Past PHS LIVE: Sanctuary and Accompaniment | Presbyterian Historical Society

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Past PHS LIVE: Sanctuary and Accompaniment

August 19, 2022
PHS LIVE participants clockwise, starting at top left: David Staniunas, Mary Ann Lundy, Reverend John Fife, Amanda Craft, and Patty Barcelo.

In the Sanctuary movement of the 1980s, American churches challenged the authority of the federal government by sheltering Central Americans who fled civil war and paramilitary death squads.

On August 18, PHS staff welcomed a number of individuals into a discussion about the Sanctuary movement. Speakers included Presbyterian Sanctuary workers Rev. John Fife and Mary Ann Lundy; Patty Barcelo, who fled Guatemala with her family as a child in the 1980s; and Amanda Craft, Manager of Immigration Advocacy at the Office of the General Assembly.

The group spoke about the power of the movement and the stumbling blocks it faced.

Click the video below to watch the session.

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