January Prayer Partner: Register – and pray – now for the Evangelical Convening on Immigration, Starting This Thursday
After a year of extraordinary challenges for our nation and our world, I think most of us are ready to turn the page on 2020 and start afresh in 2021.
One way we’re doing so at the Evangelical Immigration Table is by launching a series of virtual conversations each Thursday this month at 1 PM Eastern Time/12 PM Central Time. In the past, we’ve done in-person Evangelical Convenings on Immigration and been limited in how many people we could invite and by those able to travel to participate. But for 2021, the convening will be virtual, open to all, and spread over four 90-minute sessions (each Thursday in January): we hope you’ll join us for all four, but you’re also free to just take in one or two.
We’ll kick off this Thursday (January 7) with a focus on Discipleship in Politically Polarized Times. World Relief’s Scott Arbeiter and The Wesleyan Church’s Beth Cossin will be our hosts for a timely conversation. We’ll start by examining what American evangelicals think about immigrants and immigration – the good, the bad and the ugly – drawing on the wisdom and research of LifeWay Research’s Scott McConnell, Gordon College’s Ruth Melkonian-Hoover and Billy Mzenga from the University of Illinois-Chicago. Then we’ll hear from pastors, scholars and ministry leaders Bob Roberts Jr., Daniel Carroll Rodas, Lisa Rodriguez Watson and Dave Gibbons on how the Bible should shape our approach and how churches can best engage this sensitive topic with their congregations.
We’d love for you to register yourself for this Thursday’s conversation and/or the subsequent three Thursdays. And we’d also be grateful for your help in spreading the word to pastors and other Christian leaders whom you think should be a part of this important conversation (feel free to copy and paste the image above to share via social media).
Lastly, and most importantly, we’d ask for your prayers. Please pray with me:
- That God would guide each of our speakers and panelists as they share their unique perspectives on these important topics
- That the technology would all work as it’s supposed to and allow those who need to hear these perspectives to do so
- That this year would mark a turning point in evangelical engagement on immigration issues, when the evangelical church would be marked not by allegiance to any particular political party or platform but to the authority of God’s word, and that these events might be one part of equipping leaders toward that vision
In Christ,
Matthew Soerens
National Coordinator, Evangelical Immigration Table
P.S. A lot of us start the new year by resolving to more consistently engage in God’s word. One way to do so – and to challenge others to do so – would be to commit to the Evangelical Immigration Table’s 40-day “I Was a Stranger” Challenge.
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The Evangelical Immigration Table is a broad coalition of evangelical organizations and leaders advocating for immigration reform consistent with biblical values.
