The Sanctuary Church (Pendle Hill Pamphlets Book 270)

In its primary current usage, the term “sanctuary” refers to protective community with people whose basic human rights are being violated by government officials. As a declared practice, it incorporates prophetic witness into protective community; that is, in addition to protecting the violated from the state, the public practice of sanctuary holds the state accountable for its violations of human rights.

Many churches may refuse to serve as sanctuaries, but in the wake of the Arizona sanctuary trial there is now no question, first, that faith communities in the United States will henceforth provide sanctuary for refugees whose rights are violated by government officials, second, that the congregational provision of sanctuary for refugees is supported by most of the mainline religious denominations, and, third, that efforts by federal officials to crush the sanctuary network serve instead to stimulate its growth. In short, sanctuary is now established within our society as a faith practice that is part of what it means for the church to be the church.