Defending dignity at the National Cathedral
“We’re constantly saying what we’re against,” says Martin Dickinson, a lay leader at the cathedral’s sanctuary ministry, “and that’s necessary. But what are we for? Migration with Dignity gives us a framework.”
Martin Dickinson is a lay leader in the Washington National Cathedral Sanctuary Ministry, where he supports migrant families in their first few shaky months in the United States. His volunteer work has taken him from borders to board rooms to living rooms, from direct service to organizing, advocacy, and policy work. Dickinson spoke with the CENTURY about the Episcopal Church’s 2024 Migration with Dignity resolution, which calls on Episcopalians to advocate that governments enforce existing laws and policies that uphold these rights: the universal right of movement, the right to be secure from sexual violence, the right of equality, rights to a basic quality of life, and civil and political rights.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the journey that you have taken into immigration work as a calling, as part of your faith?
I have been a practicing Episcopalian since 2015 and am a member of the congregation of the Washington National Cathedral. When the Trump administration hit with its anti-immigrant activities in 2017, one of the churches in our diocese, the Church of Our Saviour in Hillandale, was vandalized. They had a sign that said “Misa en Español,” and someone spray-painted it to say, “Trump nation, whites only.” Later on, that same church was surveilled by ICE. Parishioners noticed an ICE agent watching them when they came out after a service. The priest came out in his vestments, ran across the parking lot, chased the ICE agent into a 7-Eleven and asked, “What are you doing?” And the ICE agent told him, “Buying a hot dog.”
