Beloved in Delaware,

You no doubt have seen the Presiding Bishop’s announcement that 22 staff members of Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) will be laid off due to the immediate suspension of federal funding for refugee resettlement. EMM is one of many faith-based organizations whose work with refugees is instantly gutted by this decision. This painful and abrupt loss of dedicated workers is plainly visible. What we don’t see, however, is the even greater impact to the refugees and families themselves as this funding evaporates. It is heartbreaking all around.

For many, the abrupt end of EMM’s refugee resettlement work sounded like the end of EMM itself. This is not the case! Episcopal Migration Ministries will retain a small staff of dedicated employees and will press ahead with other mission work it has championed for decades: directly supporting on-the-ground migrant ministries in parishes and dioceses, advocating for migrants and refugees (in conjunction with the church’s Office of Government Relations), coordinating work with other Christian denominations and faith-based organizations, and providing up-to-date free resources for immigrants and the churches and people who help them. It is true that the work of refugee resettlement has ended, but it is also true that the wider mission of EMM marches on and is needed now more than ever. 

Your brother in Christ,

+Kevin