UPDATE:
LUTHERAN DAY at the CAPITOL 2008
Wednesday, April 9 in Harrisburg
Keynote
Address by:
Ralston Deffenbaugh
President,
Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Services
A Faithful Response: To
be Lutheran is to be Pro-Immigrant...
Welcoming the Stranger in
a Time of Fear
In the seven years since the
September 11 attacks, our nation and our
world have become more wary, more
fearful, less welcoming. As a result,
innocent people are suffering. It is a
lot harder now in today's world to be a
refugee or an asylum seeker; within the
United States, the number of refugees
admitted has plummeted. For immigrants
in general, the climate of fear has
contributed to making the debate over
immigration reform even more divisive
and controversial. In the absence of
reform, families remain divided,
migrants continue to risk their lives in
the desert, and the 12 million
undocumented in our country continue to
live in uncertainty, if not fear.
The Lutheran church enjoys a long
history of service to the world’s most
vulnerable immigrants. Beginning with
World War II, through the Vietnam era to
today’s crises in Africa, Asia, and the
Middle East, U.S. Lutherans have
welcomed refugees for decades. Now our
country faces a contentious, even ugly,
debate over immigration policy. Why is
immigration so controversial now? Why
do we Lutherans have a special calling
at this time to welcome the stranger?
President of Lutheran Immigration and
Refugee Service for 17 years, Ralston
Deffenbaugh will take us on a walk
through history, helping us understand
the current debate and sharing the
Lutheran response to immigrants in
need. Ralie will offer suggestions for
what we Lutherans can do in this time,
nationally, regionally, locally, in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and
personally.
  Ralie
Deffenbaugh,
a human rights lawyer, has worked for
more than two decades with Lutheran
organizations concerned with
international affairs. After three years
with a Denver law firm, he joined the
Lutheran World Federation in Geneva in
1981 as assistant to the general
secretary for legal and international
affairs, working mainly with human
rights advocacy, handling in-house legal
matters and serving on committees
dealing with southern Africa and LWF
constitution.
In 1985, he became director of the
Lutheran Office for World Community in
New York, which represents LWF to the
United Nations and does international
affairs advocacy for Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). In
1989-90, the year of transition to
Namibian independence, he advised the
Lutheran Bishops and the Council of
Churches in Namibia on relations between
the U.N. and the South Africans. He also
served as an informal consultant to
committee members drafting Namibia’s
constitution.
Since 1991 he has headed Lutheran
Immigration and Refugee Service, the
cooperative agency of U.S. Lutheran
churches serving refugees, immigrants,
asylum seekers and unaccompanied refugee
children. He served 1990-91 as first
chair of Refugee Council USA, and is a
member of the Council on Foreign
Relations. Awards include 40th Gamaliel
Chair in Peace and Justice, 2005;
Sylvester C. Michelfelder Award for
Christian Service, 1995; Henry and Helen
Graven Award for Faith in Action, 1994;
and Arnold E. Carlson Award, 1991. Holds
a 1973 bachelor’s in economics from the
University of Colorado, Boulder, summa
cum laude, and a 1977 law degree from
Harvard.
Lutheran Day Schedule:
8:00-9:00
A.M.
Continental Breakfast at the Capitol
with Bishops and Legislators
East
Wing Lobby
9:15
A.M.
Event
Registration at the Crowne Plaza Hotel
(3
blocks from the Capitol)
9:30
A.M.
Opening
Devotions
10:00
A.M.
Legislative Panel
Presentations by two state senators and
two state representatives - with Q & A
10:45 A.M.
Keynote Address:
A
Faithful Response: To be Lutheran is to
be Pro-Immigrant...
Welcoming the Stranger in a Time of Fear
by:
Ralston
Deffenbaugh,
President, Lutheran Immigration &
Refugee Services
11:30 A.M.
Break
11:45 A.M.-12:30
P.M.
Workshops:
Hunger Advocacy in PA, Health Care
Access, Immigration Policy and more...
12:30 P.M.
Lunch
-
Legislative Priorities Overview
The
afternoon will include Workshops
(1:30-2:15
P.M.),
Capitol Tours
and/or
Legislative Visits
Print a registration
form for mailing:
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