Border & Migration Ministry Summit Videos
Episcopal Migration Ministries and the Diocese of West Texas hosted the fourth annual Border & Migration Ministry Summit on March 30 - 31, 2022. The two-day virtual summit brought together experts to discuss the ever-changing and complex situation on the U.S. - Mexico border and shared how Episcopalian clergy and lay people are helping migrants and refugees along their journey.
Flor Saldivar, Director of Immigration and Refugee Ministries for the Diocese of West Texas shared, “We are sincerely grateful to all attendees, panelists, staff, and keynote speakers for supporting the work and mission of the 2022 Border & Migration Ministry Summit. From moving keynote sessions to Asylum 101 presentations, and discussions with Episcopalians actively involved in supporting migrants and refugees in their area, the summit succeeded in bringing together new and existing migrant advocates.”
If you were unable to attend the summit or wish to rewatch and share the sessions, Episcopal Migration Ministries has released videos from the two-day virtual summit. The Rev. Nancy Frausto, Director of the Latinx Studies Program and Lecturer in Latinx Ministry at the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas gave a powerful and inspiring closing keynote where she sums up our collective Why for participating in Border Ministries. "In the Gospel of John, we hear the commandment, “Love each other as I have loved you.” We do this work because we have been called to love. And love, love is a verb, love is action, love is doing, love is what we see happening in the work at the border. Love is every presentation you saw in the past two days. That is love in action.”
If you would like to learn more or share the sessions with your congregation, click here to watch the recordings.
To help continue our ongoing mission of welcoming immigrants and refugees the Rt. Revs. David Reed and Rayford High invite each church in the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas to dedicate a special Father’s Day offering in support of the diocese’s Immigration and Refugee Ministries efforts. Consider honoring fathers, and other special men in your lives, by supporting this important work of responding faithfully to the needs of our siblings-in-Christ.
“Bishop Reed and I invite you to join our brothers and sisters in the Diocese of West Texas to celebrate Father's Day on Sunday, June 19 in conjunction with World Refugee Day on Monday, June 20. Each of us can rejoice through prayers, service, and financial support. We must stand with and act on behalf of God’s precious souls, immigrants from many different countries, who enter the United States legally to make a new life among us. By our Lord Jesus Christ's grace, we can and we must.”
Diocesan Immigration & Refugee Ministries provides day-time welcoming services at the Plaza de Paz Respite Center in San Antonio, partners with local border ministries and law enforcement agencies throughout the diocese, and supports organizations serving refugees in our communities, including Episcopal Migration Ministries’ refugee resettlement efforts with families from Ukraine, Afghanistan, and many other countries.
Reopened in March 2022, Plaza de Paz provides individuals and families with meals, assistance with travel arrangements, and more. All people served at the center are involved in the formal, asylum-seeking process due to persecution, war, or violence in their home countries and arrive with limited personal items and only the clothes worn throughout their time with Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The opportunity to put on clean clothes after a long journey is profoundly restorative.
There are three ways to give to the Immigration & Refugee Ministries Father's Day Offering:
Online, at dwtx.org/give. Click on Immigration Ministries and select the Father's Day Offering sub-fund.
Text the word "Father" to 210-796-6805.
Mail a check, made out to the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas, to P.O. Box 6885, San Antonio, TX 78209, with "Father's Day Offering" on the memo line.
If you have questions or need more information about volunteer opportunities, contact Flor Saldivar, Director of Immigration and Refugee Ministries. Thank you for considering this offering. Together, we can support asylum seekers, refugees, and law enforcement within our Diocese.
