GORHAM — Standing in front of illuminated Christmas trees and crimson poinsettias at First Parish Congregational Church of Gorham, Lead Minister Christine Dyke read a letter to her congregation.

“By no means are we perfect humans, but we are still daughters of God, someone’s mother or sister or spouse, we are still humans,” read Dyke, as the church celebrated the fourth Sunday of Advent on Dec. 21. 

The words, written in looping cursive, were penned by a woman being detained in the Cumberland County Jail by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In the letter, the woman wrote that she has lived in the U.S. for 41 years, and it is the only home she has ever known. 

“I can only say for myself that missing my children and my husband has been the biggest obstacle for me, somedays I feel as if my body could literally explode from the pain in my heart,” she wrote.

ICE detainees held in the Cumberland County Jail through a federal contract have been sharing letters with regional churches, where they are read aloud and prayers are sent to those in custody.

Last week, one woman detained by ICE in Cumberland County Jail included with her letter a small cross she fastened out of twine.

On Sunday, First Parish Congregational Church fixed her cross to the tall white “Christ candle” that sits in the center of the Advent wreath, held up on a pillar in front of the pews. It will be lit on Christmas Eve, the final day of Advent. 

Advent hymns and a Nativity play followed the reading of the letter.

“That’s OK, for us to have our hearts broken,” Dyke said. “Yep, that is exactly what we need to be as people of faith, is to be brokenhearted right now.”

A woman recites a prayer during a service at First Parish Congregational Church of Gorham on Dec. 21 as sunlight streams through the stained-glass windows on the winter solstice. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)

SEASON OF REFLECTION

Over the past four weeks across Maine, churches have been celebrating Advent, the Christian season of reflective preparation and the joyful anticipation of Jesus’ birth. As congregations light Advent candles each week, many churches are drawing parallels between the story of the Holy Family’s flight from persecution by King Herod and modern-day immigrants seeking refuge in the U.S. and Maine, despite risks to their safety.

“In Advent, it’s a wonderful opportunity to talk about the plight of the stranger,” said Marisa Laviola, the Maine conference minister for the United Church of Christ. “A lot of pastors will talk about how Jesus was an immigrant.”

Many Christian denominations follow the lectionary, a three-year cycle of scriptures that assigns passages for every Sunday of the year. In Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic churches, as well as some Baptist and United Church of Christ congregations, this year’s Advent story is told in the Gospel of Matthew, which details the escape of Mary, Joseph and the newborn Jesus to Egypt, seeking asylum from King Herod. 

“Good preachers can make connections even when they’re more nuanced than that, but Matthew is certainly a gift in this year, of all years, for it to be that text,” said Reverend Jane Field, executive director of the Maine Council of Churches, which has 435 member congregations across the state. 

Parishioners sing as children act out a Nativity scene during a service at First Parish Congregational Church of Gorham on Dec. 21. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)

At HopeGateWay in Portland, the theme of this liturgical season is “Advent Against Empire.” The service on Dec. 14, the third Sunday of Advent, drew direct comparisons between King Herod and President Donald Trump’s treatment of immigrants.

In the last year, the Trump administration has dramatically altered the U.S. immigration system by aggressively pushing for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, restricting both legal and illegal forms of immigration, freezing humanitarian efforts and pressuring state and local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE.

In Maine, these executive actions have led to deportations, a significant decline in the arrival of refugees who will be resettled in Maine, a record number of Border Patrol arrests and immigrants living in fear amid uncertainty.

“The Gospel of Matthew understands the world we live in. It knows the suffering the fire produces. It knows about all the corrupt and violent rulers, and it offers hope and a way forward,” said HopeGateWay Lead Pastor Sara Ewing-Merrill. 

In her sermon, Ewing-Merrill spoke about how the Magi, also known as the Three Wise Men, disobeyed Herod’s orders and did not reveal the location of the infant Jesus. 

Rev. Christine Dyke lights four Advent candles during a service at First Parish Congregational Church of Gorham on Dec. 21. The candles surround the Christ candle from which hangs a cross made by a woman being held by ICE at the Cumberland County Jail. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)

“Advent is an invitation to scrub off every way empire has moved us, and to quit confusing Herod-like ambition with Jesus’ way,” Ewing-Merrill said to the congregation. “Blessed are you who know that God shows up on the margins, in the arms of a refugee woman, and not in the halls of power.” 

Other ministers are drawing more implicit connections, using the Advent season to provide space for their congregations to contemplate the challenges of the world around them.

“In times like this with so much brokenness around us, so much rancor, Advent has brought a lot this year about trusting the work of God in the world and finding that centered place to face the struggles of the world,” said the Rev. Thomas Mousin of Portland’s St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. 

“Advent is a time of hope, and we’re always looking for hope,” said the Rev. Deborah Rogers Duval, who leads High Street Congregational Church in Auburn. 

RECKONING WITH DIVISION

Episcopal Bishop of Maine Thomas Brown said that some priests with progressive congregations will directly reference current events when talking about the story of Jesus’ birth. Other ministers with congregations that encompass a wider array of political viewpoints and perspectives on the president may take an approach prescribed by the Bible.

“Preachers are given this text, and many of them don’t really have to say anything about this federal government. They simply need to read scripture, which says, ‘Welcome the alien.’ And so if you read that, in some ways, preachers can just sit down,” said Brown. 

Laviola said that while more conservative congregations focus on doing good locally, such as coordinating food drives, she has seen more progressive churches also call for action at the state and federal level. Many Maine churches and faith leaders have been politically involved in immigrants’ rights and welfare, particularly in the past year.

“It has woken people up in our pews and in our pulpits,” said Field. 

In addition to immigrant advocacy and nonprofit work, numerous faith leaders in the Portland area have held prayer vigils on Wednesday afternoons outside the Cumberland County Jail in support of detained immigrants as well as others affected by the immigration system, said Field. This is also where the letter exchange occurs, facilitated by the jail’s chaplain.

Two women comfort each other during a service at First Parish Congregational Church of Gorham on Dec. 21. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)

Cassie Moon, a congregant at HopeGateWay, participates in the weekly vigil. She said that she cannot understand how some people can say they follow Jesus’ teachings but lack sympathy for someone who is fleeing their country to make a better life for their child. 

“It’s sometimes hard to be joyful in a season where we’re supposed to be lifting up goodness and love, and then we are also witnessing hate and division and targeting people because they’re not us, because they look different, because they speak a different language. But they’re still human,” said Moon, 64, who lives in South Portland. 

JOY AMID FEAR

Churches that draw connections between the Advent season and immigration face the challenge of reconciling the joyful feelings of the season with the fear and uncertainty that immigrants are facing.

On Sunday at First Parish in Gorham, following the reading of the letter from Cumberland County Jail, the children of the congregation filed into the sanctuary dressed as angels, shepherds, wise men, Mary and Joseph. A 6-month-old baby from the congregation was placed in the manger, taking on his first acting role as baby Jesus.

“It’s a little whiplash,” said Dyke. “Even with the joy of the children, our hearts should break for all those who won’t see their children at Christmas.”

As the baby’s cries were quieted by the angels distracting him by waving tinsel, the retelling of the Nativity story commenced. Reflecting on the contrast between the letter from the detained mother who desperately missed her children and the children acting on stage, Dyke said that not everything should feel merry and bright this Advent season.

“May we remember those who are being held away from family and children, and may we work in this season of Advent and Christmas, and in all our days, for freedom and justice for all,” she said.

Callaway Jara, 4, playing one of the Wise Men, holds the Star of Bethlehem as angels attend to baby Jesus during a service at First Parish Congregational Church of Gorham on Dec. 21. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)