In February 2025, the Provincial Elders’ Conference (PEC) of the Moravian Church Northern Province (MCNP) wrote the letter known as “The Compassion Statement” in response to the rise in Christian Nationalism in the US, as an encouragement to our communities to humbly and boldly continue following Christ in our Ministries of caring and public witness. That statement can be found here.
One year later, in light of the immense human suffering resulting from numerous orders and policies drafted by and enforced in the U.S and around the world, the PEC of the MCNP wrote and released the following letter to our congregations, ecumenical partners, and the larger world in which we live on January 27, 2026.
Affirming the Church’s Call to Justice and Public Witness
Grace, mercy, and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
In February of 2025, the Provincial Elders’ Conference wrote a Statement and Letter to the Church, which came to be known as “The Compassion Statement.” It was titled Humbly and Boldly Following Christ in Our Ministries of Caring and Public Witness and its purpose was to offer encouragement and prayers to the church in a very challenging and difficult time.
One year later we are writing again, this time having witnessed immense human suffering resulting from numerous orders and policies drafted by and enforced in the U.S. and around the world in inhumane and capricious ways. Such policies have impacted basic human needs including health care, food, shelter, and education. As is often the case, the most vulnerable have suffered most.
We are especially alarmed and grieved at the inhumane treatment of persons and their families who are immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, and those who care for them. Many people in our congregations, communities, and nations now live with constant fear and terror, the trauma of which is known to cause deep and lasting wounds, particularly for children.
We have witnessed the devastating loss of life, and the cruel treatment of children, youth and adults in the processes of detainment, arrest, disappearance, confinement and deportation. We have witnessed the increasing acts of aggression, violence, and racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, and in a growing number of cities and towns across the U.S. We join other people of faith in calling for the protection of human and civil rights of all persons; thorough and legitimate investigations of the deaths of Geraldo Lunam Campos, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti; accountability; de-escalation; and prayers for all involved. We have also witnessed the rise of Christian nationalism and its active threat to democracy.
We reiterate resolutions from the 2023 Provincial Synod on immigration matters, joining the National Council of Churches (US) in its call:
for a comprehensive solution to our immigration challenges that respects the “Imago Dei” (the image of God) in all people, keeps our borders safe, and honors the diversity that makes our nation a great tapestry, and we affirm:
the worth, dignity, and inherent value and rights of immigrants, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, and declare support for the humane treatment of any person coming across our borders, regardless of legal status.
As a province in two countries, we express our profound grief and disappointment in the threats and baseless negative comments directed at Canada by the United States. The U.S. has been privileged to enjoy a mutually beneficial and supportive relationship with Canada for many years, and it is being dramatically affected by those in the U.S. government pursuing an imperialistic agenda leading to a devastating loss of the longstanding cooperation of nations. Our siblings in Canada are searching for understanding and support as this stance by the U.S. creates fear and uncertainty in their lives. We call the church to prayer, to standing in solidarity with Canada, and to speaking out on their behalf.
We offer support for our clergy, ministers, church leaders, and congregations, and our ecumenical and interfaith partners, in their care, support and advocacy for immigrants, migrants, and asylum seekers, and in their resettlement ministries for refugees. We call for adherence to court orders and to legal means for making program, policy, and funding changes and decisions. We continue to pray fervently for the protection of human and civil rights, respect for relationships with our nation’s allies and sovereignty of nations, and adherence to international law.
We affirm the church’s call to public witness and its prophetic tradition. In our liberty, some may discern Christ’s call in this critical time as a call to recognize a higher loyalty to God and conscience, to protect and secure freedom and justice for all, and to preserve the democracy in which we are privileged to live [MCCL, ¶27]. In any discernment, we are called to do all things in love with the conviction that the day will come when truth and justice reigns. Even now, “Our Lamb has conquered. Let us follow him.”
We abide in prayer for each of you and for all. May the church of Jesus, our Chief Elder and only Lord, be guided by love and mercy and unwavering hope in God’s coming reign of justice and peace where all will live as one beloved community.
The Provincial Elders’ Conference
Moravian Church Northern Province
January 27, 2026
to download a copy of this letter, please click here.
Calvary Moravian joins our sister congregations and ecumenical partners in continued prayer and care for our world. Together, we invite you to pray along with us some of the words from our Liturgy of Intercessions in Time of Crisis (MBW 117-118):
God of mercy, God of comfort, we come before you in this time of difficulty, mindful of human frailty and need, confused and struggling to find meaning in the face of suffering…For those whom disaster has left homeless, injured, or bereaved, for refugees and those separated from loved ones, for all who are in danger, trouble, or anguish, we ask the presence and strength of your Spirit.
Be the support of all who give their strength, their skill, and their stamina in a ministry of mercy. Open our hearts in generosity that we might be partners in their commitment to bring relief. Where tempers flare and a partisan spirit provokes new hostility, raise up people who have patience and restraint. Where indifference allows crisis to deepen and suffering to go without relief, awaken deliverers who have zeal and strength. We pray for those who are engaged in making important decisions in this time, for those who report on these events, and for those who shape public opinion.
Give them the courage to speak out and the restraint to listen, that together we may discern the truth and hold aloft its light. Take away the temptation to trust in human power and military solutions, and give us the courage to be your servants to the community of nations.
Direct all governments in the way of peace and justice, that your will may be known and done among the nations. Deliver us from the sins which lead to war and conflict, and strengthen within us the will to establish righteousness and justice on the earth.
We pray for those who are suffering and can make no sense of tragedy. Help them to turn to the One who embraces us in our lives, even Jesus Christ, who lived and suffered among us. There is no one who is righteous, not even one, for we have all turned away from you. Make us aware of our common need of a Savior, and remove from our hearts the pride, ambition, and greed that would lead us to enslave and demean other people.
Have mercy on your whole creation. Hasten the day when the kingdom of the world shall become your Kingdom, and by grace make us worthy to stand before you. Amen.
For the full liturgy of Intersessions In Times of Crisis, along with other Moravian liturgies, please click here.
Liturgy adapted from the 1995 Moravian Book of Worship with the permission of the Interprovincial Board of Communication, Moravian Church in America. © 1995 IBOC. www.moravian.org; e-mail: pubs@mcnp.org. All rights reserved.
Calvary Moravian Church 