Jessica Quinn, United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries Two United Church of Christ pastors and two immigrant activists participated in a foot-washing ceremony on the Capitol lawn Wednesday.

As lawmakers on Capitol Hill debate how to appropriate federal funds for the next fiscal year, a group of ministers from the United Church of Christ gathered in Washington to wash immigrants’ feet.

Two UCC conference ministers, whose roles are similar to bishops, washed the feet of an asylum seeker and a so-called Dreamer on the Capitol lawn Wednesday, using an ancient Christian ritual to draw attention to the issues facing immigrants in the U.S. today.

Twenty-two UCC conference ministers from across the country were at the Capitol to demand that Congress reject increased funding for the detention and deportation of immigrants and for border militarization. They asked instead that the U.S. invest in community-based alternatives to detention that keep families together.

Rev. Justo Gonzalez II, a UCC conference minister who represents congregations in northern Illinois, told HuffPost that he and his colleagues want to see Congress “defund hate and celebrate dignity.”

The foot-washing ceremony recalls the biblical story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet during the Last Supper to demonstrate humility and compassion. Christians often hold up the story as a model for servant leadership. In the UCC and some other Christian denominations, ministers perform foot-washing rituals on Maundy Thursday, which commemorates the Last Supper.

Gonzalez said that in this context, foot washing is a way for clergy to recognize the difficult journey of migrants who travel to the U.S. for a better life. He compared it to the journey of Jesus’ parents, who fled to Egypt to escape a massacre in their native land.

“Jesus’ parents crossed borders and didn’t have papers or permission, but they needed to protect their child and their lives, and they did what they needed to do,” Gonzalez said. “This was a godly act, and we honor that, not only for Jesus and his parents, but also for the faces of Jesus, Mary and Joseph that we see in our immigrant siblings.”

Watch the United Church of Christ’s action below.