{"id":90895,"date":"2025-12-17T03:20:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T03:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/90895\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T03:20:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T03:20:19","slug":"dallas-church-sparks-debate-with-caged-immigrant-nativity-scene-display","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/90895\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas church sparks debate with caged immigrant nativity scene display"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n  <\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">A church in Texas is sparking debate after erecting a nativity scene that depicts Mary, Joseph and Jesus as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/immigration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">modern-day immigrants<\/a> locked in a metal cage wrapped in barbed wire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in Dallas set up the display on its front steps, which are painted in rainbow colors.<\/p>\n<p>The display features silhouettes of the Holy Family standing behind a chain-link fence, with signs reading &#8220;Holy is the refugee&#8221; and &#8220;Holy are the profiled and patrolled.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Inside the church, a second installation features empty chairs, protest-style signs and a manger beneath a wooden board painted with &#8220;ICE WAS HERE.&#8221; Additional signs inside ask, &#8220;Where is Mary?,&#8221; &#8220;Where is Joseph?&#8221; and &#8220;Where is Jesus?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/oak-lawn-united-methodist-church-nativity-scene-1.jpg\" alt=\"Holy Family nativity figures displayed inside fenced enclosure in Texas\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>A Dallas church set up an outdoor nativity depicting the Holy Family behind a chain-link fence to highlight migrant and refugee issues. (Fox 4 Dallas)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/dhs-official-says-churchs-nativity-scene-depicts-what-never-happens-immigration-enforcement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">DHS OFFICIAL SAYS CHURCH&#8217;S NATIVITY SCENE DEPICTS WHAT &#8216;NEVER HAPPENS&#8217; IN IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The church announced the launch of the display on Dec. 8, insisting it was sending a provocative and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/faith-values\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">moral message<\/a> to the community.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Our nativity isn\u2019t a photo-op. It\u2019s a prayer in the shape of a family,&#8221; the church wrote on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OLUMC\/posts\/pfbid022tTQyH5sbCeovAiYW4fErcSJMRUavNqPNT18savnoSqHkFXxkEqcj7SJ1h6mVtRel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This year, we set the Holy Family inside the kind of space too many folks sleep in right now \u2014 tarps, fencing, harsh wire. Not for shock, but for truth.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The church framed the scene as an ethical message about migrants and the unhoused. Church leaders said the display is meant to push congregants to reflect on who is being left out this Christmas season.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If love came into the world through a family with no room to stay, then every unhoused neighbor matters. Every migrant matters. Every family seeking safety matters,&#8221; the post reads.<\/p>\n<p>Passers-by were receptive to the depiction and its messaging.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/charlotte-promises-resist-pending-federal-immigration-raids-campaign-terror\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">CHARLOTTE PROMISES TO RESIST PENDING FEDERAL IMMIGRATION RAIDS: &#8216;CAMPAIGN OF TERROR&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/oak-lawn-united-methodist-church-nativity-scene.jpg\" alt=\"Outdoor nativity behind a chain-link fence on rainbow-painted church steps.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in Dallas installed this nativity depicting the Holy Family behind a fence on its rainbow-painted steps as part of a migrant-themed holiday display. (Fox 4 Dallas)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think it is a really good commentary on the political issues at hand right now at the border and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/immigration\/immigrant-rights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">immigrants being arrested<\/a> without due process,&#8221; said Sean Garman, who lives nearby.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think it is a modern interpretation of what the gospel says. Jesus was an immigrant and a migrant,&#8221; added Sarah Perkins, who also lives in the area.<\/p>\n<p>Associate Pastor Isabel Marquez said the message behind the nativity was intentional.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This topic is sending a message to everyone,&#8221; Marquez told Fox 4 Dallas. &#8220;It is a way to say what is a reality happening here for many people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/oak-lawn-united-methodist-church-.jpg\" alt=\"Outdoor nativity with Mary, Joseph, and Jesus figures inside a fenced enclosure.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>A Dallas church created this immigration-themed nativity scene with signs asking &#8220;Where is Mary?&#8221; and &#8220;Where is Joseph?&#8221; as part of its holiday display. (Fox 4 Dallas)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are called to be able to walk the journey together as human beings. It\u2019s not saying do more or do less, just treat others as you want to be treated,&#8221; Marquez said.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not the first time the church has weighed in on political and social issues.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In October, the church painted its steps in the rainbow colors in an act of solidarity with the LGBTQ community after Texas Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/greg-abbott\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Greg Abbott<\/a> ordered all rainbow-decorated crosswalks\u00a0across the state to be removed within 30 days or risk losing essential funding from the state\u2019s transportation department, per the <a href=\"https:\/\/glaad.org\/loud-and-proud-in-the-lone-star-state-dallas-church-cities-across-texas-respond-to-crosswalk-controversy-with-pride\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Gay &amp; Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation<\/a>\u00a0(GLAAD), a left-wing media monitoring organization<\/p>\n<p>In 2022, the church defied a bishop and appointed two openly gay pastors, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox4news.com\/news\/oak-lawn-umc-defies-bishop-appoints-2-lgbtq-ministers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Fox 4 Dallas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.<\/p>\n<p>You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A church in Texas is sparking debate after erecting a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[7757,102,104,103,1881,392,1724,42813,27,42814],"class_list":{"0":"post-90895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-christianity","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-headlines","11":"tag-dallas-news","12":"tag-faith","13":"tag-greg-abbott","14":"tag-immigration","15":"tag-religion-us","16":"tag-texas","17":"tag-woke"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}