopal Migration Ministries Manager for Communications will lead the webinar. Registration is required and is available here. The webinar will…
Star-Telegram covers refugee family being helped by Episcopalians
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram published a story on Friday, February 2, 2017, about the family of Syrian refugees who arrived late Wednesday night. Read excerpts from the story below. Syrian refugee family arrives in Fort Worth during pause in travel ban Fahmi Mousa Al Kazma has been looking for a safe place to raise his six children since 2011, when militias forced the farmer out of his village near Aleppo, Syria. The family’s new safe haven is a four-bedroom apartment…
WFAA Channel 8 covers Episcopalians helping refugees
Reporter Lauren Zakalik of WFAA interviewed the Rev. Tracie Middleton as part of her report on a refugee family settling in Fort Worth. Watch the news story and read the transcript below. Since 2011, the Mousa Al Kazma family has been looking for a place to call home because the place they called home isn’t safe enough to call home any longer. The family of eight, including two sets of twins, is from Aleppo, Syria. After years of living as refugees…
Faith leaders plead for refugees
On Wednesday, February 8, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram published an Op-Ed article from several local faith leaders opposing a religious test for admitting refugees and offering reasons for offering them succor. The signatories included Episcopalians: the Rev. Carlye Hughes, rector of Trinity, Fort Worth; the Rev. Canon Janet Waggoner, canon to the ordinary; the Rev. Gayland Pool, retired priest of the diocese; and the Rev. William Stanford, rector, St. Christopher, Fort Worth. You can read the article below or at…
Deputies invited to “Stand with Refugees”
The Rev. Gay Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, has issued a letter calling for deputies to General Convention and other Episcopalians to stand with refugees in the wake of the recent Executive Order instituting a travel ban on residents of seven Muslim-majority nations. She invited them to join in the Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations new advocacy initiative called the 2×4 Fight for Refugees Campaign. Participants in the campaign will commit to calling national, state, and local elected…
All Episcopal bishops in Texas issue response to Governor Abbott
All the Episcopal bishops in all six dioceses in the state of Texas have issued a response to Gov. Abbott’s action regarding resettlement and aid to refugees. Read the entire statement below. Download the statement as a PDF to share in your congregations. episcopal-bishops-of-texas-respond-to-governor-abbott Read a statement from Episcopal Migration Ministries. statement-from-episcopal-migration-ministries Read a news release from Refugee Services of Texas. refugee-services-of-texas-press-release-9-21-16 Episcopal Bishops of Texas Respond to Gov. Abbott’s Action Texans are not known for being fearful, but for…
Donations matched for refugee services
Refugee Services of Texas has been offered a matching grant through the Deena Jo Heide-Diesslin Foundation of Fort Worth. The Diesslin family is encouraging congregations of all faiths to contribute to the Refugee Services of Texas’ Area of Greatest Need fund. Donations from congregations will be matched by the foundation on a dollar-for-dollar basis, up to a total of $75,000. Refugee Services of Texas presented a workshop at our 2015 Diocesan Convention.This slide presentation given during the convention offers more information about what Refugee…
Refugee ministry of Trinity, Fort Worth, featured in news story
Trinity Episcopal Church, Fort Worth, has adopted a refugee family from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The family fled the violence of warring militia groups, living for years in a refugee camp in Uganda. The family of 10 arrived in Texas in November. The story said, “The family includes eight siblings ages five to 25 who speak Kinyabwisha and Swahili. The older siblings knew the danger of war as youngsters, while the younger children have only known the hard life…
Bishop Mayer quoted in Star-Telegram on plight of Syrian refugees
Bishop Scott Mayer continues to speak on behalf of Syrian refugees. Following the terrorist attacks in Paris, polarizing debates continue on issues that cross both theological and political lines. Dallas-Fort Worth clergy have much to say about this situation, from biblical mandates, Christian values, true compassion, and ethics. The bishop was quoted in both the online and the print editions of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on November 20, 2015.. Read Star-Telegram: Syrian refugees: DFW clergy weigh in on what Jesus…
Syrian refugee webinars; message from Presiding Bishop Curry
The Episcopal Church is moving to educate, inspire, and motivate our church about the current situation with Syrian refugees. Two educational webinars will be presented: Thursday, November 18, and Monday, November 23. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry writes to us about fear and presses that we stand on the solid ground of our faith as we carry out the words of Jesus who told us to be a neighbor to those in need. Read about the webinars and read Bishop Curry’s statement.…
“I was a stranger and you took me in.”
The Rt. Rev. J. Scott Mayer, provisional bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, has issued a statement on our Christian responsibility to help refugees. I was a stranger and you took me in. Matthew 25:35 In the wake of the violence in Paris this past weekend, several governors, including the governor of Texas, have stated they will not accept Syrian refugees into their states. While states do not have the authority to overrule the federal government on the…
Jennings: Christians worship a child who fled violence in his home country
A commentary by the Rev. Gay Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, about the unaccompanied children arriving at the borders of the United States as they flee violence in their own countries has been published by the Religious News Service. (RNS) This summer, many Americans are watching in helpless horror as more than 52,000 children fleeing violence stream over our southern border. Many of them are making a dangerous journey by themselves to escape murder rates and gang violence in…
How to help with border crisis
The plight of the unaccompanied children arriving on the Texas border and that of other states has dominated news reports recently. Bishop Rayford B. High, Jr., has issued a statement about the crisis, and many Episcopalians have asked how they can help. Catholic Charities Fort Worth is the main local agency helping with the influx of unaccompanied minors. They take in 32 children aged 3 to 16 at a time with each child spending up to 30 days in the…