Main Street United Methodist Church Sponsoring Series of Speakers and Panel Discussions

The Church and Society Committee at Main Street United Methodist Church is sponsoring the third installment in its series of speakers and panel discussions addressing social issues and how Christians are called to respond. Entitled, “Immigration and the Church and Society,” this next series starts on Thursday, March 21, and continues on March 28 and April 4, 2019. Each session is held at the church at 1400 Main Street, in Alton, Illinois and starts at 7:00 p.m.

Thomas Johnson, chairman of the Church and Society Committee, says, “When looking at the divisive issues with which we deal today and the wide range of responses of people of faith, it seems as if people are entrenched in their positions and unwilling to consider another point of view. There is a lot of yelling and little, if any, listening. Unless we start listening to each other, the problems facing our country will never be resolved.” To that end, he says, the Church and Society Committee have tried, over the past year, to start a dialogue on such topics as Understanding Islam and LGBTQ issues. This latest effort focuses on the issues surrounding immigration. On this and other social issues, Johnson says, “we have a duty as Christians and as human beings to have knowledge and an understanding of the facts and issues surrounding these topics.”

On March 21, guest speakers Adrian and Lily Garcia from First United Methodist Church in Peoria, Illinois, and Charles Harris, a professor at Lewis and Clark Community College, will address the history of immigration in the United States, numbers, demographics and trends, what happens when people immigrate to this country, and understanding visas, green cards, Dreamers and the path to citizenship.

The second week will feature attorneys Ashley Moore and Sean Wellock from the Hacking Law Practice in St. Louis, Missouri. They will speak on legal issues, including sanctuary cities, the interplay between federal immigration laws and state laws, issues raised by the travel ban, and options for the executive branch and congress.

The final session will feature a panel of speakers including retired United Methodist Bishop Bill Lewis and Nameoki United Methodist Church pastor Mike Rayson, an emigrant himself who is now a United States citizen, discussing the position of the Methodist Bishops on the travel ban in particular, why there is a division among Christians on the proper response to immigration issues and clues from the Bible as to the proper Christian response.

This program is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. No reservations are required. People with additional questions are encouraged to call the church office at 618-462-2495 or by emailing info@mainstreetumc.net. More information can be found at https://hackinglawpractice.com/

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