While the two church members come from different ends of the political aisle, they were the first to carry a couch up flights of stairs into a refugee family\u2019s apartment, take them to the grocery store and help them get jobs, Venable said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He shared this story with attendees at World Relief\u2019s Christian State of Welcome speaker series at Doxology Bible Church\u2019s southwest Fort Worth campus on July 22.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir political party is a tool in which they can love their neighbor, but it\u2019s not their idol in their life,\u201d Venable said to the crowd. \u201cThe gospel of the kingdom is that it becomes secondary, but what\u2019s primary is loving your neighbor, and that\u2019s how this can play a role.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Northwood Church pastor Scott Venable talks during World Relief\u2019s State of Welcome speaker series July 22 at Doxology Bible Church in southwest Fort Worth. (Mary Abby Goss | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
The Christian advocacy speaker series is set to visit five Texas cities over the span of two days where World Relief leadership and local pastors talk about the issue and share how they are leading their congregations in the current state of immigration policy. Fort Worth was the first stop.<\/p>\n
Matthew Soerens, World Relief\u2019s vice president of advocacy and policy, discussed with local church leaders how to navigate the issue with congregants. Instead of starting with immigration policy, look to Scripture first, Soerens advised.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have, as a country, thought of immigration only as a political issue,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd even within the church, which is a lot of the people in a place like Texas, we have not thought about it as a biblical issue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Soerens referenced Scriptures from Deuteronomy and Psalms in the Old Testament to illustrate how God \u201cloves the foreigners\u201d and \u201cprotects the immigrants.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While various stories in the Bible guide believers on how to interact and treat the \u201cstranger,\u201d Christians sometimes wrestle with Scriptures like Romans 13, which describes respecting the authority of the government, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some church leaders may presume they are breaking the law by being kind to undocumented people or running a ministry that serves them, he continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShould we love and welcome immigrants, or should we follow the law? Generally speaking, I would say yes. And there\u2019s not this contradiction between those,\u201d Soerens said. \u201cWe respect the government\u2019s role, but it\u2019s not the government\u2019s role to tell the church you\u2019re not allowed to minister to these people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Matt Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief, talks at the World Relief\u2019s State of Welcome speaker series July 22, 2025, at Doxology Bible Church in southwest Fort Worth. (Mary Abby Goss | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
Northwood Church\u2019s efforts in helping refugee families has drawn both support and backlash from congregants, Venable said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His Keller church is in a city whose council is expected to vote on a formal partnership with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, at an Aug. 5 meeting.<\/p>\n
If the proposal goes into effect, individuals arrested and booked in the local jail will be subject to immigration status screening using additional federal resources, KERA reports<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The proposal \u201ctargets criminals \u2014 not law abiding individuals,\u201d Keller Mayor Armin Mizani said in a July 17 letter<\/a>. The partnership would strengthen the city\u2019s abilities to \u201ccontinue protecting Keller and our surrounding communities,\u201d Mizani said.<\/p>\n The speakers stressed focusing on faith, not politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve lost our voice, in our culture, because we\u2019re screaming about the wrong things instead of serving,\u201d Venable said. \u201cWe should be really loud with our love, not with just our words.\u201d<\/p>\n While places of worship have historically been a safe haven<\/a> for immigrants in finding a support network, as of January, churches are among sensitive areas no longer<\/a> off-limits for immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n \u201cCriminals will no longer be able to hide in America\u2019s schools and churches to avoid arrest,\u201d Benjamine Huffman, acting Department of Homeland Security secretary, said in a Jan. 21 statement<\/a>. \u201cThe Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.\u201d<\/p>\n This has made some families fear attending worship, Venable said. Northwood Church started to see a drop in attendance in its English-as-a-second-language ministry in the spring, he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n Other Tarrant County churches saw similar dips. Rosita Silva and Anabel Aviles, attendees of World Relief\u2019s event, described how congregants are afraid to attend Spanish-led services at their church in Burleson.\u00a0<\/p>\n Aviles has lived in the area for 18 years and volunteers as a translator for Spanish-speaking immigrants working with World Relief and Catholic Charities, she said. Church communities need more informational resources on how to serve their immigrant population, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not going to break the law, but we are here to protect the people,\u201d Aviles said. \u201cBecause all of us are immigrants.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Multimedia fellow Mary Abby Goss contributed reporting to this article.\u00a0<\/p>\n Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n
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