July 28, 2025

Dear Members of the Synod Council, Rostered Leaders, and Conference Deans:

 “If you want my goodness to stay with you then serve your neighbor, for that is where God comes to you.”

(The Rev. Dr. Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

VP Simon Wong and I write to inform you that the Sierra Pacific Synod of the ELCA is one of several plaintiffs in a civil suit filed this morning in the Federal Court in Massachusetts against the Department of Homeland Security and Kristi Noem in her official capacity as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. 

This lawsuit is filed in response to the decision of the government to rescind the longstanding policy that respected the faithful practices of churches and considered them to be “sensitive locations” for ICE enforcement activities against undocumented people. 

We believe that enforcement activities in churches and among our members and neighbors who seek us out for spiritual practice is in direct violation of our religious freedom guaranteed under the United States constitution.

The decision to join the lawsuit was approved by the Synod Council at a meeting in July after consultation with our synod attorney, the ELCA’s General Counsel, and other partners. We were empowered in this action by our adoption of Resolution 2025-3 Regarding the Authorization of ELCA Participation in National Legal Actions. We understand this action to be in keeping with the intention to empower “faithful engagement in legal advocacy as a sign of solidarity with our most vulnerable congregations and ministries.”

We are joined in this action by a large coalition of religious organizations including the Greater Milwaukee Synod, the New England Synod, the Southwest California Synod, and the Southwestern Texas Synod. Others will sign on as plaintiffs in the coming weeks.

You may read the complaint here. 

You may read the press release from the coalition here.

You may read brief quotes from each of the plaintiffs in the case here.

Please feel free to share broadly anything that has been released publicly.

This filing may indeed generate media attention. I ask you to pass along to the Bishop’s Team any requests or inquiries you may receive from the media. As the Bishop, I will be the person to speak on behalf of the synod in this matter. I will take my guidance from our coalition partners and team of lawyers. If you have the chance to speak to local press, please do not speak on behalf of the synod, the coalition, the legal process, or the other plaintiffs. You may speak personally from your perspective. We will keep you informed as the lawsuit moves forward to the best of our ability. 

We encourage each of us in this time of chaos and confusion to remember our baptismal promises to “serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.” 

You may find inspiration as well from vows that we affirm at the time of ordination: “to speak for justice on behalf of the poor and oppressed; to equip people for witness and service; and to guide in proclaiming God’s love through word and deed;”  (Work and Sacrament) and to “give faithful witness in the world through word and deed, that God’s love may be known in all that you do?” (Word and Service)

Please pray with us. For all who are afraid. For each of the plaintiffs and for communities as they join the resistance to the government’s unjust policies. Please pray for all of those who proclaim the unconditional love of Jesus that our words and our actions might always reflect the one we follow. Love is at work among us, my friends. We have been called to this work for such a time as this. May you be surrounded by loving kindness and grace in all things. Be of good courage. 

As I wrote along with the press release: “The very essence of our practice of faith is at stake. We cannot be the church when the government interferes with our interpretation of Jesus’ command to love our neighbors. There is nothing more central.”

In Christ,

The Rev. Jeff R. Johnson, Bishop

Mr. Simon Wong, Vice President

Sierra Pacific Synod

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America