No Borders

The Christian faith celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ and God’s promise to “make all things new.”  As it symbolizes the resurrection of Christ, so too the butterfly conveys God’s all-inclusive love.  It also serves as a reminder that life and ministry are never restricted by artificially-imposed boundaries. This banner adorns the front of Emanuel Lutheran Church in New Brunswick and will be proudly displayed until Advent.

For The Love of God

For the love of God, don't separate children from their parents at our border.

This banner is displayed in the front of Emanuel Lutheran Church in New Brunswick at our front door. We plead for mercy, sanity, rationality and fairness in the face of unconscienable and extreme practices of separating children, even infants, from their parents at our borders. Even with a temporary halt to that practice, there are still thousands of children and infants who must be returned to their parents. Our God is a God of mercy, peace and love and this practice runs counter to all that we believe in. We join with many interfaith leaders who have affirmed, "the family as a foundational societal structure to support human community and understand the household as an estate blessed by God. The security of the family provides critical mental, physical and emotional support to the development and wellbeing of children."

Twenty interfaith leaders, including Reverend Doctor John C. Dorhauer, the president of the United Church of Christ; Reverend Elizabeth A. Eaton, the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of Union for Reform Judaism; Azhar Azeez, president of the Islamic Society of North America; and Bishop Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church (who gave a sermon at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle) signed a statement directly criticizing the policy on June 7. "Tearing children away from parents who have made a dangerous journey to provide a safe and sufficient life for them is unnecessarily cruel and detrimental to the well-being of parents and children. As we continue to serve and love our neighbor, we pray for the children and families that will suffer due to this policy and urge the Administration to stop their policy of separating families," reads the statement.

In addition, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton has issued a statement on behalf of the ELCA. The text of that statement can be found here.