Invitation to Immigration Discussion

In light of the recent discussion concerning Alabama HB 56 (Alabama's new immigration laws) among United Methodists, I wanted to personally invite you to a discussion about this new law on Tuesday, June 28th, at 6:30pm at Highlands UMC in Birmingham.  This will be a time of worship, discussion, and prayer as we seek to discern how we can respond to this law in light of our faith and denomination.

Myself, Rev. RG Lyons, and others will be speaking and listening as a moderator leads discussion among those who support the law, those against it, and those seeking to discern how to respond.  We hope this will be a civil, prayerful, and respectful exploration of the law among those gathered.  

If you wish to read many of the responses to this law in our conference, please click here to visit my recent blog post, or click here to read a letter written by Rev. RG Lyons, myself, and other clergy, which was endorsed by the Bishop and many others.

We will have other discussions in other areas of the conference soon.  We hope you will consider attending.  

You can find this event on Facebook by clicking here.

Blessings,

-Matt

Rev. Matt Lacey, Director of Mission and Advocacy, North Alabama Conference

facebook.com/missionsnal

northalabamaumc.org/missions

mlacey@northalabamaumc.org

By: Matt Lacey On 6/17/2011
Topics: Missions and Advocacy

Comments

1. Steven wrote on 6/27/2011 11:54:28 AM
Does not the bible state we are to live by the laws of the land unless they go against the word of God? Just wondering if maybe Im missing something in the scriptures? Thanks
2. Roger wrote on 7/2/2011 12:00:08 PM
Steven, you are correct. When Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate, he said "he could find no fault with this man". IOW, he had not broken any Roman Law. And while he pointed out the hypocrisy of how the priests and Pharisees were using the Hebrew Law to drive a wedge between the people and the Lord, I'm not sure Jesus violated any Hebrew Laws either. I hate to see our church associated with advocacy for breaking the law.
3. Rodney wrote on 8/26/2011 12:50:41 PM
My thoughts are that the Bishop has used his office to promote his personal feelings. I do believe that Methodists in North Alabama overwhelmingly support this law. I have seen no proof that this violates the word of God so there really is no biblical reason that he should oppose this law.