Covenant News at www.covchurch.org
Two walks occurred in Los Angeles, and Greg Yee and Walter Contreras
found themselves near the front of the second event, walking alongside
Cardinal Roger Mahoney. They were subsequently joined by other Covenant
pastors participating in the march, which police say attracted some
500,000 individuals.
In Chicago, Paul Corner, the associate pastor of Christian formation at
North Park Covenant Church, carried a sign that read, "No human being is
illegal." Corner says his work has included ministering at times to
undocumented people.
Police estimated the crowd at more than 400,000. "It was very
celebrative and exciting," says Corner, who was joined by six students
from North Park Theological Seminary.
Corner believes being at the march as a Covenanter was important
because, "Our history is an immigrant church. Christians have a biblical
mandate to care for the sojourner in our land, and Jesus tells us that
whatever we do to one of the least of these, we have done to him."
Yee says it is important for people to remember that the immigration
debate extends beyond Hispanics. "The second largest undocumented group
is the Chinese," he says. "The Chinese were the first ethnic group to be
barred from this country. Thus they became the first illegal aliens and
undocumented people, themselves. I choose not to forget where I've come
from."
Yee says the undocumented population today is comprised of people "who
have become invisible to mainstream America, a whole group of people are
being ignored and taken advantage of. It's time to bring all those
skeletons out of the closet.
"What's awful is the way it has played out - people are latching on to
the extremes," Yee continues. "We're tending to latch on to these
extremes that are not being helpful."
There was no polarization on the platform on which religious leaders
assembled at the end of the Los Angeles march to address and pray for
the crowd. Contreras stood next to a rabbi and an imam.
Covenanters Join Marches in L.A., Chicago
LOS ANGELES (May 3) - Two Evangelical Covenant Church conference leaders
were among those participating in the immigration reform demonstration
here Monday, and a Covenant pastor in Chicago says it was important that
he and several students participated in the Midwest city's march the
same day.
Yee is the Pacific Southwest Conference director of church leadership
and development. Contreras is the director of church planting. In the
accompanying photo, Contreras is pictured walking with the cardinal. To
see additional photos, please visit Demonstrations.
Copyright 2005 The Evangelical Covenant Church www.covchurch.org
5101 North Francisco Avenue, Chicago, IL 60625 USA
+1 773 784 3000