MOORHEAD, Minn. (KFGO) - A Lutheran bishop from Fargo says his church has no plans to ignore its mission of providing assistance to area immigrants and refugees.
Reverend Terry Brandt is Bishop of the Eastern North Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Brandt acknowledges that Lutheran Social Services has been criticized for its role in re-locating a growing number of immigrants to the area.
“Being able to talk about any of these issues is fair. I don’t want to say that by any means that we’ve been treated unfairly” Brandt said. “It’s opened up conversation and room for us to say ‘who are we as a church and what to we believe as Christians?’”
“Jesus himself was a refugee” Brandt said. “We, as a church, don’t shy away from the fact that we come alongside those who are marginalized, who are seeking a place that is safe.”
Fargo Roman Catholic Diocese Bishop John Folda agrees. “The work that we do for the poor, for the homeless, for the refugee, for those who are isolated in our communites; that, I think, is going to go a long way towards strengthening and building the unity that we’re striving for here today.”
Four area bishops are in Moorhead for a discussion about the Catholic and Lutheran churches. The bishops represent 200,000 Catholics and Lutherans in eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota.