A call to action from one New Hampshire faith leader — urging clergy to prepare for “a new era of martyrdom” amid escalating aggression from federal immigration authorities — is drawing national attention.
Bishop Robert Hirschfeld of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire was one of several faith leaders who spoke at a recent State House vigil honoring Renee Good, who was killed by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis last week.
At the vigil, Hirschfeld invoked instances throughout history when clergy members put their lives at risk to protect the vulnerable — including New Hampshire seminary student Jonathan Daniels, who was killed by a sheriff’s deputy in Alabama during the civil rights movement.
“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.”
We reached out to Hirschfeld to learn more about what role he sees for the Episcopal Church — and people of all faith backgrounds — in this political moment.
Hear his interview with NHPR's Julia Furukawa by clicking the red LISTEN button, or read a transcript of their conversation below.
Transcript
So your message reached a lot of ears in the last couple of days. What was your reasoning behind delivering this particular message at the vigil?
Well, it's interesting that the message I delivered is nothing new for me. It's a message that I've been delivering ever since I became a priest, which is almost 35 years ago. And my job as a priest, and now bishop, is to direct people to a sense of preparedness and centeredness in the spirit, in their souls, to be ready for whatever may come as they live their lives.
When it comes to that readiness. In your remarks, you asked “for us with our bodies to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable.” What does that look like in action?
It could look like any number of things. It could look like merely going to school and standing up against a bully and placing yourself between a bully and someone who's being bullied. It could mean even speaking on behalf of children at a school, at a school board, which we understand is becoming increasingly volatile throughout the country. It could mean attending a rally, whether it's a No Kings rally, or the day after the vigil on Saturday, I noticed there was a pro-life vigil up on the street here in Concord. Both populations saw themselves as witnessing hope and witnessing towards human dignity. I may not agree with everything that was said even at the vigil. I may not agree with everything that might be said on that rally on Saturday, but you place yourself with your body in front of people who may react violently and with rage, and it may mean that you stand in front of someone who's in imminent danger.
This is the diocese, the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. We speak of someone named Jonathan Daniels all the time. He was one of ours. He was a young, 20-something man preparing for the priesthood. He went to Selma, Alabama, answering the call of Martin Luther King Jr. simply to stand in solidarity, to be with people who were disenfranchised, literally who couldn't vote. He's put into jail one day in August of 1965. [He] comes out of jail along with his companions, one of whom is a young teenage Black girl named Ruby Sales. And they're confronted with a shotgun. He stands in front of the shotgun and takes the blast. He's known as a martyr in the Episcopal Church. So what I said was not new.
You mentioned several martyrs in your statement, among them Jonathan Daniels, also Oscar Romero, the Maryknoll sisters. And in that you included Renee Good. To what extent do you see these situations as being reflections of one another?
Yeah, and I could have named any number of others as well. My understanding is she's a poet, a mother, a wife, a law abiding citizen who was a victim of violence – a violence where that just seems to me, and to many others who have seen that video, completely and utterly unwarranted and unjustified. She was a member of the Christian church. I don't think it's just Christians who are martyrs, but she's simply upholding the dignity of every human being. That was what her life was about. So that's the point of contact for me with them.
Your statements have entered a political sphere. What do you see as the role of the church or religion more broadly when it comes to politics?
Yeah, and I'm not a politician. And I find this whole experience rather uncomfortable.
What do you mean when you say this experience?
The experience of the attention that my words have drawn, but so be it. What I note right now is the there is more and more of a wedding or a tie between the Christian religious faith and political military power, and what's being referred to as Christian nationalism, where Christianity is being sought to be essentially the religion of the state, and that things that are done, whether it's policing our own citizenry or being involved militarily with other nations, is increasingly being done in the name of the church. The message of Jesus, which is one of compassion and patience and humility and listening, gets corrupted. So that's my entering into the political sphere, I guess. But it's not – I don't mean to be partisan.
Why do you feel as if your remarks garnered so much attention?
After the violence of the past several months, and I'm including Charlie Kirk and I'm including Renee Good. I mean, two vastly different personalities and messages from those two people. We're also witnessing the killing of people in Tehran. We are acknowledging that there is just increased violence and sensitivity and vulnerability of people, just regular people. And I think there's a feeling like, what? How do I make meaning of this? And where is the source of my hope? And how do I be brave now?
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