Faith communities unite at Idaho Statehouse to show support for refugees

About 100 people of different faiths and backgrounds attended a vigil at the Idaho Capitol steps Sunday evening to show support to refugees.

To cope with rain, attendees, who gathered at 4:30 p.m., wore jackets and carried umbrellas. But many smiled as they sang “This Land is Your Land” and held up glow sticks, bike lights or candles.

Sara LaWall, minister of the Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship who helped organize the event, said she was impressed at the turn-out considering the cold and rainy weather.

“I think it’s an indication of the support this community has for refugees,” she said.

But, though the vigil was low-key, with only a couple of speakers sharing prayers and thoughts about the current international crisis, there was a political angle too, LaWall said.

She said she wanted to send a message to state lawmakers that faith communities support bringing in refugees.

“As a faith community, we believe our faith calls us to value love over fear,” she said. “All of our faith teachings have strong support of refugees.”

This story was originally published December 13, 2015 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Faith communities unite at Idaho Statehouse to show support for refugees."