A New Hampshire Episcopal bishop's stark warning to his clergy is resonating across the nation, drawing fervent praise from some and rebukes from others.
#Bishop #Rob #Hirschfeld was one of several community and faith leaders gathered in Concord, N.H., for a vigil for #Renee #Good just days after she was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis.
Hirschfeld called out the
"cruelty, the injustice and the horror … unleashed in Minneapolis,"
and warned his clergy to prepare for
⭐️ "a new era of martyrdom."
🔥"I've asked them to get their affairs in order to make sure they have their wills written,"
he said,
"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."
Hirschfeld's comments quickly went viral.
The Reverend Jason Wells,
a community organizer who regularly prays outside ICE offices, said he and many others took it as a great relief
– and a validation of sorts
– to hear the bishop speaking openly about the mounting anxiety felt by faith leaders around the nation
who've been stepping up their public prayers and protests against ICE,
and getting pelted with #pepper #rounds,
#roughed #up and #arrested.
"People feel like he's giving voice to a feeling in the pit of their stomach about what is going on,"
said Wells.
🔸"It's a relief to hear him naming a concern that I've had on my mind for a while."
The Reverend Betsy Hess of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Berlin, N.H. added her voice to the chorus of "amens"
and immediately emailed the bishop to thank him.
Hess believes clergy "need to quit just being polite Episcopalians,
and get out there and do stuff."
But exactly what she would do,
and what level of risk she's willing to take,
is something she's still figuring out.
"It used to be that …
you might go to jail,
and now you might get shot!
So it makes us need to be a lot more brave," she said.
"I hope I would be brave,
but I can't promise that I would be able to.
But definitely, it's time to move beyond
'I won't do anything that has any risk whatsoever.'"
Others, however, took issue with the bishop's words.
"My initial reaction is 'Oh boy, this isn't diffusing tension at all.
This feels like a war cry,"
said the Reverend Tom Gartin
"I didn't sign up to be a martyr," he said.
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/18/nx-s1-5678579/ice-clashes-new-hampshire-bishop-urges-clergy-prepare-wills
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