As anti-ICE rhetoric continues to heat up after the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis, one Bishop is warning congregants to prepare their wills. Bishop Rob Hirschfeld of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire made the comment at a vigil for Good. Good was killed by an ICE agent while apparently blocking agents during a raid with her car. An agent shot Good dead after she appeared to swipe him with her car as she drove away. Her death has sparked debates about de-escalation, the authority of ICE to detain American citizens, and comparisons to George Floyd.

During the vigil, Hirschfeld compared Good’s actions to those of other clergy members who had lost their lives protecting others, such as New Hampshire seminary student Jonathan Daniels, who was killed protecting a black civil rights activist.  He called Daniels’s actions “one of the most heroic deeds.” “I have told the clergy of the Episcopal diocese of New Hampshire that we may be entering into that same witness. 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, warned Hirschfeld. He also warned of a “new era of martyrdom” and called out what he described as the “cruelty, the injustice, and the horror” brought on by ICE.

Hirschfeld elaborated on his comments in an interview with New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR). When asked what he meant by telling congregants to prepare “bodies to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable,” Hirschfeld said, “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.” He cited other examples, such as attending a No Kings Rally or a school board meeting. He called the actions against Good “unwarranted” and described her as “a law-abiding citizen who was a victim of violence.” With his comments going viral, Hirshfeld said he felt “uncomfortable” with the attention.

Hirschfeld’s comments have underlined the schism between conservative Christians and progressive Christians over ICE and immigration policy. While Reverend Jason Wells of St. Matthews Epsicopal Church in Goffstown, N.H., who is also a community organizer, supported Hirschfeld’s comments, saying “he’s giving voice to a feeling in the pit of [other faith leaders’] stomach[es] about what is going on,” others have pushed back against the lionizing of Good at the expense of ICE. “It seems that progressive activists are trying to obtain all the promises of Christianity without Christ. Self-sacrifice (sparring with the police) in the hopes of gaining eternal life (“rest in power”) to advance a kingdom in which there is no more injustice (socialist utopia),” warned Allie Beth Stuckey. “If this is you, the bad news is that you will never get what you are fighting for. The good news is, all of these things can actually be found in Jesus. And, unlike your social justice comrades, He loves you, can actually give you eternal life, and is really going to establish a kingdom with no injustice. Something to consider.”