Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM)
www.episcopalchurch.org/emm
Connecticut church members give their all to help refugee family
What started with some available real estate and a brief presentation at a diocesan convention has led to a transformative ministry for the Episcopal Church of the Holy Advent in Clinton, Connecticut.
August marks the first anniversary of the arrival of a family of six refugees from Iraq who have been staying in the church’s rectory and transitioning to life in the United States with the help of Holy Advent members.
The experience of providing assistance to refugees in conjunction with an Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) affiliate office is known as co-sponsorship. In Connecticut, EMM affiliate Integrated Refugee and Immigration Services partners with faith communities like Holy Advent, along with other groups, to meet the needs of resettled refugees.
For Holy Advent members and the family they’ve helped, this experience has included a number of challenges. But with the family’s five adult siblings now all working, learning English and adjusting to life in the U.S., it’s clear the partnership has been a success.
“The amount that they have accomplished in just 11 months is astonishing,” Holy Advent vicar, the Rev. Bruce Shipman, said of the family. “I think [refugee co-sponsorship] is the right thing to do. I think we’ve never doubted that, but it has been demanding.”
The experience has been demanding, in part, because the church has offered an extraordinary level of support to the family. Both in terms of scope and duration, Holy Advent’s efforts have greatly exceeded what EMM asks of churches and other co-sponsors.
