Tag: Sacred architecture

“This isn’t a political statement,” said senior minister Jeanne Pupke, who cut short a conference in Kansas City, Mo., to get back to Richmond. Fifteen houses of worship have joined the Central Virginia Sanctuary Network and pledged to support the effort to create sanctuaries for immigrants. “What if we could get 100 churches to consider themselves sanctuaries? Her church appears to be the first in the state to actually provide sanctuary to an immigrant family, joining about 40 other churches doing the same nationwide. Both of Virginia’s U.S. senators, Mark R. Warner (D) and Tim Kaine (D), have requested that immigration authorities put Arevalo-Herrera’s deportation order on hold while she appeals her residency case. “But I had to do it to be safe and to be close to my family. Usually, immigrants can remain in the United States while their case is under appeal, said Alina Kilpatrick, a lawyer working with Arevalo-Herrera. After the Sessions decision, she was not. The lawyer put an air mattress in a church meeting room and stayed there for more than a week after Arevalo-Herrera arrived. Faith that the government of this country is going to change their ideas about us.” Worshipers at the church, who spent half of last year carefully considering whether to step into the immigration debate — and even turned away three requests for asylum before Arevalo-Herrera’s — say they now feel compelled to add action to their faith.