UniteBoston

Bridging Divides Across Christians for the Flourishing of the City

Responding to the TPS Ruling: How Greater Boston Churches Can Help

As our nation commemorates the 250th anniversary of the United States this week, we are invited to ask: Who belongs in America, and what do we stand for as a country? This question feels urgent as we reflect on the Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold birthright citizenship, and another decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian and Syrian immigrants. Read below to hear reflections by local Christian leaders and action steps you can take to stand in solidarity.

As many Americans are celebrating the Fourth of July this week, a profound moral crisis is also unfolding in our own neighborhoods. Following the Supreme Court ruling on June 25, over 350,000 Haitian and Syrian nationals are facing the sudden termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), including approximately 45,000 with TPS status in Massachusetts.

For many in our pews, the reality of immigration is often obscured by political talking points. We often hear the refrains: “Come the right way,” or “Get in line.” In fact, many Haitians came to the United States through the CHNV parole process—a lawful process created because of the instability and humanitarian crises in those countries. They had U.S.-based sponsors. They were vetted. They received permission to enter and work. They did not sneak in… Then, because Haiti continued to collapse, many moved into TPS.

Rev. Dr. Daniel Montanez, UB Cohort Member and director of the Mygration Christian Conference, shares, “Many of these individuals have been here for well over a decade. They have made their homes, established families, and sought legal and viable pathways for citizenship. Now they are being told that those pathways are no longer welcome. The rules are being changed in the middle of the game, the ground is shifting beneath their very feet.”

Sarah Blumenshine of the Emmanuel Gospel Center’s Intercultural Ministries also points out the volatility of the situation, “One minute people have work permits, jobs, homes, and the next minute they do not. Can you imagine? You thought you had found safety, and then your hosts back out of the deal.” She notes that TPS holders are not a drain, but vital, tax-paying, law-abiding pillars of Greater Boston—working in churches, education, medicine, construction and transportation. 

The U.S. Department of State currently maintains a Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory for Haiti due to extreme violence, kidnapping, and instability. If a nation is too dangerous for U.S. citizens to visit, how can we declare it safe enough to deport hundreds of thousands of families back to? 

Dr. Gabeau, IFSI-USA’s Executive Director, delivers remarks at a rally outside the State House this week alongside Boston City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune (right). Photo: Steph Solis/Axios

A Systemic Disruption to Our Communities

This decision forces individuals into a harrowing choice: return to unstable, dangerous conditions abroad, or remain in the U.S. in the hopes of future immigration relief. Many local Christian leaders are also speaking out with grief and conviction:

  • Pastor “Keke” Dieufort Fleurissaint, founder of the Mattapan-based True Alliance Center, reports being inundated with calls from TPS holders fearing sudden separation from their U.S.-born children. As he told The Boston Globe, “My hope was for compassion to prevail… How could anyone let children go back to Haiti like that—into such a dangerous situation?” He adds: “This abrupt termination threatens family stability, job security, and the well-being of thousands of hardworking individuals who have contributed to our economy, paid taxes, cared for our loved ones, and strengthened our neighborhoods. We call on policymakers to pursue humane solutions that recognize the dignity, contributions, and aspirations of those who have long called this country home.”
  • Bishop Nicolas C. Homicil of the Voice of the Gospel Tabernacle Church reports that the end of TPS for Haitians has caused significant economic and emotional distress within his congregation. Many members have received work termination notices, creating deep uncertainty about meeting basic living expenses like rent and food. This unemployment affects not only those in the U.S. but also their families in Haiti who rely on their support. Furthermore, some parents are making the heartbreaking decision to appoint Bishop Homicil as their children’s legal guardian should they face deportation and family separation.
  • Catholic Archbishop Richard G. Henning strongly condemned the revocation and shared a rare public statement calling the decision a “disaster” for local communities and encouraged people to raise their voices on behalf of the vulnerable.
  • Rev. Kelly Fassett, shares, “Last week, while in New York for a conference, I was looking across the harbor toward the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and saw a quote by President John F. Kennedy about how immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life. This is TRUTH – Yet there is so much misinformation spread about immigrants being a drain. In fact, research has shown that the taxes immigrants pay actually save the government trillions of dollars in real terms and fuel the entrepreneurship that keeps our local economies growing.”

How Christians in Boston Can Respond Right Now

This Fourth of July invites us to do more than celebrate; it calls us to reckon with how we are actually living out our Christian values. Does my ultimate allegiance belong to the Kingdom of God, or do I subtly put my hope in my political party? How can I better embody Jesus’ call to love my neighbor, recognizing that every person bears the image of God and is bestowed with inherent dignity? Finally, how can we navigate the tension between respecting our nation’s laws and fulfilling our biblical mandate to protect the vulnerable?

Damaris Velasquez, Director of Programs of Agencia ALPHA, shares, “This is the time for the Church of God—and I emphasize ‘Church’ with a capital ‘C.’ It is that Church, representing many races, languages, skin colors, and socioeconomic backgrounds, that needs to take a stand and reflect the values given by Christ: love, compassion, humility, grace, and placing others before ourselves. Let us not forget that we are testifying to the God we serve—to our families, neighbors, elected officials, and systems—every time we support or fail to support the call God has given us.”

Here are tangible ways you and your congregation can follow Jesus to stand in active solidarity with our Haitian and Syrian neighbors this week:

1. Individual Legal Aid and Emergency Planning

Ensure that the immigrant families within your sphere of influence are legally protected and prepare:

2. Congregational Planning

Rev. Laura Everett, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, emphasizes the importance of preparing sacred spaces for potential ICE activity. 

  • Stay Informed: Review the Governor’s new statewide guidance for Houses of Worship. If you witness federal agent misconduct, please report it via the state’s official portal. The Massachusetts Council of Churches is hosting a training on this guidance on Tuesday, July 28 at 6 p.m.
  • Utilize Wisdom: A Boston-area pastor has developed a guide for pastors to support immigrant congregants before, during, and after detention: [English Version; Spanish Version].
  • Join the Chaplaincy of Presence Team: the Massachusetts Council of Churches coordinates a ‘ministry of presence’ in the parking lot of the Burlington ICE facility to support neighbors attending mandatory check-ins where unexpected arrests frequently occur. Chaplains provide listening, support, and prayer to those arriving and their families. As detentions are expected to rise with the end of TPS, clergy and board-certified chaplains are invited to join their weekday morning rotation (7:30–10:30 a.m.). Contact Rev. Dave Woessner at dave@masscouncilofchurches.org to sign up or for more information.

3. Advocacy and Education

  • Call Your Representatives: Reach out to your Senators and urge them to support S. 4814, a legislative pathway to extend TPS protections for Haiti. The 5 Calls Website and App is a fabulous resource to find your senators, with scripts to advocate for the issues you care about.  
  • Join the Boston Immigrant Resource Dashboard: Partner with local faith and community networks to share real-time updates, support initiatives, and coordinate localized responses for immigrant families.
  • Deepen Your Perspective: In his local pastoral reflection, For Such a Time as This, Gregg Detwiler explores the Church’s response to 2026 U.S. immigration policy, arguing that this is not merely a political issue, but a human, theological, and missiological one.

4. Financial Solidarity with Haitian-Led Organizations

Families are already being affected by the end of TPS. Now that the end of TPS has gone into effect on July 1st, Haitians have lost their work authorization, jeopardizing their ability to work and care for themselves and their families. With this in mind, the most pressing needs are funds to provide housing assistance, food assistance, and legal fees. 

Johane Alexis-Phanor of the Boston Haitian Resource Hub emphasizes the importance of supporting Haitian-led organizations. These groups provide essential, culturally competent services to the community and remain dedicated to long-term support even after the initial crisis fades.

Here are a few trusted and vetted Haitian-Led Organizations & Nonprofits:

5. Pray

Rev. Manny Daphnis, Migrant Resource Coordinator for the Fellowship of Haitian Evangelical Pastors of New England (FHEPNE), offers a powerful challenge to the Church: he urges Christians to pray fervently for mercy from government officials, asking that they suspend TPS deportations and halt enforcement actions that cause families to live in constant fear.

O God, we lift up our Haitian and Syrian brothers and sisters, as well as many immigrants who are facing deep uncertainty today. 

We pray for your protection to surround families who fear separation, and we ask for your mercy to rest upon our nation’s leaders, that they may choose compassion over harsh enforcement. 

Help us to live into our nation’s ideals of liberty and justice for all. 

Grant us, your Church, the courage to stand in the gap—to be a sanctuary of hospitality that welcomes the stranger, knowing that in caring for the ‘least of these,’ we are truly serving you.

Bind our community together in this work, and help us to trust that even in these harrowing times, your Kingdom of justice and belonging is near. We remember that Christians shall be known by our love; may that be said of us today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Family Fun at International Day of Play Celebration

Every Summer, Boston Episcopal cathedral hosts a Ministry of the Steps. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10am-2pm, throughout the Summer, you’ll find people out on the cathedral steps (weather permitting!) offering lemonade and an activity to all who stop by.

This Thursday, June 11th, is particularly special – as we’ll be celebrating International Day of Play with games, joy, and family fun! Cornhole, Connect Four, bubble-blowing contests, scavenger hunt for kids, and more – including prizes! Don’t miss this opportunity for free fun for everyone in Downtown Boston! Come on by any time between 10am and 2pm!

Practitioner Pathway

The Renaissance Practitioner Pathway is a cohort for equipping women and men to join God in doing good work in their neighborhood and how to pioneer new Kingdom expressions. We invite the participants on a 6-month learning journey (via Zoom) to explore the essential paradigms for neighborhood formation & practices of missional discipleship and sustainability

This Journey Includes:

  • Peer-to-peer learning environments
  • Learning from missionary practitioners from around the world
  • Coaching
  • A pathway filled with action reflection learning
Our goal is to have the group set in stone by early July, allowing us to set the Zoom schedule around those who sign up. So, if you or someone you know is interested, register by July 3rd to participate. Also, let me know your availability and a mailing address for the free books we’ll send you. Typically, our Zoom calls take place during weekday evenings, but we can be flexible based on everyone’s schedules.
For questions, email hub@wearerenaissance.org!

A Common Game, A Common Ground

What happens when local churches trade their differences for a whistle and a soccer ball? Now in its 17th year, Soccer Nights has grown into a powerful movement involving over 200 children and 150 volunteers across Greater Boston, proving that churches working together can build real bridges in a divided world.

In our featured blog post today, Athens Fitzcheung from Aletheia Church shares how kids and volunteers from vastly different worlds have been transformed by a free, weeklong summer soccer clinic. Read on to see how ordinary acts of play reveal God’s love—and learn how you can sign up your kids or volunteer before the June 7th deadline!

By Athens Fitzcheung

I’ve always loved soccer.

During my years in the UK, any chance to play was a good one. So when I first heard about Soccer Nights, a free weeklong summer evening soccer clinic for kids hosted by local churches, signing up felt easy. A few evenings of soccer, some fun, maybe meeting people from other churches in Cambridge. Brilliant.

At the time, nearly ten years ago now, I had recently graduated from one of Cambridge’s big-name universities, and my impression of the city was probably the same as many outsiders: ambitious, intellectual, career-driven, full of brilliant people doing important work. But Soccer Nights introduced me to another Cambridge entirely.

Going into Soccer Nights, what began as a way to enjoy soccer evolved into something more meaningful: mentoring children, building relationships with families in the neighborhood, and discovering how something as simple as sports can connect people whose worlds rarely overlap.

One child in particular changed me. Let’s call him Aiden.

He was eight years old on Team France in the 7–8-year-old division, and honestly, he was a handful. He ignored instructions, ran off mid-drill, roughhoused with other kids, and regularly tested the patience of every coach around him. Internally, we called him a “flight risk” because the moment you turned around, he’d disappeared halfway across Donnelly Field.

At first, I saw disruption. But over time, something began to change.

We kept showing up consistently. He kept showing up consistently. We corrected him consistently. We also encouraged him consistently.  And slowly things changed.

That came later that week when Aiden started bonding with another boy on his team — let’s call him Sam. They could not have been more different. Sam was calm, polite, and came from a different culture and environment. Yet by Day Four, the two of them were laughing together, encouraging each other, celebrating goals like they’d been lifelong friends.

It was beautiful.

And somewhere in the middle of all this, I began changing too.

As I came to know Aiden more deeply, I had the privilege of discovering more of who he is — his personality, his story, his heart. God began to show me that he was never simply a disruption to deal with, but instead a precious child of His. Over time, my patience grew, and I was able to truly see him, understand him, and love him.

That, to me, is the spirit of Soccer Nights.

What began 17 years ago as a partnership between Central Square Church and Pentecostal Tabernacle was never simply about running a soccer camp. The vision was to bring together children, families, churches, and neighbors across Cambridge through a shared love of the game.  This year alone, Soccer Nights will involve more than 200 children, 150 volunteers, and partnerships with over 10 churches across Greater Boston.

In this divisive cultural moment, Soccer Nights offers a glimpse of a different way of being: churches working together for the common good of their neighborhood. Simply to serve. And to serve in one body. A gift for everyone no matter their religious or cultural background.

If you care about children, community, and building bridges across our city, there’s a place for you.. If you also love soccer, even better!

Join us for Soccer Nights to participate in this beautiful expression of collaborative community outreach, for the glory of God and the good of our city! Here is how you can get involved:

  • Pray: Lift up the children, families, and volunteers gathering this summer—that through ordinary acts of play, encouragement, and friendship, they might experience the love of God and the oneness of God’s people.
  • Register: Sign up your child to participate in the soccer clinic and connect with other families in the neighborhood.
  • Volunteer: Step onto the field or help behind the scenes to serve the community alongside Christians from across Greater Boston.

Registration is still open for both participants and volunteers, but the deadline is fast approaching on June 7th!

👉 Sign Up or Volunteer for Soccer Nights Here

About the Author

Athens is a proud Brit who has made it across the Pond, where roughly half the folks has no clue what he says. He’s proud of his dry humour and loves poking fun at fellow Commonwealth accents. He firmly believes every social occasion should end with “just one pint,” even if it’s two in the afternoon and ideally somewhere showing the Premier League. By day, he works in tech, confidently telling software engineers what to build and thinking he’s in charge – he’s not. He writes about leadership, faith, technology, and the strange business of being human at his Substack Here.

Job Opportunity-Greater Boston

Position Title: WelcomeNST Ambassador – Boston

Position Location: Remote. Must live in and be able to travel around the Greater Boston MA Area

Hours: Approximately 10–15 hours/week

Pay:  $1500 per month

Position Summary:

The Ambassador will expand WelcomeNSTs effort to support refugees and immigrants in the Greater Boston area through:

  1. Outreach: Engaging communities of faith to form Neighborhood Support Teams (NSTs) to help their refugee and immigrant neighbors with a goal of forming at least 3 new NSTs/month
  2. Support: Working with grassroots organizations and networks to help NSTs find needed local supports for families as they walk alongside them on their road to self-reliance.

You will do this in concert with WelcomeNST and our partners. This position is a hybrid role, reporting directly to the Director of Outreach and the Director of Programs. It is ideal for a motivated self-starter with strong relationship and partnership-building skills, a demonstrated passion for working with refugees, deep connections in the Greater Boston area, strong communication skills and a genuine desire to find ways to help immigrants thrive in this challenging climate.

Key Responsibilities:

Outreach

  • Engage your existing networks and those of our partners as well as grassroots and faith communities to find people who are looking for a way to make an impact at this historical moment as well as faith communities seeking support from their neighbors
  • Engage these interested neighbors and faith leaders and educate them about what it means to form an NST
  • Proactively form relationships with new like-minded organizations, networks and congregations of helpers
  • Provide regular updates to the Director of Outreach and attend a weekly coordination meeting with the WelcomeNST outreach team

Programs

  • Attend “match meetings” in which the faith communities are matched together to form NSTs.
  • Serve as a primary point of contact for NSTs in your region post-match, assisting with local resources, problem solving, and local insights
  • Establish a relationship with partners and other organizations in your region that may provide support to our NSTs and the families they serve
  • Coordinate with the Programs Team by providing regular updates to the Director of Outreach and attending a weekly coordination meeting

Qualifications:

  • Demonstrated experience as a “community organizer” with a habit of engaging people to action to meet needs
  • A networker and connector at heart with strong relationship building and management skills
  • Strong connections within the Greater Boston area and a high level of comfort working with them to find ways to collaborate
  • Enthusiastic, energetic person with a flair for “getting to yes”
  • Passionate about refugees and immigrants with a demonstrated history of helping newly arrived families
  • Flexible, self-motivated, and ideally, familiar with the dynamics of non-profit start-ups
  • Basic proficiency with technology and ability to use/learn to use remote collaboration tools

If interested, reach out to us at getinvolved@welcomenst.org


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