Interfaith clergy rally in Lafayette against ICE: ‘Communities are living in fear’
Their message, demanding an end to ICE raids: ‘Maybe you have a faith leader on this side of the street that you’re connected to. Watch what they are saying and doing.’
Dozens of Greater Lafayette clergy members marched through a light snow shower Saturday in downtown Lafayette, singing and joining hands in front of the Tippecanoe County Courthouse as they called out recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and added to mounting protests in the community and across the country.
“In this moment, we are deeply concerned by the results of new immigration policies and the deployment of ICE into communities, actions that are instilling fear, trauma, and violence among our neighbors,” Rev. Jennifer Lewis, pastor at Grace United Methodist Church in Lafayette, said, reading from a letter signed by 30 members of the Greater Lafayette Interfaith Clergy Group.
“Families are being torn apart,” Lewis read, as another 50 people looked on from across Fourth Street. “Communities are living in fear. Human beings are being treated as threats rather than as children of God. We seek peace — and we seek change. We demand that this violence and inhumane behavior stop immediately.”
The march came a few days after a rally dubbed “ICE Out” drew hundreds of people to circle the courthouse Tuesday to protest after the death of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old VA nurse from Minneapolis, who was beaten, shot multiple times and killed by ICE agents on the street. Pretti’s shooting death followed another in Minnesota this month, when an ICE agent shot and killed Renée Good in an encounter on a Minneapolis street, as efforts to counter ICE maneuvers ramped up there.
Rev. Duane Carlisle, pastor at First United Methodist Church in West Lafayette, said the demonstration came together quickly late this week. After the draft of a letter was signed by 30 clergy members, the march through downtown Lafayette to the courthouse drew over 50 church leaders from Greater Lafayette.
“There was not a lot of organization that went into this other than a bunch of people getting together, as people do, and saying, we need to do something and say something together,” Carlisle said. “Maybe you have a faith leader on this side of the street that you’re connected to. Watch what they are saying and doing.”
As they walked through downtown, the clergy sang hymns “Lord, Prepare Me to Be a Sanctuary” and “Amazing Grace,” along with a mix of folk standards, including “This Land is Your Land” and “Shalom Chaverim.”
Before pastors, rabbis and other clergy marched, Rabbi Adam Bellows, of Temple Israel in West Lafayette, told those who’d assembled to follow the procession: “We’re so grateful that you all are here to stand up for justice and love and peace and dignity.”
The group’s statement
Here’s the statement the Greater Lafayette Interfaith Clergy Group gave, delivered Saturday outside the Tippecanoe County Courthouse in Spanish by Rev. Joél Muñoz of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lafayette and in English by Rev. Jennifer Lewis, pastor at Grace United Methodist Church in Lafayette.
“He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8
As clergy serving the Greater Lafayette community, we write together across traditions, denominations, and faith expressions because we are united by something deeper than our differences: a shared commitment to justice, peace, human dignity, and the common good.
We believe — without hesitation — that every person is created in the image of God. This sacred truth is not symbolic or conditional. It is real and lived, and it demands a response. Because of this, everyone belongs. No one is disposable. No one is invisible. No one is beyond the reach of love, mercy, or justice.
In this moment, we are deeply concerned by the results of new immigration policies and the deployment of ICE into communities, actions that are instilling fear, trauma, and violence among our neighbors. Families are being torn apart. Communities are living in fear. Human beings are being treated as threats rather than as children of God. We seek peace — and we seek change. We demand that this violence and inhumane behavior stop immediately.
Our faith traditions teach us that love is greater than fear. Fear divides communities, erodes trust, and diminishes our shared humanity. Love, by contrast, calls us to courage — to welcome the stranger, to protect the vulnerable, and to recognize our common humanity even when it is difficult or costly to do so.
Justice is not an abstract idea. It is about quality of life and opportunity for all. It is about ensuring that every neighbor — regardless of background, documentation, race, or economic status — can live with dignity, safety, and hope. Justice and mercy are not opposites; they belong together. Justice without mercy becomes cruelty. Mercy without justice becomes silence.
We affirm the sacred call to welcome the stranger, to uphold civil rights, and to work for a society rooted in peace, fairness, and human dignity. Our faiths consistently teach that how we treat the most marginalized among us reveals who we are as a community.
We know this is a moment marked by anxiety and uncertainty. Yet we believe this is precisely the moment to choose hope over despair, peace over violence, justice over indifference. We are convinced that a stronger Lafayette is one where policies, practices, and public life reflect respect for human dignity and the well-being of all.
As faith leaders, we remain committed to standing with those who are fearful, speaking when silence would cause harm, and working with our neighbors toward a future shaped by justice and peace.
This is our shared witness.
This is our moral conviction.
This is our hope for our community.
The Greater Lafayette Interfaith Clergy Group
The Rev. Dr. Joél Muñoz, Interim Rector, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lafayette
Rev. Duane Carlisle, Lead Pastor, First United Methodist Church, West Lafayette
Susan Brouillette, Pastor, A WORK IN PROGRESS Faith Community, Lafayette
Suzanne Clemenz, Associate Pastor, Trinity United Methodist Church, Lafayette; Pastor, Brookston United Methodist Church
The Rev. Robert C. Delvin, Priest Associate, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lafayette
Steven Crain, Pastor, Lafayette Church of the Brethren
Rev. John Randall, ADS in the West Central Plains District of the Indiana United Methodist Church.
Kory Pritchett, Associate Pastor, First United Methodist Church, West Lafayette
Rev. Marc Cohen, Pastor, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Lafayette
Ryan Traeger, Pastor, Brown St. and Congress St. United Methodist Church, Lafayette
Rev. Mia Smith, Christian Church Disciples of Christ, West Lafayette
Maia Gibson, Associate Pastor, Brown St. and Congress St. United Methodist Church, Lafayette
Rev. Jack Hartman, Retired Elder, United Methodist Church
Rev. Kristin Rice, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, campus pastor for Purdue Lutheran Ministry, Inc.
Rev. Laura Penney Bade, pastor/chaplain, Bethany Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)
Rev. Kristin Bisciglia, Pastor, West Point United Methodist Church, West Point
Rev. Jennie Barrington, Senior Minister, The Unitarian Universalist Church of Tippecanoe County, West Lafayette
Rev. Benjamin Cassiday, Senior Pastor, Trinity United Methodist Church, Lafayette
Rev. Charles Michael Johnson (Ret), Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Rev. Randy Schroeder, Pastor, Our Saviour Lutheran Church, West Lafayette
Mark Cripe, Licensed Minister, Lafayette Church of the Brethren
Rev. Luis Gierbolini, First Christian Church Lafayette ( Disciples of Christ)
Rev. Kelly Sellers, Otterbein United Methodist Church
The Rev. Dr. Hilary E. Cooke, Chapel of the Good Shepherd, West Lafayette
Rev. William F. Reinowski, Pastor, Central Presbyterian Church
Rev. Kate Crecelius, IU Health Arnett, Lafayette, and IU Health Frankfort
Rev. Jennifer Lewis, Senior Pastor, Grace United Methodist Church, Lafayette
Mack Owings, Associate Pastor, Trinity United Methodist Church, Lafayette; Wesley Foundation at Purdue
Monica McDougal, Pastor, Attica First United Methodist Church; Trinity United Methodist Church
Rabbi Adam Bellows, Temple Israel, West Lafayette
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What a shame that in light of the strong statements offered recently by Pope Leo, the Vatican Sec'y of State, three American Cardinals, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that no Catholic clergy were in attendance at this assembly of religious leaders.
Baptists are notably not in agreement.