Big Tent flap
PCUSA suggests holding Indiana travel
plans for event, pending immigration proposal
The Layman, April 26, 2011
Register but don’t pack.
That’s the message the Presbyterian Church (USA) is sending to potential attendees of its annual Big Tent conference, scheduled for June 30-July 2 in Indianapolis.
Citing instructions from the 219th General Assembly, the General Assembly Mission Council (GAMC), raised the prospect of moving the event to another city if an immigration bill currently working its way through the Indiana General Assembly is approved.
The bill, which has been compared to a similar immigration measure passed in Arizona last year, would have required police to check the immigration status of people during routine traffic stops or in other situations in which an officer had “reasonable suspicion” concerning the person’s status. The bill passed the Indiana Senate and is now in the hands of the House.
In its statement, the GAMC referred to a previous GA measure which prohibits PCUSA agencies “from holding national meetings at hotels in those states where travel by immigrant Presbyterians or Presbyterians of color or Hispanic ancestry might subject them to harassment due to legislation similar to [the Arizona immigration law].”
“It’s a tent, we can pick it up and move it if we have to,” said GAMC chair, Michael Kruse.
A post on the GAMC’s website urged participants to register but not make travel plans, since passage of the bill could lead the agency to move Big Tent to another city.
“We have several viable and attractive options,” stated Kerry Rice of GA Meeting Services. “If we have to change venues, we will contact all those who are registered to present them with their options,” he added.
In a letter sent to all PCUSA congregations for Lent, Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons and GAMC Executive Director Linda B. Valentine wrote: “Similar legislation has been opposed by faith leaders because of the potential for racial profiling.”
The GAMC’s online statement generated some opposition on the page’s comments section. A commenter identified as “Steve” posted: “I fail to see what the big upheaval is about. If travelers are carrying valid passports/identification, there should be no problem. If they are undocumented, and thus illegal immigrants, they should be subjected to closer scrutiny. Why make the location of the Big Tent Event a political statement?”
Despite the controversy, Big Tent may not have hit the road. On April 15, the Indiana House Public Policy committee, voted 6-5 to strip the bill of the contentious provision after Gov. Mitch Daniels announced his opposition. Instead, the bill now focuses on punishing employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
The watered-down bill would seemingly not violate the GA’s injunction concerning potential harassment of immigrant or Latino Presbyterians.
“We are hopeful that Indiana legislators will reject this legislation quickly, so that our plans can continue,” the GAMC release stated, adding a decision concerning Big Tent’s location would be made by May 2.
Big Tent is expected to draw 1,500 to the JW Marriot Hotel and generate $1 million in direct visitor spending, according to the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association.
In its original wording, the Indiana bill would have been similar to a bill passed in 2010 by the Arizona legislature, which authorized police checks on suspected illegals.
The PCUSA urged a federal override of the measure in a 2010 letter to Congress. Parsons, Valentine and GA Moderator Clerk Bruce Reyes-Chow wrote: “Comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level is essential to override and counteract the damage done in Arizona by this new law.
The letter urged “reform that creates a process for undocumented immigrants in the U.S. to earn their legal status; reduces waiting periods and upholds family unity; protects workers from exploitation; and provides efficient channels of entry for new migrant workers.”
On March 11, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to lift a lower court’s stay which blocked the police-check provision of the Arizona law from going into effect.
Big Tent is being billed as an event in which “thousands of Presbyterians will gather from across the country to celebrate the mission and ministry of the [PCUSA].”
Nine conferences are scheduled to be held on topics such as evangelism, peacemaking, world missions, church growth and a racial ethnic and immigrants convocation.
For more information, call Rice at (800) 728-7228 or log on to gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/big-tent for further Big Tent updates.