​The New Sanctuary Justice Ministry Team Welcomes the Stranger

Will Hommeyer and Teresa Connor, Sanctuary Justice Ministry Team

The Sanctuary Justice Ministry Team (SJMT) has recently been officially recognized as a Community Outreach Ministry Team at Unity Church. What began under the guidance of our former co-ministers, Janne and Rob Eller-Isaacs, has blossomed into a powerful effort where a dedicated team of congregants continues to provide support to not only the immigrants in our community but to asylum seekers, and queer and trans individuals. Rooted in our Unitarian Universalist values of human dignity, compassion, and justice, this work continues the church's long-standing commitment to sanctuary justice. 

Two members of the SJMT share why they have chosen to become involved in this work.

Teresa Connor: The call to sanctuary justice came to me as a facilities staff member during the pandemic, a time when Unity Church provided hospitality to the sanctuary guests hosted by the congregation. Their stories opened my heart and provided an opportunity to get to know each other and continue conversations that touched on our shared values, concerns, and hopes. To welcome the stranger, to travel with them on their journey, to hold these beloveds in all their inherent dignity, and informed by our shared humanity, led me into deeper engagement. The work of the SJMT is an invitation to hold the complexities of the challenges our guests and other migrants face, and to journey with them. To do this work in community (both within Unity and beyond), I have felt called to engage in broadening circles of love and to advocate for our migrant neighbors who are vulnerable to unjust policies and actions. I am reminded of the line from the Marge Piercy poem that we will all find familiar, “The pitcher cries for water to carry and a person for work that is real.”

Will Hommeyer: “Being in right relationship with the world" is a concept central to many Indigenous worldviews. It acknowledges the interconnectedness and sacredness of all beings — human and non-human —and emphasizes harmony, respect, and mutual responsibility with the Earth and each other.

For nearly ten years, I sought to learn from Indigenous spiritual leaders by participating in prayer and sweat lodge ceremonies, and spending time on northern Minnesota reservations, listening to stories. I also traveled to the Navajo Reservation with a small group, where we stayed on the land, split firewood, hauled water, and herded sheep to support elders who remained in their hogans*, while resisting forced relocation by the U.S. government to mine for uranium. It was as if they were refugees on their own land.

For me, being in right relationship means I cannot turn my back on a neighbor in need. I cannot look away when migrants, including many Indigenous people displaced by forces beyond their control, seek asylum. The SJMT at Unity Church provides a supportive community and spiritual foundation for this vital work. Witnessing the dysfunction and cruelty of the immigration system has been both eye-opening and heartbreaking, but welcoming the stranger into my life has transformed me in ways I never anticipated.

In response to changing immigration policies and threats to LGBTQ+ rights, the SJMT is focusing on three key areas: 

1. Educating Unity Church members on policy impacts, 
2. Advocating for just legislation, and 
3. Standing in solidarity with displaced persons. 

Our efforts are supported through partnerships with local UUA congregations, multi-faith groups, and community organizations. We invite the congregation into the transformative sanctuary work of welcoming and journeying alongside our neighbors.

The SJMT invites you to Sanctuary Justice 101 on Wednesday, April 16, at 7:10 p.m., in Robbins Parlor. If you are interested in the justice work of welcoming the stranger, please join the meeting, or sign up to get team updates.

*The hogan is the traditional dwelling of the Navajo people.