First, it was the National Guard and Marines occupying the streets of Los Angeles, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents snatching men, women, and children from car washes, schools, and Home Depot Parking lots.
And then it became Washington, D.C.’s turn. The Trump administration federalized the D.C. police and deployed the National Guard to patrol streets and round up unhoused residents. ICE agents soon followed, on a mission to round up suspected undocumented immigrants for incarceration and deportation.
For faith leaders, the stakes extend far beyond Los Angeles and Washington. If the rights of one community can be overridden so easily, they say, no community is safe. And, with the threat of occupation looming in cities like Baltimore and Chicago, people of faith are fighting back with the tools of divine justice. Their counteroffensive — from pulpits, protest lines, and prayer vigils — insists that faith requires resistance.
These Occupations Are Antithetical to Scripture
In a recent statement, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA declared the occupations to be antithetical to scriptural directives.
“Doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God (Micah 6:8) is a mandate for those who profess to serve God,” the council wrote.
The current administration’s decision on Monday to federalize the DC Police and deploy the National Guard in our Nation’s Capital to patrol streets and round up people experiencing homelessness is antithetical to that biblical mandate and our ecumenical Christian values,” it wrote.
A Letter to “Donald”
On Aug. 28, the 70th anniversary of Emmett Till’s murder, several ministers — including Bishop William J. Barber II of Repairers of the Breach; Shane Claiborne of Red Letter Christians, and Rev. CeCe Jones-Davis of Black Church PAC — published a pastoral letter on Substack addressed to “Donald.”
The letter assumed President Trump is serious about the desire to get into heaven that he shared earlier in the month on Fox and Friends.
“Repentance opens us up to empowering grace that changes us. Which is why the Bible says we demonstrate our salvation by love and compassion to the most vulnerable,” they wrote. “Matthew 25 is clear that we will give account for our lives based on how we treat the homeless, the hungry, those in need of healthcare, immigrants and refugees, the starving children of Gaza and the Sudan.”
A Commemorative Protest
On August 28, the 62nd anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, Black faith leaders and activists in New York City took to Wall Street to protest the administration’s denunciation of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
The protest organizer, Rev. Al Sharpton, CEO of the National Action Network, said, “We marched for your offices because we know your address, and we will march and keep coming to you until we turn the economic inequality in this country around. We’re not going back.”
A Prayer Vigil in D.C.
Hundreds also gathered for an Aug. 22 evening event, “Multi-Faith Prayer Vigil for Healing and Justice, sponsored by Mount Vernon Place and Foundry United Methodist churches in D.C.
Mount Vernon’s pastor, Rev. Donna Claycomb Sokol, said, “There is enough — enough time, enough compassion, enough money — if only we would choose to use our resources for healing rather than control, for liberation rather than bondage.
AME Bishops Speak Out
The AME Zion Board of Bishops’ Aug. 15 statement instructed its pastors to “Preach prophetically and teach with clarity and courage.” The bishops asked pastors to “Help our people understand the spiritual, moral, and civic stakes of this moment and how to stand strong for the cause of Christ in this moment and those to come.”
The bishops instructed congregations to prepare for the 2026 midterm elections now.
“Register and encourage others to register to vote — an act of stewardship over the freedom our ancestors fought to secure,” they said. “Monitor legislation and speak against any action designed to silence our voices.”
The bishops also urged congregations to view civic engagement as part of their faith, including supporting Black-owned businesses and media, and rejecting a “woe is us” mentality.
“Even now, as we are months into this new normal, we are still learning,” Monalisa Tui’tahi, an immigration attorney and leader in the California-Pacific Conference, told the United Methodist News. “Being present is a statement, a counternarrative to the narrative of hate and injustice that rules the day.”
