Our church’s social action team, Voices for Justice, has been connecting with the New Sanctuary Movement in Philadelphia, here and there, since their good work intersects with our goals. They work out dignity, mutuality, community, and spiritual nonviolence as they make a place for the stranger in spite of our xenophobic federal regime. Thank God there are a lot of people who keep the light burning!

Tre Ford, a pastor with Bethel Church (out at Franklin Mills), is the Community Organizer & Congregation Liaison for NSM. He called us together for a prayer vigil at Love Park last Wednesday with the theme “Love Has No Limits.” He said,

After more than 40 weeks of consistently showing up at noon at 8th & Cherry [ICE in Philly], our work continues. On September 30, we will shift our weekly witness into an evening expression of prayer and unity at Love Park. This will be a special moment for our movement, and we want our clergy, congregations, people, and voices there. Please bring your people and come stand with us.

We did not fill Love Park. But we got a good number of people out at 6:30 to form a “sacred space.” It was not a “protest” per se. But there was a lot of protest in it and a group of winsome young teachers came prepared with some pithy posters they made.

The New Sanctuary folks are great at getting Christians and like-minded people out of their buildings and into the public in ecumenical gatherings. This is not small feat. They are persistent, insistent and overtly Christian/religious — right there in Love Park!

Love Park is a noisy place to create a sanctuary

The organizers hauled in a lot of sound equipment, but it was still hard to hear certain speakers. Who really knows how to use a microphone, anyway? We stood at the edge of the group and to the side, so we missed quite a bit. But the point was being present, not just being informed. I kept noting the challenges we faced as we cordoned off some sanctuary:

• The Broad St. Beer Garden has been operating in the square around the “flying saucer” pavilion they will later inhabit. I finally realized that loudspeaker was them  broadcasting quizzo questions. Quizzo is so distracting.
• A man about 20 yards away near Market St. had such a booming laugh he was louder than the speaker. Astounding and infectious.
• A passerby saw that an ecumenical peace band was set up and waiting to play, so he came into the group and shouted, “Play some heavy metal” a few times. My wife told him we wanted to hear the speaker, so he gave way. They were both mildly audacious.
• A group of preschool and early elementary kids used our gathering as a maze in a serious game of chase. They darted through our legs so many times they seemed like part of the family. Yes, I looked around for their parents.
• About a half hour into our vigil, servants from The Everywhere Project started setting up their tables and unloading their food and supplies on 15th St. to help the unhoused. Quite an undertaking.
• There are many purposely-loud cars and wild tricycles with blaring music on our streets, as you know.

But we managed to do it

We have nice, quiet church buildings for a reason. Turning into the presence of God takes quite a bit of silence.  But if we have turned and invited God to fully inhabit the holy center of ourselves, we can invite people into sanctuary almost anywhere. We’re like a special delivery. And, of course, where two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus, God is in their midst. So I think we did all right. Among the well-turned moments I remember:

• There were pastors and a rabbi involved. I know how busy they can be, so I was impressed. And I know from experience they usually decide what is going to happen and it is not that easy to fit into someone else’s program. They did well.
• From what I could hear, a soft-spoken Haitian woman told TPS stories. In an unspeakable act of cruelty, the USCIS announced that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti officially terminated on July 27 following a U.S. Supreme Court decision (Mullin v. Doe) that allowed the Department of Homeland Security to end the designation. That means about 350,000 (!!) more people now being hunted by ICE.
• A representative from Asian Americans United (AAU) couldn’t help but weep as she talked about accompanying people through the immigration injustice system. The ICE office in Philly is, essentially, in Chinatown.  AAU provides case support for families impacted by ICE detention, connects individuals with legal resources, and distributes emergency aid. They were a primary coalition member pushing for the city’s “ICE Out” legislative package, which restricts ICE from entering city-owned spaces without judicial warrants and limits local cooperation with federal agents.
• Then there was the interfaith band, full of joy and cajoling us to sing simple songs right out there in Love Park. Just getting themselves electrified and amplified was a deep expression of commitment and hope.
• And I must give a shout out to Will O’Brien and Dee Dee Risher who were present. I went over to Will and reminded him that he had welcomed strangers to Philadelphia when we showed up at the offices of The Other Side in Germantown as soon as we arrived in town from California in 1995. Their magazine had been a guiding light for our Sierra St. Household and church planting efforts. Sadly, they had to stop publishing in 2004. I told my wife, “Those are people who have always lived out their convictions.”

Remembering our super-diverse collection of brilliant people and hangers on, like me, gives me hope. I’m encouraged, even though It has been a terrible year for people singled out for oppression by the government. I’m shocked, and I think it is important to stay shocked by how ruthless they are in principle and action.

In the face of that reality, many people are giving their lives to lead us. They are living out their convictions and revealing Jesus in the process. The gospel has always re-emerged after dark times, usually stronger and clearer than before. I am looking forward to that and praying for the tide to turn right now.