Summary

All over the world, Christian churches are struggling to obey the Bible’s clear commands to welcome the stranger, to displace the fear that leads to exclusion, and to both extend and receive mutual hospitality as gifts of God’s Spirit.

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Details

This session explored these themes in light of recent books on Christian responses to the immigration debate (co-authored by Jenny Yang), the dynamic range of the Latino Protestant experience in the United States (Gerardo Marti), the continuing witness of Christian congregations in the Middle East (Amgad Beblawi), Indigenous communities in Canada (Cheryl Bear), and refugee communities in the US (Jaewoo Kim). These topics are central to the witness of every congregation, and the session will explore how ordinary congregations that may feel quite distant from some of these concerns are crucial places for responding to them in public prayer, thoughtful preaching, and active engagement.

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