Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, St. Paul, is pleased to host the September ICOM Vigil for immigrant justice. Gloria Dei is a caring, healing, and welcoming community that has sponsored refugees since the 1930s and is currently hosting an asylum-seeking family from Peru. As we gather for this vigil on land that was home to indigenous peoples, we will reflect on the nature of home and the power of belonging in a place that does not belong to us.
Gloria Dei Land Acknowledgment Statement
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church of St. Paul (GDLC) recognizes that its building stands on traditional Dakota land near Bdote Mni Sota, the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, the center of creation for Dakota people and also sacred to the Ojibwe. The congregation acknowledges that this land was taken from Indigenous people by exploitation and violence. Given the deep significance of this sacred ground, as well as its painful history, the congregation recognizes its responsibility to use this land, its building and mission for the work of reconciliation and healing with Native people. The congregation repents of this injustice that continues to harm Native communities and pledges to work for justice, peace, and the well-being of all creation.