Rev. Michael Woolf, a Chicago-area pastor, has gained national prominence following his arrest during a 2025 protest against an ICE detention facility. A Baptist minister and scholar of the 1980s Sanctuary Movement, Woolf uses his platform to promote “Sanctuary ethics,” a theology that centers the protection of vulnerable immigrants and resists state-sanctioned violence.
The iconic photograph of his arrest—showing a white clergyman in a clerical collar being restrained by police—serves as a powerful visual rebuttal to Christian nationalism and nativist policies. Woolf argues that those with U.S. citizenship and privilege must risk their safety to support those targeted by mass deportation. Beyond protests, his ministry at Lake Street Church in Evanston includes providing housing for immigrants and challenging Islamophobia. By equipping other clergy with toolkits for local resistance, Woolf aims to transform viral moments into sustained, grassroots advocacy, asserting that true faith is found in solidarity with the marginalized.
In addition to caring for immigrants and resisting Islamophobia, Pastor Woolf is a prominent advocate for the empowerment of “queer voices” within the faith community and leads an LGBTQ-affirming congregation at Lake Street Church in Evanston.
