Looking for a way to engage your congregation around issues of immigration and faith?

The Sanctuary Movement, through national staff and local partners, leads workshops for faith communities who want to discern a ministry to support immigrants and refugees in their communities. Workshops are interactive learning experiences that cover issues such as immigration & the Bible, ICE enforcement in local communities, congregational Sanctuary, privilege, and intercultural understanding. The Sanctuary Movement can bring the workshop to you and tailor it to your specific interests.

If you are interested in setting up a workshop, please email sanctuarymvmt@gmail.com.

​Here's a sampling of the workshops we offer:
  • Congregational Sanctuary 101
  • Being a Welcoming Congregation
  • Asylum Accompaniment
  • Rapid Response/How to Prepare for ICE raids
  • What to Do if ICE comes to your Faith Community
  • Organizing for Just Immigration Policies at a State and Local Level
  • Faithful Voting in an Election Year
  • Sacred Resistance or Sanctuary as Resistance
  • Having Difficult Conversations in Faith Communities
  • Anti-Racist Sanctuary Practices
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Past Workshops

  • Seeking Refuge, Wild Goose Festival 2019
The role of religion in domestic refugee and immigrant integration, particularly in the US government-sponsored resettlement program, is important, complex, far-reaching, and understudied. Most refugees and asylum seekers identify as religious, and the majority of refugees in the US are resettled by faith-based organizations, yet there have been no systematic studies to address the interplay of religion and resettlement. The workshop looks at immigration and refugee resettlement in the United States and explores how people of faith may engage in these processes at a local level. It will include an interactive simulation as well as a time for local partner organizations to share their experiences with a variety of ways that churches can respond to refugees and immigrants including direct services, Sanctuary, and advocacy.
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  • Reclaiming Sanctuary: A Faithful Response for Welcoming Migrants, Fayetteville, AR
We will discuss the many ways that your congregation can stand up against hate and dehumanization at this moment. Join us as we launch a new Sanctuary Movement in Northwest Arkansas. Topics include: the practice of sanctuary as racial justice work, with discussion about the logistical challenges of practicing sanctuary and ample time for Q&A Perfect for anyone wanting to learn more about developing immigrant welcoming congregations, and faith communities seeking to accompany immigrant neighbors.
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  • Faith Communities as Sanctuary: Standing with Migrants for Justice, Grand Island & Omaha, NE
Join us for two consecutive evenings of training to explore ways our congregations can welcome and stand with migrants for justice. We will discuss the following topics for our current situation:
-Migration and the Bible
-How does US Immigration work? Laws and legislative updates
-How can congregations prepare and respond?
​The presenters will share personal stories of people who have been in sanctuary. We will explore different ways welcoming congregations can support immigrants.