Rev. Hierald Osorto is the senior pastor at St. Paul’s – San Pablo Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. In recent weeks, the Minneapolis-St. Paul area has seen a massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence as part of the Trump administration’s immigration clampdown. Thousands of agents are on the streets detaining people. St. Paul’s – San Pablo, located in the diverse Phillips neighbourhood, has been providing support to residents who are staying home out of fear.

Osorto spoke with Emma Prestwich about how he and his faith community are supporting their neighbours during this time of heightened anxiety.

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Emma Prestwich: What has it been like to serve as a minister in this time?

Hierald Osorto: There’s a part of me that wants to say it feels just like any other day and I say that because I think I really want to push against the church’s response as being a response that is only of this moment, versus a response that has always been our responsibility as a community of faith to act when there is need.

However, under the conditions that we are in here in the Twin Cities, that need has just exponentially grown within a matter of weeks, moreso because of the conditions that have prevented people from being able to go to their jobs, from kids being able to go to school, and people being able to get food.

The church is in what is described as the heart of one of the most diverse immigrant communities here in Minneapolis. There are many, many languages spoken. I’ve heard numbers as high as 60. We’ve been in this community for 139 years, and we were founded by Swedish immigrants that arrived in 1887. And so that through-line of our immigrant story speaks strongly to this community’s presence and its responsibility to care for neighbours, regardless of whether or not they worship on Sunday morning.

And so that has looked like making sure that the local neighbours, those who organized........

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