A New Hampshire Episcopal bishop is warning his clergy to finalize their wills and get their affairs in order to prepare for a “new era of martyrdom” following the shooting death of a woman by a federal immigration agent.
Bishop Rob Hirschfeld of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire voiced his remarks earlier this month at a vigil honoring Renee Good, who was fatally shot on Jan. 7 while behind the wheel of her vehicle by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
“I have told the clergy of the Episcopal diocese of New Hampshire that we may be entering into that same witness,” Hirschfeld said. “And I’ve asked them to get their affairs in order, to make sure they have their wills written, because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies, to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable.”
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The Trump administration said Good was trying to ram an ICE agent while disrupting immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis. Local officials and many Democrats have disputed that explanation, citing video footage of the fatal shooting.
During his speech, Hirschfeld cited several historical clergy members who had risked their lives to protect others, including Jonathan Daniels, a New Hampshire seminary student who was shot and killed in 1965 by a sheriff’s deputy in Alabama while shielding a young Black civil rights activist.
Other religious leaders have called for Christians to protect the vulnerable, including Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.
“We keep resisting, advocating, bearing witness and repairing the breach,” Rowe said during a prayer earlier this week. “We keep sheltering and caring for those among us who are immigrants and refugees because they are beloved by God, and without them, we cannot fully be the church.”
In Minnesota, Rt. Rev. Craig Loya urged people not to meet “hatred with hatred.”
“We are going to make like our ancient ancestors, and turn the world upside down by mobilizing for love,” he said. “We are going to disrupt with Jesus’ hope. We are going agitate with Jesus’ love.”
Opponents of the ICE raids have characterized Good as a protester who was not trying to impede authorities as they were conducting immigration enforcement operations.
Authorities said Good had harassed them throughout that morning and blocked a road before she allegedly tried to ram an agent.
Two days after Good was killed, Rev. Michael Neuroth, director of the United Church of Christ‘s Public Policy and Advocacy, criticized ICE and the Trump administration during a gathering outside the White House.
“Citizens protesting these cruel polices are being labeled by the state as ‘terrorists’, opening the door to more violence and potential for more loss of life,” he said. “The administration’s xenophobic polices and inhumane tactics go against our values as people of faith to welcome and love our neighbors. In the UCC we will keep pushing against these policies, extending love to our neighbors, and proclaiming together that “Love Knows No Borders!”
“We’re gathered because somebody was murdered by agents of the government,” the Rev. Dana Neuhauser, a United Methodist minister who sang with the group, said in an interview with the National Catholic Reporter during a memorial for Good at the intersection where she was fatally shot. “But we’ve been showing up in a variety of ways because our neighbors are being snatched. Parents being snatched in front of the school.”
She added, “It’s all just too much, but my faith requires me to show up.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
