From Study to Service: FUMC Denton's Immigration Task Force Is Putting Faith Into Action

Last fall, something meaningful happened in Room 206. Over six Sunday mornings, members of our community gathered for Called to Journey, Called to Welcome: A Study on Immigration—wrestling together with scripture, law, and the lived realities of immigrants in our communities. They asked hard questions: What does the Bible say about welcoming the stranger? What do current immigration laws mean for people seeking a new life here? How are we, as followers of Christ, called to respond?

When the class ended in October 2025, the learning didn't stop. The doing began.

Meet the Immigration Task Force

Born directly from that six-week class, the Immigration Task Force is a subcommittee of FUMC Denton's Church & Society committee. Chair Molly Tampke says it was important to the group that their priorities came straight from the class participants themselves—the people who had done the studying, the praying, and the discerning. From that discernment came a clear and immediate calling: do something for the children.

Friendship & Activity Bags for Children

FUMC Denton Youth assembling Bolsas de la Amistad on March 2, 2026.

Imagine being a child sitting in an immigration court or outside an ICE detention facility. You've been there for hours. You are expected to be quiet, invisible. There's nothing to do. Nowhere to go. No way to understand what's happening around you.

That's the reality for hundreds of children every week. And it's the reality our task force is working to change.

The task force's largest ongoing project is assembling Bolsas de la Amistad (friendship and activity bags) for children waiting with their parents at immigration courts and at the community tent just outside ICE Headquarters in Dallas. The bags are filled with quiet, child-friendly items: soft toys, pipe cleaners for crafts, stickers, paper, colored pencils, and fidget toys—things kids can use without disturbing the tense, often frightening environments around them.

The effort grew out of a need identified by Lisa Jacobs of Christians Against Christian Nationalism, and FUMC Denton joined forces with Vecinos Unidos (Unified Neighbors), who was already doing similar work for immigration courts through Oaklawn UMC. At the start of 2025, the task force began producing bags for La Colectiva as well.

Each week, 50 bags go out. Molly delivers them personally, every Tuesday.

Tent outside of ICE Headquarters in Dallas

ICE Headquarters for this region sits off N Stemmons Fwy in Dallas. People come from all over—some with appointments, some desperate for answers. There, a community tent staffed by Spanish-speaking hosts provides a lifeline. Volunteers offer coffee, snacks, and a human presence. The activity bags give children something to do while their parents navigate one of the most stressful experiences of their lives.

Why This Matters: The Bigger Picture

Everyday, the ICE Headquarters tent hosts witness something that never gets easier. As Molly puts it: "People go in there for appointments and frequently don't come out."

Our United Methodist tradition is clear on where we stand. The Book of Discipline (¶163) calls us to:

"welcome migrants, refugees, and immigrants into their congregations and to commit themselves to providing concrete support, including help with navigating restrictive and often lengthy immigration policies, and assistance with securing food, housing, education, employment, and other kinds of support."

And the need is urgent. According to government data cited in a September 2025 Congressional report, immigrants with no criminal record are now the largest group in U.S. immigration detention—16,523 people with no criminal history, surpassing those with criminal charges.

These are not abstractions. These are our neighbors that we are called to welcome, love, and serve.

Get Involved

At FUMC Denton, a Sunday School class became a movement. The Immigration Task Force is active on multiple fronts—and there's a place for you, whatever your capacity.

Kids area outside of ICE Headquarters

The most immediate need is help making activity bags. Supplies can be donated through the task force's wishlist. And as Molly puts it, "People should feel free to come in and work on one specific project and not feel like they have to be an official committee or task force member."

Here are some of the things the committee hopes to do soon: Know Your Rights sessions for our congregation (covering how to safely observe an ICE encounter, how to help your neighbors, and how to stay safe at protests), an immigration covenant for our church, and action alerts when advocacy is needed—contacting legislators, posting on social media, responding to fast-moving policy changes. There's also the quieter, steadier work of training to become a court observer at immigration hearings—a powerful way to bear witness.

To learn more, donate supplies, or get involved, contact Molly Tampke.

We are called to journey alongside. We are called to welcome. We are called to witness. And we are called to stand in solidarity with our immigrant neighbors.

The Immigration Task Force is a subcommittee of Church & Society at First United Methodist Church of Denton.