How to Start a Conversation at Church About Immigration, ICE, and This Political Moment
When the Church Feels Fractured
In 2021, my church emerged from the pandemic wounded and weary, like every church in the nation. Not only had we navigated sickness, social distancing, and controversies over shutdowns, we’d also witnessed a growing disunity as the nation grappled with racial injustice, policing, a contentious presidential election, and the storming of the Capitol on January 6th.
As our congregation reconvened, with half the pre-pandemic attendance and trust fractured, we decided that if we were going to represent Jesus well in this increasingly divided nation, we needed to learn to talk to each other, to demonstrate gracious discourse and healthy disagreement to a watching world.
Table Manners for Hard Conversations
So, we began to meet quarterly for events we called Table Talks. Each time we meet, we share a meal, pray, and together tackle a controversial political, social, or theological issue.
At our very first meeting, we established a list of “table manners.” First and foremost, we agreed to lean heavily on that familiar maxim: “in the essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.” We acknowledged that faithful followers of Jesus can hold varying views on different issues. And while we “agree to disagree” about how to live out our values, we do not allow the conversation to descend into dehumanizing rhetoric against any group of people or those with opposing views. We acknowledge that these topics don’t just involve ideas, but impact real people made in the image of God.
We also committed to non-combative discourse: to using “I” and “me” statements, to owning our hurts and experiences, and to believing the best about those we disagreed with. Finally, we committed to also orient ourselves to Christ and the Gospel, asking ourselves where we see Jesus present in both the issue and in our dialogue about it.
What a Table Talk Actually Looks Like
These “table manners” have served us well. Our Table Talks are not primarily lectures or symposiums, though we sometimes, we have subject matter experts from various viewpoints come and share their perspective as an introduction. And occasionally, we assign “homework” before the event (articles or podcasts) so people can become somewhat familiar with the issue we are discussing.
But the vast majority of our time together is spent in conversation with discussion prompts, brainstorming, and back-and-forth dialogue. The conversations alternate between small groups at six-seater tables to large group discussions with whiteboards for note-taking.
Uniformity of opinion is never the goal. Rather, we aim for clarity, kindness, and deeper understanding of one another. Over the years, our church has discussed everything from climate change to abortion, racial justice to the conflict in Gaza/Israel. More recently, we’ve discussed immigration policy and the role of Christians in the political sphere.
“Christians across America are grappling with what it means to be salt and light in this political moment. Many are feeling convicted to call out injustices they see being perpetrated against immigrant communities, but speaking up in conservative faith communities can feel intimidating because, for too long, the Church has prioritized cordiality over hard (but necessary) conversations, choosing peace-keeping over peace-making. ”
When the News Moves Faster Than the Church
We plan our Table Talks well in advance (in order to arrange childcare, food, and resource curation). But in recent months, we’ve found that the news cycle seems to be barreling forward at breakneck speed, and the social fracture so severe, quarterly meetings just don’t seem to cut it.
So, we’ve started offering meetings that are like “pop-up” Table Talks for anyone who needs to process and pray when the news reaches a fever pitch. We did this after Charlie Kirk was murdered and after Renee Good and Alex Pretti were shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis. These pop-up meetings serve as an alternative to “doomscrolling” on social media and offer a space for face-to-face discernment with fellow believers. The discussions are intentionally unstructured, but generally speaking, the conversation follows these four questions:
How are you processing this event? How is it feeling in your heart, your head, and your body?
What experiences have influenced the way you are feeling?
What does it look like to show up as a faithful witness of Christ in our community in this moment?
How are you staying grounded in Christ (and keeping your nervous system regulated!) in this moment?
What Does It Mean to Be Salt and Light Right Now?
Christians across America are grappling with what it means to be salt and light in this political moment. Many are feeling convicted to call out injustices they see being perpetrated against immigrant communities, but speaking up in conservative faith communities can feel intimidating because, for too long, the Church has prioritized cordiality over hard (but necessary) conversations, choosing peace-keeping over peace-making.
But what our church has found is that if we habituate hard conversation, normalizing discourse, and working dialogue into the rhythms of church life, we are better equipped to dive into urgent political moments such as this one. You won’t build this kind of trust overnight. But questions such as the ones listed above (how are you feeling? What are you experiencing? What’s grounding you?) are a disarming first step into the deep waters of political discourse.
From Dialogue to Action
And we are seeing the fruit of these conversations. After our immigration Table Talk, our congregation felt so collectively convicted about the need to love our immigrant neighbors that we moved towards forming a more robust partnership with a local ministry that provides legal counsel to immigrant families. We’ve informally gathered together to write letters to our representatives. We are praying and discerning together what it looks like to step into this moment with integrity, grace, and conviction.
When the world is reeling from polarization and vitriol, then what does it look like for the Church to be salt and light? Perhaps right now, it is modeling how to argue well, how to disagree with grace, and how to move past the noise of conflict and move towards our neighbors in need.
Yes, Jesus flipped the tables of injustice at the temple. But he also sat down at a lot of tables, conversing with those he didn’t agree with, building relationships with people who were different from him. If we want to be like Jesus, we’d do well to do the same.
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Amanda Held Opelt
Amanda is an author, speaker, and songwriter. She writes about faith, grief, and creativity, and believes in the power of community, ritual, shared worship, and storytelling to heal even our deepest wounds. Amanda studied Liberal Arts at Bryan College and is now pursuing a Masters in Appalachian Studies. She has spent 15 years serving in the non-profit and humanitarian aid sectors, and has written for Christianity Today, Premier Christianity, and 100 Days in Appalachia. She lives in the mountains of Boone, North Carolina, with her husband and two young daughters.
