Christopher Vergara, Chair of MNYS Advocacy Taskforce, Receives Social Justice Award from New York State Council of Churches for Humanitarian Efforts
During COVID-19, the Metropolitan New York Synod (MNYS) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is prioritizing helping one of the most vulnerable communities in the country – migrant minors – undocumented immigrants under the age of 21. MNYS, through its Advocacy Taskforce and AMMPARO/Sanctuary Ministry, is actively advocating for the immediate passage of the Separation of Children Accountability Reporting (SCAR) Act in New York, a bill introduced by New York State Senator Brian A. Benjamin and Assembly Member Harvey Epstein. The SCAR Act seeks transparency through accountability, requiring that child welfare agencies and other centers with custody of minors be required to report the location, status and current separation/reunification circumstances of these children to the NYS Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), as well as to the federal government, in addition to other critical information. This bill calls for mandatory provision of this information so that advocates and policy makers can help meet their needs, enabling many to gain hope and peace of mind during these troubling times.
The Chair of the Advocacy Taskforce at the Metropolitan New York Synod, Christopher Vergara, explains that now there is no supervision or required documentation at detention facilities. With the passage of the SCAR Act, there would be the start of reliable record keeping, which would enable organizations like the Metropolitan New York Synod to help these individuals and their families more readily.
Vergara states: “The passage of the SCAR Act is just the beginning of what is needed, yet a critically important start that could lead to the dismantling of a corrupt detention system. We are hopeful that this mandatory tracking of these children and their parents will lead to handling these children and their families with dignity and equality in the future.”
Vergara — as the leader of the advocacy efforts of the Lutheran Church in the metro NY area — was the recipient of the Social Justice Award from the New York State Council of Churches (NYCC) for his humanitarian efforts on behalf of United States immigrants. The NYCC highlighted Vergara’s ‘living God’s call to do justice and love our neighbors’ through his extraordinary efforts helping the disadvantaged.
Long before COVID-19, The Metropolitan New York Synod has supported immigrant youth and helped to provide their communities with basic assistance as well as offering pastoral access. For example, the MNYS connected community members to offer migrant minors a safe place to stay during COVID-19, providing clusters of 10-12 people with housing. In addition, working with the Central American Consulate, the MNYS established a Sanctuary Youth Group for immigrant children, taking them on field trips, nature excursions, as well as to artistic and cultural events. They also provided help for older children, particularly those in juvenile detention centers, where many are harassed and abused, including members of the LGBTQIA+, indigenous, and other minority communities. The synod looks forward to resuming these activities and continues to provide winter coats, food, and diapers to immigrant communities in need in the New York metropolitan area.
Vergara was open to conversation about the SCAR act and the MNYS to help us all better understand the thoughts, details and logic fueling their activity.
1.What inspires you to work with Migrant Minors? Why do this work through St. Peter’s Church specifically?
I think the question itself is very telling of our time, and how we have broken our contract with children in this country. Nothing “inspires” me – I simply feel that it is all of our responsibility to fight to keep families together, children out of cages, and maintain complete records so that children can be reunited with their families as quickly as possible. This is simply paying attention to this atrocity in our country and responding to it as a person of conscience and a person of faith. I do this work in the Metro NY Synod because as a community of faith we believe it is our duty to help and care for others. As God loves me, so I go out into the world to share that love, with the implied joy and peace and justice that it brings to others. It makes me sad to think that this behavior is not first instinct, but something we need to be inspired to do.
2. We know you are a very humble person, but is there any specific accomplishment that you felt led to your receipt of this award?
I guess the most notable achievement, which was in certainly not achieved alone, was the passing of the sanctuary resolution at the 2019 Church Wide Assemble of the ELCA, making the ELCA one of the first national church bodies to declare sanctuary in the United States. Having started and accompanying this initiative first in my local congregation, then our regional expression of the church, to then the national body was very meaningful to me.
3. What is your relationship with the New York Council of Churches? Have you ever worked with any past award recipients, and whom of their past recipients do you feel you best identify with?
Communities of faith who engage in social justice work know of the New York State Council of Churches and all they do and organize in order to advocate for a number of issues in our state. I have greatly benefited from their organizing, educating, awareness building, and advocating efforts, as well as from conversations and consultations with their leadership on a variety of topics. In this way, they not only do great work, but are also a wonderful resource for those looking to accomplish important work in their local contexts.
4.What does this award mean to you?
The New York State Council of Churches does so much amazing work in New York State in so many areas, that I am so humbled to be recognized by them. While I may have received the award, the work is not done by me alone, and I am so lucky be able to work alongside so many people committed to the work of justice in New York.
5. What is your advice to those who are seeking to help migrant minors, but don’t know how, particularly during the pandemic?
I would recommend seeking out partnerships, especially if you are just beginning to work or are volunteering in an area that is new to you. Find the people or organizations in your community who are already doing the work and ask them what they need. Be honest about what you are willing and able to give with regard to time, energy, or financial support, and then commit to that and do it consistently. None of this work is done immediately, rather it is a slow, long process of ushering better ways to be as a society. In this process, I would take an inventory of what you currently can do well. Starting from a place of evaluating your strengths will make for a more positive and direct impact in the area you want to affect change. I cannot answer this question without saying that you can always reach out to us at the Metro NY Synod to engage in work with migrant minors in our city, for we welcome people whose hearts and minds and hands are moved to do this work.
About Metropolitan New York Synod
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has three expressions: over 10,000 congregations, 65 regional synods, and the church wide organization. The Metropolitan New York Synod is the regional expression of the ELCA and encompasses 190 parishes in all five boroughs of New York City, Long Island, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester Counties. The 190 parishes are greatly diverse, from rural outposts to inner-city storefront churches, with a good dose of suburban mid-sized congregations as well. Worship is conducted in over a dozen languages, including Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Norwegian, German, Swahili, and American Sign Language. Progressive and highly inclusive, the Synod champions diversity and tolerance, with strong multicultural and global missions, as well as unwavering advocacy for children, the LGBTQIA+ community and displaced immigrants.
