A bishop from New Hampshire is advising his clergy to prepare for a “new era of martyrdom” after a federal immigration agent shot and killed a woman. He has urged them to ensure their wills and personal affairs are in order.

Earlier this month, Bishop Rob Hirschfeld of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire shared his thoughts during a vigil commemorating Renee Good. Good was tragically shot on January 7 while seated in her car by an officer from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“I have informed the clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire that we might be stepping into that same kind of witness,” Hirschfeld stated. “I’ve asked them to make sure their affairs are in order and their wills are prepared. It might be that the time has come for us to stand, not just with our words, but with our bodies, between the powers of this world and those who are most vulnerable.”

At a vigil held on Friday, January 9, 2026, in St. Paul, Minnesota, candles illuminated a poem written by Renee Good. The vigil took place outside the Minnesota State Capitol. (Photo by Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

The Trump administration claimed that Good was attempting to ram an ICE agent as she interfered with immigration enforcement activities in Minneapolis. However, local officials and numerous Democrats have challenged this account, pointing to video evidence of the 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.”

People gather at an anti-immigration enforcement rally and vigil for Renee Good, a Minneapolis woman who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minnesota, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Philadelphia.  (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa)

“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.”