Beloved in Christ,
In recent days, our Church has taken a profoundly difficult yet deeply faithful step. As you have read in the pastoral letter from our Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe, The Episcopal Church will conclude its participation in the federal refugee resettlement program by the end of the current fiscal year. This decision comes not out of weariness in doing good, but from the clarity of moral conviction that we cannot serve both justice and complicity.
I write to support this decision—not only as a bishop of this Church, but as a follower of Jesus Christ who is daily called to remember that we are the Body of Christ in the world, and as such, we must not forsake our calling to walk in truth.
I recall with great clarity and gratitude the words of the Rev. Canon Mpho Tutu van Furth, who preached at my consecration. She once shared with me an anecdote about her father, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, during his time as Chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She described how he instructed those working with him not to differentiate between the stories they heard and the necessity of their work. Healing, he said, would never be possible without first acknowledging the truth of wrongdoing. Repentance—not silence, not avoidance—was the pathway to any real national reconciliation.
This same principle must guide us now.
To cooperate in resettling white Afrikaners would be to participate in a narrative that grants preferential treatment based on whiteness, while turning our backs on brown and black refugees who have long waited in danger and desperation.
To be clear: this is not about the worthiness of any individual human being. Every person is created in the image of God. But it is about the system and the sin that hides in their operation. What President Trump and his administration have proposed is not a refugee policy rooted in need, vulnerability, or justice. It is an expression of white supremacy dressed in bureaucratic language. And the Church cannot validate that with its partnership.
I grieve that this decision was necessary, as do so many. For decades, Episcopal Migration Ministries has offered real hope to families fleeing war, persecution, and loss. Yet I believe with all my heart that this decision is not an end to our commitment, it is the sharpening of our witness.
May we, as the Church, renew our commitment to the work of Episcopal Migration Ministries—not as agents of government policy, but as disciples of Jesus Christ, who calls us to welcome the stranger, protect the vulnerable, and walk in love. This work is not ending; it is being transformed. Let us meet this moment with clarity, compassion, and unwavering faith.
In Christ's service,
The Rt. Rev. Lawrence C. Provenzano
Bishop of Long Island