Recent immigration enforcement activity has prompted a public response from First Lutheran Church after pastor Nathan Roberts attended and spoke at a vigil last week for Renee Good at the site of the fatal shooting of Good along Portland Avenue in Minneapolis.
Susan Debner, head pastor of First Lutheran, said the congregation has supported immigrant families in Columbia Heights for more than a century. The church began as an outreach Sunday school and tutoring program for Norwegian immigrant children, Debner said.
“Today, Columbia Heights is home to immigrants from around the world, and we are just as motivated to welcome these families to this community today as we have been for over a century,” Debner said.
Debner said the church supports immigrant families by making the building and worship accessible, offering after-school programming and providing meal support.
“This is a heartbreaking time for Christians who love their neighbors as the Bible describes,” Debner wrote in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of Renee Good, who was unjustly killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis.”
Debner wrote that the congregation is grieving and praying for the family of Good, as well as for families described as being unfairly targeted because of accent, skin color or place of residence.
Roberts arrived at the site of the shooting about 20 minutes after the incident, Debner wrote, and stood alongside other pastors who were providing care to people who had gathered.
The following day, a community vigil was held at the scene, drawing hundreds of pastors and community members to the memorial site. Debner described snowy and cold conditions, with candles, flowers, letters and mourners present.
Speakers at the vigil called for an end to the increased presence of ICE officers in Minnesota, accountability for the death of Good, and peace and safety across the state.
“First Lutheran is committed to the Biblical mandate of loving our neighbors, especially those who are targeted unjustly by the power of empire,” Debner wrote. “Jesus’ family fled politically motivated threats of death and became refugees in Egypt during his childhood.”
Debner concluded by encouraging community members to join First Lutheran Church in supporting the well-being of immigrant neighbors.
“May Dr. King’s dream come true: ‘I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.’”