Many American Christians today know the Vineyard Movement as an association of churches that, as stated in our core values, leans “…toward the lost, the poor, the outcast, and the outsider with the compassion of Jesus” ( Core Values & Beliefs, p. 14 ).

We do so in obedience to the command of Scripture as we engage both our empathy and our resources to ease the plight of the marginalized, the dehumanized, and those in need of refuge.

“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and

loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.”

Deuteronomy 10:18

For the Vineyard, the plight of the world’s refugees is, and must be, a vital concern of our local church communities. We seek to live out, and live within, Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom of God. Many of our churches already work with refugees and know how difficult their backgrounds have been, how genuine their aspirations are today, and how positive their contributions continue to be to their respective communities.





In accord with the Scriptures, we as Christians believe the eternal Kingdom of God supersedes the framework of contemporary American politics, and at the same time compels us to be good citizens (Rom. 13:1-7) who pray for our leaders in government (1 Timothy 2:1-3).

For these reasons:

We can choose to act toward refugees with empathy and attentive compassion . We want to build bridges to those in need, and can choose bridge-building language in all our communications as believers in Christ, as Vineyard churches, as individuals on social media, and in any arena in which we are given a voice.

We can choose love over fear as we acknowledge that those who support the immigration ban reference a fear that Americans will not be safe. But we believe love is greater than fear. This enables us to love and serve those Jesus taught us to consider the “least of these.”

We can love all people, including our current President, as we serve those Jesus taught us to consider the “least of these.”