Spiritual Care on the Border: Chaplaincy to Migrants and Asylum-Seekers

Join Rev. Cristina Rathbone as she discusses her work on the US-Mexico border, serving migrants and asylum-seekers as they enter the United States.

In a 2019 article in Episcopal News Service, Rathbone said “By the three ports of entry, there are three tent communities, and the people there – more than two-thirds of them have families – have self-organized… They have created unofficial community-based lists; the people at the top of those lists go up to the ports of entry and seek permission to ask for asylum from the border patrol agents every two hours, 24 hours a day, and almost always are turned away with the same refrain, ‘There is no room.’”

These are the communities Rathbone has served, and she will share her experience and expertise in caring for those in extremely difficult circumstances. All are welcome to this webinar, and those working in community settings or institutions that serve migrants and migrant communities will find it of particular interest.

Rev. Cristina Rathbone is an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Massachusetts. She served for ten years as the Canon Missioner for Boston’s Cathedral Church of St. Paul, working primarily with homeless and marginally housed women and men in that city. Together with the homeless community, she birthed a new faith community, MANNA (Many Angels Needed Now and Always) which is now a thriving and multi-faceted ministry of the Cathedral.

The daughter of Cuban refugees on her mother’s side, Cristina spent the past 18 months developing the Bridge Chaplaincy Program for the Diocese of the Rio Grande, helping them find plausible, pastoral and incarnate ways to serve migrants and asylum seekers along the international border between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso.

She is currently working with Episcopal Migration Ministries to launch Neighbor to Neighbor, a national network designed to connect Episcopal congregations with newly arrived asylum seekers in their own, local contexts.