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Jan. 15, 2026
Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,
Today’s Psalm (Psalm 18) seems especially appropriate for our times: “I love you, O Lord my strength, my crag, and my haven. My enemies confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support.”
Yesterday, leaders from several of our cities, as well as Governor Mills and Senator King, responded to the likelihood that Immigration and Customs Enforcement will have a large-scale presence in Androscoggin, Cumberland, and parts of Penobscot counties. This afternoon, Portland Mayor Mark Dion confirmed to WGME that ICE agents would be coming to Portland “within the next two weeks.”
The possibility that our neighbors might be hustled into vans and taken by force to who-knows-where, terrorizes us to the point that some are not leaving our homes. Lest we think this is about “them” let’s be clear: People in our congregations are targets of this violence. It is about us!
I write to bolster you, and to ask you to do whatever you can to care for your neighbors. Many among us will respond by preaching, others will demonstrate, or mobilize people to protest peacefully, some will deliver food to those who are afraid to go out, and others will remain vigilant in prayer (which is not the same as being silent). Whatever you feel called to do, I will quote our Governor, Janet Mills, who issued a statement yesterday yesterday: ”I urge you to do so peacefully—to meet any hostility with reserve and resolve.”
Be encouraged!
- We are not without resources of faith, creativity, and passion for the Gospel.
- We are they who pray in the words of our Lord, “on earth as it is in heaven.” Today we can make this a living reality.
- We are followers of Jesus Christ, a refugee, whose death on a cross became for us a way of life.
- We are one church, in every part of Maine; what’s happening in one faith community in our diocese, matters to every community in our diocese.
What follows is list of resources from The Episcopal Church, and links to our website with organizations and people who are ready to accompany us in this work to return the world to peace.
Finally, a prayer for you, for your congregations, and for all:
Let not the beauty of the world be hidden, O God, by the passing clouds of ugliness; and let not the goodness of which we are capable be obscured by the evil of which we are often unconscious instruments. Keep our eyes open to the beauty that is always present, and blind us not to the ugliness which always threatens to spoil it. May we be continually prepared to see the goodness that is in humans, and at the same time be not unmindful of the evil into which we so easily slip. We ask these things in remembrance of him who had the eyes to see both the goodness and the meanness of people. Amen.
From Theodore Parker Ferris
Faithfully in Christ,
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