News and Views

The Baltimore-Washington Conference area is receiving a new influx of migrants from the southern border. BWC’s Immigration Reform and Legislative Social Action Teams are noting a significant need for basic items and temporary shelter. They are also calling on United Methodists to call on congressional leaders to end Title 42. Learn more about Title 42.

On April 1, the Biden Administration announced its firm commitment to end Title 42, a discriminatory policy that prevents migrants from declaring asylum at the US/Mexico border. In response to the end of Title 42, Governor Abbott of Texas issued an aggressive action to begin busing migrants and asylum seekers from the southern border to Washington, DC.

What does the Church say? 

As United Methodists we believe that, “the center of Christian faithfulness to Scripture is the call we have been given to love and welcome the sojourner. We call upon all United Methodist churches to welcome newly arriving migrants in their communities, to love them as we do ourselves, to treat them as one of our native-born, to see in them the presence of the incarnated Jesus, and to show hospitality to the migrants in our midst, believing that through their presence we are receiving the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
-- Welcoming the Migrant to the US 2016 Book of Resolutions, #3281. 

How can the Church respond? 

 The United Methodist Church is called by Christ to offer love and welcome to the sojourner and now is the moment to proclaim this love through action. 

 BWC’s Immigration Reform and Legislative Social Action Teams are working with trusted ecumenical, interfaith, and community partners through the Beloved Community Incubator.

 Here are ways you can help:

1. Pray for the journey and strength of the migrants seeking safety and security, for the health and vitality of volunteers, for the political will of our government leaders, and for you and your commitment to God’s ongoing call to justice and to care for God’s beloved community. See a spoken word poem from Sharon Milton, offered as a prayer for those at the border.
2. Provide short-term and long-term housing support (from one-overnight to two-month stays). If you or your congregation have room, a house or a building for our migrant neighbors, please fill out this form. 
3. Donate funds to help feed our neighbors:

+Give online at https://www.bwcumc.org/migrantcrisisdonations 
+  Text MIGRANT to (410) 220-2402
+  Mail a check made payable to “BWC Treasurer” with “migrant” in the memo field to the Baltimore-Washington Conference Center, 11711 E Market Place, Suite 1, Fulton, MD, 20759 ATTN: Dr. Escobar

4. Write a letter to Congress and call to End Discriminatory Immigration Practices of Title 42. Click here to write your letter to Congress.

For more information on donating, volunteering, and housing contact: Emma Arely Escobar at   or 410-309-3426 or Rev. Neal Christie at    or 202-285-4544.