A Special Message from Bishop Chris
January 26, 2026
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I hope this message finds you well as we begin to dig out from the weekend’s snowstorm. I write to you now with a pastor’s heart, aware that many of us are carrying growing concern about what is unfolding in Minnesota and the current affairs in our beloved nation. This is a special word, offered not to inflame or alarm, but to invite prayerful reflection. Twin responses, anxiety and outrage, have become all too common in our public life, neither of which leads us closer to the peace of Christ. I ask that you read what follows slowly and attentively, resisting these twin temptations.
In recent weeks, events unfolding in Minnesota have revealed painful realities that resonate far beyond that state. Fatal encounters involving federal immigration enforcement, along with the arrest of clergy who were praying publicly in protest, have stirred grief, anger, and deep concern across the country. These events expose a broader cultural fracture in our nation: the erosion of trust between communities and authorities, the hardening of hearts in public discourse, and the temptation to meet fear with force rather than compassion. Though many of these events have taken place far from our diocese, they are not far from us. They belong to the same unraveling that touches every community in our common life.
As your bishop, I write not as a political commentator but as a pastor charged with the cure of souls. There are moments when silence becomes a form of acquiescence, and moments when the Gospel requires us to speak with moral clarity. When fear governs our public life, when violence is excused or normalized, and when whole communities live under suspicion or threat, the Church is called to proclaim truth and to bear witness to God’s justice and peace.
Christians Called to Ethical and Legal Engagement
Scripture calls Christians to honor the laws of the land, insofar as they do not contradict God’s Law and the higher law of love. The Apostle Paul reminds us that governing authorities are instituted by God to promote order and the common good (Romans 13:1–7). At the same time, when human laws or enforcement practices appear unjust, Christians are called to act with both courage and conscience—advocating reform through lawful, peaceful, and constructive means in accordance with biblical teaching (Acts 5:29).
Our Anglican tradition has long taught that civil law has its foundation in God’s ordering of creation and is intended for the protection of the common good. Richard Hooker reminds us:
“Of law there can be no less acknowledged, than that her seat is the bosom of God, her voice the harmony of the world.”
At the same time, Hooker is clear about the limits of human authority:
“Laws human are of force so far forth as they are agreeable to the law of God.”
Civil law, when rightly understood, reflects God’s providential order and serves justice, peace, and social stability. Yet it is never beyond moral scrutiny. Christians are therefore called to engage ethically, seeking reform where necessary, always within the framework of lawful, peaceful action.
Peaceful protest, prayerful witness, and legal advocacy are legitimate expressions of Christian faithfulness in the public square when injustice is perceived. The prophets of old challenged unfaithful leaders not with violence but with truth and prophetic courage, and the early Church confronted oppressive practices through faithful witness and a willingness to suffer for righteousness (Amos 5:24; Acts 16:22–25).
On Violence and the Sanctity of Worship
Even as we acknowledge serious concerns many have raised regarding immigration enforcement—including allegations of excessive force and the fear such actions have generated in vulnerable communities—it is also necessary to speak gently but clearly about the means by which protest is expressed.
In Minnesota, demonstrators entered a church during a Sunday service, disrupting worship and causing distress to congregants, including children. Houses of worship have long been recognized—both in Christian teaching and in civil law—as spaces set apart for prayer, sacrament, and the formation of souls. Such actions, even when motivated by sincere concern for justice, cross an important moral and ethical boundary.
Christians should be unequivocal in affirming that respect for the sanctity of worship is not a denial of righteous protest, but a safeguard for faithful witness. Disorder cannot heal disorder. Advocacy that violates the peace of sacred space undermines the very dignity it seeks to defend. The Church must model a better way—firm in conviction, disciplined in charity, and committed to peace.
The Stranger, the Church, and the Hope of Redemption
At the heart of this moment lies a moral question the Church cannot evade: how do we treat the stranger in our midst?
Scripture is unambiguous. “You shall love the stranger as yourself” (Leviticus 19:34). Our Lord identifies himself with the vulnerable and displaced, declaring, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35). Care for immigrants, refugees, and all who live in fear is not a political preference; it is a demand of Christian discipleship.
Yet even as we labor for justice in a fractured world, we do so with humility, knowing that no political system or human effort can fully heal what sin has broken. As J.C. Ryle wisely observed, “Sin is the disease of which politics, war, and social unrest are only the symptoms.”
The ultimate answer to sin, injustice, and human failure is not found in power or protest alone, but in Christ crucified and risen. In the Cross, God confronts the violence and injustice of the world; in the Resurrection, God declares that such powers will not have the final word. Because Christ lives, we know that one day all will be made right, every tear wiped away, and every wrong brought into the light of God’s redeeming justice (1 Corinthians 15:24–26; Revelation 21:4).
This hope does not absolve us of responsibility—it strengthens it. Our prayer, our advocacy, and our commitment to nonviolence are signs pointing toward the Kingdom that is coming, even as we live faithfully amid present tensions.
A Call to Faithful Witness
In this time of cultural fracture, the Church is called to be a community where truth is spoken without contempt, where disagreement does not devolve into enmity, and where the dignity of every person is upheld without qualification. This may not always make us comfortable or admired, but it will make us faithful.
I ask you, therefore, to pray and to act:
to pray for those who grieve, those who fear, and those entrusted with authority;
to act with restraint and care where the world urges rage, and with courage where silence feels safer;
and to bear witness, in word and deed, to the reconciling love of God in Jesus Christ.
Let us commend ourselves, our nation, and our wounded common life to Almighty God.
Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit
may so move every human heart,
that barriers which divide us may crumble,
suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease;
that our divisions being healed,
we may live in justice and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
BCP 2019
Faithfully and prayerfully,
+Chris
P.S. Here is a letter I wrote last March addressing the Christian response to refugees.