January 26, 2026

Beloved of God in the Nebraska Synod,

Eleven days ago, the bishops of the six Minnesota synods of the ELCA issued a public letter regarding the escalation of violence in the state of Minnesota centered on the deployment and actions of ICE agents across the state, which at the time included the killing of Renee Good and the shooting of another Minnesotan. In that letter, the bishops commended the people of Minnesota for their communal response, called for a deescalation of ICE tactics in Minnesota and across the nation, and pledged to continue their opposition to the dehumanization of immigrants across the state, saying, “We are tired, and our hearts are broken. Yet we are not deterred.”

Many of you, like me, have struggled to understand and respond to all that has happened in Minnesota and in our nation in recent days. We’ve seen acts of incredible courage and heard stories of horrific cruelty. We’ve seen facts denounced as lies and peaceful protests denounced as ‘domestic terrorism.’ We’ve seen the killing of civilians on national television justified, even celebrated. We, like my colleague bishops from Minnesota, are tired, and our hearts are broken. Let us also be undeterred in our responses to the present moment.

Now is the time for God’s people to respond, and to do so with dignity and purpose. Each of you has an opportunity to shine a light in these dark days, to be a vessel through which the Holy Spirit enlightens the world around you. Some of you have already taken action, but there is always an opportunity to do more. You can volunteer in your local communities, making sure that your neighbors have food and other necessities to see them through whatever is to come. You can give time or financial support to agencies dedicated to the care and protection of our immigrant neighbors. You can contact your elected officials to let them know you are opposed to what is going on in Minnesota and across the country. You can join peaceful public demonstrations, respectfully and steadfastly providing public witness against the violence, deception, and continued escalation of ICE practices nationwide.

However you respond, let your response embody the spirit of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who wrote from the Birmingham jail, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

These are not easy days to be people of faith. Yet I know that God walks beside us, calling us to  our baptismal promise “to work for justice and peace in all the earth.” None of us can do it all on our own, but none of us are excused from doing what we can with the days that are given to us. Let us be steadfast in our public witness, brave and honest in our call for justice, and committed to standing up for those who need us to stand with and for them.

Tired, heartbroken, and undeterred,

Bishop Scott Alan Johnson