By Stan Friedman
CHICAGO, IL (June 28, 2014) — After extended debate, delegates to the 129th Annual Meeting overwhelmingly approved the 2014 Resolution on Immigration.
In introducing the document, Liz Mosbo VerHage, chair of the Commission on Christian Action (CAC), drew special attention to the section that read, “This resolution is about reframing the conversation about immigration, both within our churches and in our communities. It is about helping us address issues of immigration from a Christian perspective as biblically informed people. As the Covenant Resource Paper on Compassion, Mercy, and Justice reminds us, the church must pursue God’s justice by asking, ‘How do we join God in making things right in our broken world?’ ”
Throughout, the conversation was respectful, even when delegates presented strong opinions. Several delegates spoke against the resolution saying that it was too vague, that it took some of the supporting biblical citations out of context, and that actions it calls people to support could lead to unintended consequences.
An amendment to send the resolution back to the CAC for further review was voted down.
After the allotted 30 minutes of discussion, delegates approved a motion to extend debate by 10 minutes.
The resolution was presented to delegates at the 2013 Annual Meeting. They were encouraged to hold discussions within their congregations, on social media, or in responses to the commission before the resolution was voted on this year.
Click here to read the resolution.
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Comments submitted to the Christrian Action Commission during the process last year were integrated into edits made for the final resolution. If you submitted them online, through the feedback form or by email, or spoke during the debate last year’s annual meeting, or at one of the other regional or church gatherings, we tried to connect all feedback with the commission to strengthen and speak to the final draft.
Is the debate available to view/hear/read? Were comments submitted in the initial call for comments made part of this debate?
The debate was not recorded.