In early 2025, as the new U.S. administration moved to close off legal immigration pathways and prepare for mass detention and deportation of refugees and immigrants, CWS and our Covenant Partners watched with growing alarm. In response, we united under the Ash Wednesday Ecumenical Declaration: Defending Refuge—a bold, public commitment by faith communities nationwide to stand against policies that endanger refugees and immigrants. In the months that followed, thousands of churches and people of faith joined this moral stand, pushing back against a government willing to demonize and harm those seeking safety.
In the year since, the Declaration has grown to include faith leaders, congregations, and organizations across the country. Signatories have organized legal aid clinics, issued sanctuary declarations, held public days of witness, and accompanied families facing detention and deportation. This collective moral witness has demonstrated unmistakably that people of faith will not be silent—and that the ecumenical community stands as one in defense of the dignity of every person.
Today, the threats and challenges have dramatically intensified.
This Ash Wednesday, immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, green card holders, and even naturalized citizens are facing accelerating threats—vilification, detention, and deportation carried out through increasingly militarized enforcement efforts. Families are being torn apart. Due process is eroding. Communities are living every day under the shadow of government-inflicted harm. These actions violate the core values of justice, dignity, welcome, and compassion—values rooted in both our Constitution and our deepest faith traditions.
And yet, across the country, courage is rising. Congregations, community groups, and neighbors are stepping into the breach—organizing nonviolent resistance, offering legal aid, sharing food, accompanying families, and providing steadfast public witness in the face of fear. From Chicago and Charlotte to Portland, Gainesville, and Minneapolis, these acts of solidarity reveal a powerful truth: faith communities are leading the moral defense of human dignity.
In response to this urgent moral crisis, CWS and our Covenant Members are today launching the next phase of our collective witness: the Ecumenical Rise Up for Refuge Campaign.
Building upon the momentum of last year’s Ash Wednesday Declaration, Rise Up is an inclusive movement-building initiative grounded in faith that will help mobilize, resource, and connect the growing wave of nonviolent action already taking hold in communities across the country. By bridging local, community-led action with national advocacy, media, and legal strategies, Rise Up will strengthen and uplift the work of communities that are already mobilizing while helping activate those seeking guidance and support to do the same.
With 80 years of justice rooted, faith-rooted, faith-grounded commitment to protecting and serving communities experiencing hunger, poverty, displacement, and disaster, CWS is uniquely prepared for this moment. Our trusted relationships with denominational partners, networks, and service providers, paired with expertise in refugee resettlement, newcomer protection, policy advocacy, and community organizing, position us to uplift and expand this movement—across denominations, across traditions, and across the country.
Rise Up for Refuge will:
- Strengthen, amplify, and connect local efforts defending refuge and welcome.
- Activate new communities with practical tools, guidance, and opportunities for collective engagement.
- Equip leaders with practical tools for communications, legal aid, advocacy, and nonviolent resistance training.
- Uplift and shape narratives that speak truth to power and inspire moral courage.
- Support those directly targeted through expanded access to legal services, protection, and accompaniment.
The urgency is unmistakable—and so is the call to moral action. Now is the moment to rise—for refuge, for justice, and for the dignity and worth of every person made in the image of God. As we launch Rise Up for Refuge this Ash Wednesday, we are asking you to stand with us, to help shape the initiative, and to support this movement with your voice, your leadership, and your resources.
CWS is proud and honored to rise up in solidarity with the following Covenant Members as part of this important initiative.
- African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME)
- African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AMEZ)
- American Baptist Churches – USA
- Church of the Brethren (CoB)
- Community of Christ
- USA Apostles of Community of Christ
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
- International Council of Community Churches
- Moravian Church in America
- Provincial Elders’ Conference of the Moravian Church, Northern Province
- The Episcopal Church
- United Church of Christ (UCC)
- United Methodist Committee of Relief (UMCOR)
- The United Methodist Church
- Presbyterian Church (USA)
To learn more about Rise Up for Refuge, please contact George Devendorf, CWS Senior Director of External Relations, at gdevendorf@cwsglobal.org.