Preamble: What This Is and Is Not
This is not a policy paper.
It is not a theological dissertation.
This is not an evangelism strategy.
It is not a list of positions on political talking points or national immigration strategies.
This is a testimony to what we as Wesleyans believe Scripture clearly teaches—a call for the people of God, particularly those within The Wesleyan Church, to focus first and foremost on what is clear and certain in Scripture. God repeatedly and unequivocally calls his people to love and welcome immigrants. That call does not depend on political winds, economic arguments, or categories related to immigration status. It is a foundational ethic of God’s covenant people and the followers of Jesus Christ.
The topic of immigration often brings up debates; people disagree on how many immigrants should be allowed in the United States, pit the “rule of law” against compassion, or argue endlessly over what the right border policy should be. While these issues are complex, filled with nuance, and shaped by countless different stories and situations, the people of The Wesleyan Church remain fixed on the Word of God to guide and shape our understanding of immigrants and immigration. As with all other aspects of our faith and discipleship, we are committed to learning, practicing, and obeying so that it is indisputable that our beliefs, values, and attitudes about immigrants and immigration are formed by Scripture.
We believe that Scripture is clear: God’s people are called to love immigrants with tangible action. The primary question for Wesleyans is not “Why are immigrants in our communities?” or “What is their status?” but “How do we love immigrants well?” and “How do we create spaces of welcome, belonging, and justice for our immigrant neighbors?”
Introduction
Migration is a deeply biblical theme, woven throughout the story of God’s people. The Bible repeatedly calls us to love, welcome, and stand with immigrants (Deuteronomy 10:17–19, Leviticus 19:33–34, Matthew 22:36–40). The act of welcoming the ger (Hebrew for foreigner, immigrant) and xenos (Greek for foreigner, immigrant) is not optional—it is a reflection of our response to Christ himself. Jesus declares in Matthew 25:35–40 that those who welcome the foreigner are welcoming him, and those who reject the foreigner are rejecting him.
The Wesleyan Church stands firm in its commitment to welcoming immigrants as image-bearers of God (Genesis 1:27), building and supporting just systems that uphold immigrant dignity (Zechariah 7:9–10), and equipping local churches to be places of biblical hospitality (Romans 12:13). We recognize that migration is part of the human experience and that the church is called to actively engage in both personal welcome and restorative systemic justice (mishpat, Isaiah 1:17, Micah 6:8). Our response as Wesleyans to immigrants is not dictated by political ideologies or nationalistic fears but by the values of God’s kingdom.
Migration as a Global Reality Affecting the United States and Canada
Migration is not new, but the causes and complexities of migration have evolved. Today, migration is driven by opportunity, family reunification, war, famine, persecution, and systemic inequality. Currently, the United States and Canada are significantly shaped by these global movements.
In Canada, over 23% of the population are immigrants, and that number is projected to rise to 30% by 2040.¹ In the United States, immigrants make up approximately 16% of the population—a share that is expected to continue to grow.² While these numbers reflect resilience and ongoing growth in immigrant communities, we also continue to see rising societal tensions, legal restrictions, and systemic obstacles that impact immigrants.
Scripture never links God’s command to love immigrants with statistics, border sizes, quotas, or country of origin. Whether many or few, near or far, the command remains: love the immigrant among you.
As we obey God’s command to love our immigrant neighbors, we remain committed to learning and understanding the stories behind the statistics. While immigrants demonstrate fierce courage, strength, and determination as they make a home in a new country, they continue to face unjust systems, discrimination, family separation, unsafe working conditions, or limited immigration pathways forward. Many immigrants must navigate confusing policies, endure long periods of uncertainty, or even live in fear of detention or deportation. Others are excluded from essential services or targeted by harmful rhetoric that denies their dignity and worth. These are the realities behind the numbers—they point to justice issues that demand a response from the people of God.
The Unique Wesleyan Perspective
Since its inception, The Wesleyan Church has pursued transformational justice—a holistic expression of personal faith, communal discipleship, and public action that brings lasting change. John Wesley insisted that true discipleship expresses itself in caring for the poor, opposing oppression, and proclaiming liberty to captives (Luke 4:18–19). It is from this theological and historical foundation that we speak into the reality of immigration today.
The Wesleyan Church was born in protest against the injustice of slavery. While no two injustices are the same, each demands moral clarity and courage from the people of God. Just as we stood against racial oppression in the 19th century, we are called today to stand against the dehumanization, exclusion, and fear-based narratives that surround immigrants in the 21st century.
We recognize that issues in immigration are complex, and woven with history, law, politics, economics, and culture. Yet Wesleyans have never shied away from difficult spaces; instead, we have often led the way, guided by Scripture and shaped by deep biblical conviction. Our founders navigated the tension between what was legal and what was just, refusing to accept slavery simply because it was sanctioned by the rule of law. In the same way, we are called to bring Scripture and Spirit-led discernment into the complexities of immigration today, seeking to live faithfully at the intersection of compassion, justice, and truth.
We believe Scripture not only permits but expects God’s people to lead in loving and standing with immigrants. This is not a peripheral issue; it is a gospel issue.
Immigrants Are Not Threats, Burdens, or Opportunities
Narratives that frame immigrants as drains on resources, criminals, invaders, or even simply as “hard workers” are inconsistent with Scripture’s view of human dignity. Any attempt to define people solely by their economic contribution, legal status, or the challenges they face strips them of their full worth as image-bearers of God. Immigrants are not problems to be solved, tools to be used, or causes to be championed. They are people to be known, loved, and welcomed. As Wesleyans, we must reject language and labels that reduce immigrants to less than who they are: beloved by God, created with purpose, and worthy of dignity and justice (Deuteronomy 10:18; Galatians 3:28). To participate in or remain silent in the face of dehumanizing rhetoric is to betray our calling as followers of Jesus.
Immigrants and the “Quartet of the Vulnerable”
In Scripture, God often expresses particular concern for four vulnerable groups: widows, orphans, the poor, and immigrants (Zechariah 7:10, Deuteronomy 27:19). But as we look deeper at God’s commands about the quartet of the vulnerable, we see that it is in our fallen nature—it is the norm in our society—to create and uphold systems that make people vulnerable and push them to the margins. Biblical teaching about the quartet of the vulnerable does not merely show us who is on the margins; it reveals clearly why they are on the margins. These groups have been made vulnerable by broken and sinful systems that we create and uphold.
Most cultures throughout history have found ways to care for their own widows, orphans, and poor. But God repeatedly commands care for immigrants, knowing that fallen societies tend to exclude and push them to the margins. This repeated call for inclusion shows us something profound: God identifies with the foreigner. The call to love immigrants is not just compassion—it is covenant obedience.
The Repeated, Action-Oriented Call of God
God doesn’t command love for immigrants once or twice. He commands it over thirty times in the Old Testament alone. And these commands are always paired with tangible action:
- “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, . . .” (Exodus 22:21).
- “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born” (Leviticus 19:34).
- “You are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:19).
This love is not just a feeling—it is justice enacted action. Welcoming immigrants means:
- Meeting them where they are (Leviticus 19:34; Acts 8:26–31)
- Journeying with them (Ruth 1:16-17; Ruth 2:11–12, Acts 8:29)
- Giving them a sense of equal belonging (Leviticus 19:34; Deuteronomy 24:17–18)
- Treating them with fairness (Deuteronomy 27:19; Malachi 3:5)
- Standing against discrimination (Exodus 22:21; Zechariah 7:10)
- Refusing to force assimilation (Isaiah 56:3, Acts 2:5–11, Revelation 7:9–10)
- Creating equitable systems (Deuteronomy 16:11–14; Deuteronomy 26:12–13)
- Elevating their voices (Exodus 22:21–23, Isaiah 56:6–7, Acts 6:1–7).
Philoxenos: The Biblical Mandate for Church Leaders
One of the clearest instructions in the New Testament regarding church leadership is that leaders must be hospitable—but not in the vague, English sense of “being nice” or “inviting friends over for dinner.” The Greek word used is philoxenos, which literally means “love of immigrants” (1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:8).
Hospitality is not about extroversion or entertaining—it is about posture and practice. The “stranger” in Scripture is not someone like us whom we simply don’t know yet. The xenos is the foreigner, the immigrant. If we are not known as people who actively love and welcome immigrants, we are not qualified to lead God’s people.
Biblical hospitality does not ignore difficult questions or complex realities. Instead, it calls us to enter into those realities with compassion and conviction. We urge Wesleyan leaders to begin with what Scripture makes clear: we are to be known for our love for immigrants.
Systems Matter to God
Throughout Scripture, God makes clear that his concern is not only with the actions of individuals but also with the character of communities and the structures they create. In Matthew 25, Jesus says that at the end of the age the ethnos (Greek for people, community, group, tribe) will be gathered and judged based on how they treated the hungry, thirsty, sick, imprisoned, and yes, the immigrant. The prophets echo this same truth: God repeatedly rebukes Israel not simply for personal sins, but for corrupt courts, exploitative economies, and unjust practices that oppressed the poor and excluded the foreigner (Amos 5:7–12, Micah 6:8, Malachi 3:5). The Law itself reflects this corporate concern, building in systemic protections such as gleaning laws, debt release, and equal treatment of immigrants (Leviticus 19:33–34, Deuteronomy 24:17–22).
This biblical pattern shows us two things:
- Welcoming immigrants is not just a personal act; it is a collective responsibility.
- God judges systems, not just individuals.
As such, the church must not only embody personal love for immigrants but also speak into and resist systems that exclude, mistreat, or ignore them. We are called to be a people of welcome, a collective ethnos that reflects God’s heart for justice and belonging.
Acts 8: A Model of Proximity and Connection
The story of Philip and the Ethiopian official in Acts 8 gives us one simple, clear biblical model of how to live out these principles. Philip, a native-born follower of Jesus, is called by the Spirit to leave a place of comfort and go to a road—not just any road, but a transnational highway where travelers from Africa and across the Roman world utilized.
He likely would not have met many immigrants in Samaria. But God calls him to a place of intentional proximity.
And then, God calls him again to kollaō (Greek, Acts 8:29), meaning to join, cling to, stick like glue, or deeply connect. Philip doesn’t simply pass by or offer a kind word. He joins the journey. He walks with the immigrant.
That’s a practical and tangible model we can all embrace: we start by moving into proximity with immigrants, even if it means stepping out of our comfort zone. But we don’t stop there—we remember that proximity is not the end goal. We take the next step: we connect personally with immigrants or immigrant families, and we join them on their journeys. As we take these actions, we should expect to be changed. True relationships are mutual, and when we walk alongside others with humility and love, we don’t just offer support—we receive it, and our own lives are transformed in the process.
Final Call to Action
For Wesleyans to faithfully live out the scriptural call to love and welcome immigrants, we believe the following are essential first steps:
- Move toward proximity. Leave places of comfort and go where immigrants live, work, and struggle.
- Pursue connection. Share life with immigrants. Listen deeply to immigrants. Learn from immigrants. Serve alongside immigrants. When building relationships with immigrants, mutuality must always be our aim—recognizing that these connections are not one-sided acts of service or compassion but opportunities for shared growth. Our immigrant neighbors have much to teach us, and genuine relationship means learning from one another.
- Make welcome a collective value. Let your local church and our denomination as a whole be known for its love of immigrants.
- Speak into systems. Advocate for policies and practices that reflect God’s heart.
- Partner with others. Use resources from organizations like Immigrant Connection to help your church engage in practical and relational action.
Conclusion
We Wesleyans believe the heart of God is clear. He calls his people—again and again—to love and welcome immigrants with tangible action.
Not all issues are clear. This one is.
Let us not be distracted or swayed by partisan fear or cultural suspicion. But let us also not be lulled into neutrality or silence. Indifference is not a faithful option. Let us instead be found faithful, walking in mishpat (restorative justice), philoxenos (hospitality), and kollaō (deep connection), so that we, as the community who call ourselves Wesleyans, are known as the people who welcome immigrants (Matthew 25:35).
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1 Statistics Canada, 2025, https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/start.
2 Pew Research Center, 2025, https://www.pewresearch.org.
