Guidance for Churches & Leaders
In times of uncertainty, pastors and ministry leaders are called to respond with wisdom, care, and faithful presence. This page offers guidance and formation resources to support churches as they share information responsibly, provide pastoral care, and accompany immigrant neighbors with dignity and compassion.
Sharing Information Responsibly
Church leaders play an important role in helping communities remain informed without amplifying fear or misinformation. Sharing trusted resources, verifying information before circulating it, and avoiding speculation can help protect individuals and families while maintaining trust within the congregation.
Pastoral Care & Accompaniment
Accompaniment is a ministry of presence—walking alongside individuals and families with humility, care, and attentiveness. Churches are encouraged to prioritize listening, relationship-building, and prayerful support rather than assuming one-size-fits-all responses.
Faithful accompaniment begins with relationship, trust, and a willingness to listen deeply.
Crisis Accompaniment Resources
These resources equip clergy and congregational leaders with tools for trauma-informed care, spiritual accompaniment, and faithful presence when responding to crisis and injustice.
🔗 Trauma Informed Spiritual Care
🔗 Injustice and the Care of Souls
A Prayer for Peace, Justice, & Healing from Bishop Harvey
Click image to download a pdf of this prayer.
In a time of grief and unrest, Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey offers this prayer as an invitation to pause, reflect, and seek God’s healing, justice, and peace. Click to download and share this prayer as we continue to pray, learn, and act faithfully together.
Rio Texas Conference Guidance
Rio Texas Conference Immigration Guidance
This guidance from the Rio Texas Conference offers pastoral and theological framing to help churches and leaders respond faithfully to immigration-related concerns. It reflects our commitment to human dignity, Christian hospitality, and thoughtful discernment, offering clarity for ministry leaders as they navigate questions of care, preparedness, and witness within their local contexts.
🔗 Rio Texas Immigration Guidance (pdf) (English)
🔗 Rio Texas Immigration Guidance (pdf) (Spanish)
Responding to the Dissolution of Sensitive Locations
This resource provides guidance for churches and ministry leaders following changes to federal “sensitive locations” policies. It outlines pastoral considerations, practical questions, and faith-based responses as congregations discern how to care for their communities while remaining grounded in prayer, wisdom, and Christian responsibility.
🔗 Responding to the Dissolution of “Sensitive Locations” (English & Spanish)
Church Response to ICE & the New Reality
This document invites churches to reflect on their role and witness amid evolving immigration realities. It offers pastoral guidance and reflective questions to help leaders think through presence, preparedness, and accompaniment, emphasizing calm discernment, care for the vulnerable, and faithfulness to the teachings of Christ.
🔗 Church Response to ICE & New Reality (pdf) (Spanish) Note: We are working to get the English translation of this file.
These resources are provided for guidance and discernment and do not replace legal counsel.
Formation & Learning Opportunities
Vital Conversations on Immigration
A guided learning experience designed to help congregations explore immigration through Scripture, lived experience, and faithful conversation—grounded in Christian discipleship rather than debate.
🔗 Vital Conversations on Immigration Resources
What Does It Mean to Truly Accompany Our Immigrant Neighbors?
Pastoral and theological guidance for churches and leaders reflecting on accompaniment as a faithful practice, with formation resources—including Vital Conversations on Immigration—to support discernment rooted in presence, hospitality, and relationship.
🔗 Vital Conversations on Immigration – Virtual Gatherings
Leaders are encouraged to engage these resources prayerfully for their context, and to seek wisdom through conversation, relationship, and connection within the wider Church.