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Episcopal Church Shuts Down Ministry

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The Episcopal Church’s decision to terminate its four-decade-long participation in the U.S. refugee resettlement program is not just a bureaucratic move—it’s a moral declaration drenched in political posturing, hypocrisy, and selective outrage. At the center of this controversy is the Trump administration’s designation of white South African farmers—Afrikaners—as legitimate refugees, triggering the church to pack up its vestments and storm out of a system it has helped shape for nearly 40 years.


Recall that Bishop Marian Edgar Budde had no hesitation standing at the National Cathedral earlier this year to plead for mercy—on behalf of undocumented immigrants, LGBTQ+ youth, and every marginalized group that aligns neatly with progressive ideology. Her prayer, broadcast to the nation, was billed as a moment of unity. Instead, it became a thinly veiled sermon of political grievance, aimed at one man: Donald Trump.


Now, the tables have turned. White Afrikaner families, whose homes are being confiscated, whose family members are being murdered, and whose future is increasingly grim under South Africa’s racially charged land reform policies, are being welcomed by the Trump administration as refugees—people in need of protection and new beginnings. Yet the Episcopal Church, ever eager to claim the mantle of compassion, has declared this a moral line they simply cannot cross.


Apparently, “strangers” are only worthy of compassion if they check the right racial, political, or ideological boxes.

Presiding Bishop Sean W. Rowe couldn’t have been clearer: the church refuses to resettle white refugees, even if they meet the legal and moral standards for refugee status. Why? Because these refugees are Afrikaners, and because the church has “historic ties” to post-apartheid South Africa. Translation: political loyalty trumps humanitarian need.


Rowe’s reasoning, laced with moral grandstanding, reveals just how deeply embedded identity politics have become in the modern Episcopal Church. He laments preferential treatment for Afrikaners, claiming they haven’t suffered in camps long enough or don’t face the right kind of persecution. But the truth is even starker: they’re the wrong race, fleeing the wrong country, and being rescued by the wrong president.

That’s not compassion. That’s ideological gatekeeping in clerical robes.

Rowe tries to make the case that the Afrikaner refugee prioritization is somehow unfair to others—namely Afghan or Iraqi nationals who worked alongside U.S. forces and now face reprisals at home. But even that moral argument collapses under scrutiny.


Let’s not forget that Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, an Afghan national who arrived under a special visa after working for the CIA, was arrested for plotting an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack on Election Day. Vetting failures under the previous administration’s refugee policies were routine. Perhaps now that the process has become stricter—and clearly focused on people actually fleeing targeted persecution—it’s no longer compatible with the Episcopal Church’s standards.


That speaks volumes.

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