In the news
UBC making headlines!
pastor donley speaks out against ice
Pastor Doug Donley has been vocal about his and UBC's opposition to the ICE occupation of Minneapolis. He was interviewed by the Minnesota Daily, along with other community members, to talk about the difference between a local perspective and the federal narrative on the situation. "What we’ve shown is a city that will not back down,” Donley said. “A people who will not forsake our neighbors. That, to me, is the core of Christianity: love God and love your neighbor.”
UBC Pastor Doug Donley was the speaker and musician at the Interfaith Coalition on Immigration (ICOM) prayer vigil 9/9/25 from 7:30-8:30am at ICE Headquarters at Fort Snelling. People of any/all/no faith are invited to join in an hour of prayer and song to show solidarity with detainees and to oppose inhumane detention practices. After each vigil, attendees can choose to observe immigration court proceedings — a powerful opportunity to witness how the deportation system works. These vigils are held every second Tuesday and available on Zoom if you can’t attend in person!
"Donley said he learned early in his pastoral career to attend to those stigmatized or on the margins. Starting in a Baptist church in Hartford, Conn., and then moving to a church in San Francisco, Donley said he witnessed many friends and classmates suffering during the AIDS and HIV crises and the stigmas that followed.
“I found myself dealing with a lot of that gender dysphoria and a lot of people that were really feeling persecuted by not only their gender identity and their sexual orientation, but also by their fear and possibly diagnosis with HIV,” Donley said."
Check out this great story about UBC by University of Minnesota Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication student Alexandra DeYoe!
"As Christians in the U.S., our role in relationship to the violence in Palestine/Israel is often obscured. For centuries, our faith has been used as a tool of empire's greed and Christian supremacy has created the conditions that have led to this present-day violence. There is much to repent for:
Christians are responsible for centuries of antisemitic violence, like the Christian-perpetrated Holocaust, which has led to a systemic lack of safety for Jewish people.
Christians are responsible for perpetrating centuries of Islamophobic wars and violence against Muslim and Arab countries, which have led to systemic lack of safety for Muslim and Arab peoples.
We have not responded to the calls of our Palestinian Christian relatives who for too long have been pleading in vain with Christians around the world to take action in solidarity with their plight.
"We have allowed Christian Zionists to be the most influential Christian voice on Palestine/Israel. Christian Zionism is an antisemitic and Islamophobic ideology; Christian Zionists believe that when Jesus returns, all non-Christian people will be destroyed, including the Jewish nationalists who helped hasten the Second Coming.
We have allowed our Muslim and Jewish siblings to bear the greatest risks in the struggle for Palestinian rights and a future of safety for all people in the region, though we hold by far the greatest share of the responsibility."
We proudly stand with all the victims of warfare and call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
A Prayer for Israel & Palestine
by Doug Donley
God, point us toward the path of peace. The path is strewn with the shells of homes, the stench of bloodied corpses, the smoke of a thousand dreams. We pause on this path, and tend the wounds of those torn apart in body, mind and spirit. Help us to not demonize an entire race or religion because of the violent actions of the most extreme zealots. And it is our job to forge a path toward peace, while caring for those who have been hurt.