Bishop Rob and Bishop Angel, of Cuba, spend time together.

Report from Bishop Rob - House of Bishops Spring Meeting - March 17-25, 2026 

It was a privilege for me to attend the spring gathering of the House of Bishops at Camp Allen in the Diocese of Texas. Though I always hate to leave my beloved Diocese of New Hampshire, I find the time enriching to be with my colleague bishops from the whole Episcopal Church, including from the dioceses in Latin America, Europe, and Taiwan.

By now a Word to the Church has been issued.  Its intent is to offer a message of hope, unfailing in the Good News of Jesus Christ, even in times of crisis and discouragement. The new war in Iran—extending to the whole Middle East—the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, and other parts of the world weigh heavily on all of our hearts. Such suffering is a call for us all to pray, fervently, for efforts for a just and lasting peace. I am humbled by the work of my fellow bishops and their churches as they strain to hold together community in Christian fellowship even as forces of inhumanity toward immigrants are rampant and political rages foam.

 We always come together in prayer. I have been part of a small but growing number of bishops who devote daily time on contemplation. We do this because as our world experiences such chaos, disorientation, and division, and even war, it is essential that Christians, especially Christian leaders, stay rooted in the awareness of God’s enduring, loving, and life-giving presence in the Incarnate, Crucified and Risen Jesus. Any word or action that is not rooted in prayer is, as Paul says, like a noisy gong to a clanging cymbal. I believe that the tenor of our discussions during the more business-oriented sessions of the House has been more open to deep listening and respect because of the critical mass of bishops who practice contemplative prayer, even those who consider themselves more activist on certain issues. 

We spent much of our time discussing the state of theological education, particularly for the raising up of priests in our Church. The landscape of traditional seminary training has shifted significantly in the past 15-20 years. Our denomination has gone from relying on eleven 3-year residential and very expensive seminaries to something like seven, and each of those offering paths that are more accessible to postulants for Holy Orders in local settings, such as rural New England. Much of the changes in education have been driven by economic and demographic forces. The bishops’ discussion of these trends was much overdue. It was so confirming to me to see how our establishment of the School for Ministry, for laity, deacons and priests is something that is becoming more and more accepted and even normative in the wider church. As I spoke with bishops from Ecuador, Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Massachusetts and Pittsburgh, I was heartened to learn how we are all facing similar challenges in the urgent need to raise up new ministers of the gospel. New Hampshire’s hybrid model is something looked to and admired by such different settings in the Episcopal Church.

We also heard of Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe’s diligent efforts to reform and reshape the organizational structure of the Episcopal Church in a way that supports evangelism, church planting, and redevelopment. There are significant and overdue changes being contemplated, about which we will hear in the coming months. This support for church renewal is of keen interest to us in New Hampshire as we initiate new missions in Manchester, Claremont, Portsmouth, and more in the coming years. This is so important to consider and welcome as demographic models predict a movement northward of the U.S. population in the coming decades. We have been praying for young adults and families for years. I pray that the spiritual and organization work we have done in our Diocese in recent years has helped us prepare for the growth that, God willing, is coming our way. 

We discussed proposals in the wider Anglican communion that seek to deepen and further relationships with other provinces of the Church where relationships have been strained and in disrepair for a variety of reasons. The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals are fascinating to read because they imagine a church that is seeking ways to be in communion, and defining what communion means, in an era when the long-term trend for churches, religions, indeed almost every institution in society is toward greater splintering. Though the bishops are, in my view, rightly cautious about the proposals, it is encouraging to think of the many who continue to do the hard and sacred work of true reconciliation across serious differences of practice. 

I was so grateful to hear a fulsome presentation from Bishop Ann Ritonia, Bishop Suffragan for the Armed Forces and Federal Ministries.  Our church’s work to provide pastoral care and accompaniment to chaplains in the military, federal prisons and hospitals is truly essential, especially when so many of these chaplains encounter tremendous moral, spiritual, and physical trauma.  I am grateful for Bishop Ann’s witness to both the gospel of Jesus Christ AND the U.S Constitution’s protection against the incursion of governmental establishment of religion of any kind.  

Finally, the return home through a Houston airport stressed with dramatically fewer TSA agents and many more ICE agents felt like being in a country that has changed. As I walked through the labyrinth paths to the security check points, along with thousands of others, I thought of the many pilgrims throughout millennia who have walked the Way of the Cross in Jerusalem, recalling the path the Jesus took from his entry into that City, to his actions in the Temple, to his Trial, his Crucifixion, his burial and his Rising.

I hope that wherever your journey and observances this coming Holy Week takes you, you may know how Jesus Christ walks alongside you, sharing your hopes, your joys, and the depths of your sorrows. 

He will raise us all in peace and glory.

Yours in the Risen Christ,

+Rob

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A Prayer for Peace in Ukraine

O God of all justice, peace, and mercy, on this Ash Wednesday, we find the face of all humanity smeared with the ashes of sin and death as a result of this immoral and contemptuous invasion in Ukraine.  May God protect all who are at risk of harm and death.  May God have mercy on the perpetrators of this cruelty that has resulted in the untold suffering and killing of scores of God’s children.

Today we acknowledge the frailty of all humankind and its tendency for violence and brutality. We see a tyrant wage an egomaniacal war, inflicting horrendous suffering and death upon people, many of whom are related to each other as members of the same family and certainly az members of the human family. We pray, O Lord, that you turn the hearts of Vladimir Putin and his advisors, away from the ways of oppression, away from indifference to human suffering, and away from contempt of the Commandment to Love God and our neighbor.

Almighty God, be with us today as we stand together and keep vigil with our Ukrainian siblings in the faith. Comfort and strengthen them in their anguish. Keep them from succumbing to hatred and despair. May they be confident of our support for them in this struggle. And finally, guide us all into the ways of justice and truth that peace may be re-established on this earth. 

This I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose loving promise for all humankind is stronger than death.    AMEN.

Offered by the Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld
At the Rally for Peace in Ukraine in Concord, NH
March 2, 2022

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2021 Advent Letter from Bishop Rob

Dear Friends in Christ,

We have now entered a season of waiting for small things, events that the world doesn’t notice or easily dismisses. An adolescent girl is paid a visit by a mysterious presence. The same woman visits an aging cousin who is also expecting, which causes her child to move inside her. Grown men have dreams and visions that lead them to alter their plans. A child is born in a barn. In the present day we sit in front of tiny replicas of a small family, surrounded by farm animals and shepherds…

Dear Friends in Christ,

 We have now entered a season of waiting for small things, events that the world doesn’t notice or easily dismisses. An adolescent girl is paid a visit by a mysterious presence. The same woman visits an aging cousin who is also expecting, which causes her child to move inside her. Grown men have dreams and visions that lead them to alter their plans. A child is born in a barn. In the present day we sit in front of tiny replicas of a small family, surrounded by farm animals and shepherds. These figures, sitting silent on end-tables or mantles, are displayed not doing anything but coming alongside and watching, beholding a kind of wonder in the midst of longing, hope, and awe. All these are small things on the surface, not scenes that would matter much. They would not rate the nightly news, a front page, or a newsfeed. But the world is saved in precisely these seemingly insignificant moments.

 Here in New Hampshire, we occupy a tiny corner of God’s realm. We are a small diocese of mostly very modest congregations. Most years, I travel to St. Timothy’s Chapel in Lost Nation before Christmas, a modest star in our diocesan constellation most Granite State Episcopalians are not familiar with. There, warmth radiates from a potbelly stove in the narrow middle aisle. Kerosene lamps fixed to tin shields reflect just enough light from the seasoned pine walls. A sole harpist accompanies the Lessons and Carols. It’s not King’s College, Cambridge, but rather a tiny cathedral. It’s almost as though the chapel is on the layout of the Lionel train set my father would set up around my childhood’s Christmas tree. Miniature. Yet God chooses the humble and the miniature for us to usher the great things of God’s ministry.

 The 219th Diocesan Convention
At our recent Diocesan Convention, we heard a homily from the Rev. Katie Nakamura Rengers, who oversees New Episcopal Communities in Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s office. She reported to us how we — in small, granitic New Hampshire — are developing a reputation for spreading the Good News among those who have not experienced it. We have worked hard to support our established smaller communities with able lay and ordained leadership, and we are a sign in distressed communities of how God chooses to accompany those whom the powers of this world leave behind or neglect. Our Convention explored how our Canons and Constitution might make more room for smaller assemblies of prayer, learning, and service to be established.  For now, we call them “missional communities” and they include the Church of the Woods in Canterbury, the Episcopal Mission in Franklin, Epiphany in Newport, Christ the Way at St. Andrew’s in Manchester, and the Episcopal Digital Mission.

The stable in Bethlehem shows us that God chooses to save the world in the humblest of moments. Even our most prosperous churches cherish a closeness among their numbers — they seem to know that in order to be big, they must also practice the presence of God in smallness. I am so grateful to the leaders of our larger congregations who know that in order to nourish congregational vitality, they must attend to the smaller venues where God’s love is made manifest including small groups and foyers, Bible studies, prayer groups, Zoom meetings, and time spent over tables where faith is shared and nothing less than the hospitality of the Holy Trinity is made real. 

Another highlight of Diocesan Convention was the video report by our Reconciliation Commission on conversations urged by the 2020 Convention around the ongoing and lingering effects of racism in our society. As has been widely reported, new state legislation deters, if not outright forbids, explicit discussions in our public schools of entrenched racist attitudes, white supremacy, and other modes of intentional and unintentional oppression of God’s children. We can take heart that so many members of our churches have participated in discussions in such programs as Sacred Ground or Be the Bridge. Why is this a matter of Christian faith? Our Risen Lord appeared through locked doors bearing the open wounds inflicted by the world’s hatred. In doing so, and by breathing a spirit of peace and forgiveness upon his fearful disciples — and by extension you and me — he empowers us to own the trauma of the past in order to be healed. I believe God calls us to these difficult yet saving conversations. It’s how we can together know God’s grace for the life of this broken, sin-sick world.

A further example of the small things making a great difference occurred during one of our Convention deliberations: considering changing our Canons to consolidate positions to streamline how the church conducts its business between our Conventions. The deliberation was so thoughtful and respectful, the points pro and con were all so reasonable and caringly stated, even delegates from the same congregation kindly disagreed! We acknowledged that there are some ways to improve our channels of communication and to share our governance. In a small but powerful way, we modeled how people can work through difference and how our bonds in Christ are strengthened. Thanks be to God, and to the delegates of our Convention!

Also at Convention I reported on an another development of the past year. This past summer the Bishop of Vermont, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Shannon MacVean-Brown announced a plan for their diocese to address head-on a dire financial reality. Both Bishop Thomas Brown of Maine and I have pledged our support and eagerness to collaborate in mission and organization. Such diocesan partnerships are already emerging in other parts of the Episcopal Church. There is tremendous opportunity for us to share services with Vermont and Maine. Doing so would strengthen our faith formation and ministry education opportunities, our advocacy for justice, peace and creation care, our communications, our financial services, and facilitate our Safe Church training. The bishops of Vermont and Maine and I now meet every two weeks and are eager to expanding the conversation to include leaders across Northern New England in the coming year. Let me be clear, we are not talking mergers or acquisitions here, each diocese has unique gifts and personalities. It is already exhilarating to see where small reaches across our borders can lead to a furthering of our purpose to live and serve with the love that is in Jesus.

From Deep Roots New Life

We have made some wise and rewarding investments in the past five years. We have made funds available for new missions (mentioned previously), established a School for Ministry that is now in its second year and broadening to include support for lay preaching and students from our neighboring dioceses, enhanced the funding to support newly ordained as curates and missioners so that we are assured of spirit-filled and gifted and competent leaders for the future, and we have made coaching available for clergy and lay leaders as they seek to grow in their capacity to lead in a time of tremendous change. Now is the time to make funding for these and other initiatives more stable and robust for the future.

We have begun to prepare for a new capital campaign: From Deep Roots New Life. The first capital campaign in over 30 years, the funds generated by From Deep Roots New Life will not go to brick-and-mortar endeavors we usually associate with such campaigns. Instead we will enhance the human and spiritual capital that is vital to our flourishing as followers of Jesus Christ. Funds will support the raising up of new leaders, both lay and ordained. It will support new small churches that will change lives and bring Good News to communities thought neglected. It will support more established congregations as they seek to undertake new ventures and experiments in mission.

I heartily invite you to accept the forthcoming invitations to participate in local gatherings to discuss and participate in this exciting project. I deeply believe that we are being guided by the Holy Spirit into this work for the life of the world. And God will work in us, with all our gifts, however large or small. That’s what God does.

Restructuring the Diocesan Staff

This year the diocesan staff team has seen a lot of change. In the last few months, we have said goodbye to my Executive Assistant Lynn Eaton, Office and Communications Coordinator AshleyJane Boots, and Communications Director Dave Deziel. At this time, I give special thanks for the ministry of the Rev. Canon Gail Avery, Canon for Transition and Community Engagement, who retires from diocesan work at the end of December. I am so grateful for all these colleagues with whom I have ministered during my tenure as Bishop.

I am thankful for the following diocesan staff members who have accepted my invitation to minister with me in new or expanded roles. Tina Pickering will serve as Canon to the Ordinary and will work full-time on ministry transitions, accompanying clergy and congregations from saying goodbye to each other, through discernment, to launching new ministry together, including new Episcopal communities. Tina will also serve as “Chief of Staff” at the diocesan office, supporting the employment and development of the diocesan staff. Benge Ambrogi will continue to serve as Chief Financial Officer while reducing his schedule from full time to 32 hours, as Canon Tina picks up the staff support role. Benge will continue to oversee finances, real estate, and mission resources, Trustee investments, and matters of governance and management. Gloria Gallant will continue as Director of Finance, administering our financial records, accounts, payroll and benefits, and offering her support and expertise to church leaders. Gloria plans to retire in 2022 and looks forward to onboarding a new staff accountant.

 The Rev. Louise Howlett will expand her role to serve as Dean of Clergy, working in a halftime position to coordinate clergy formation and coaching, offer spiritual and pastoral support to clergy, lead “Fresh Start,” and facilitate communication between clergy, the Bishop and diocesan staff. The Rev. Kelly Sundberg Seaman will expand her role to serve as Dean of Formation, working full time to equip and encourage all the baptized with discernment and formation resources in partnership with the Commission on Ministry. She will continue to serve as Dean of the School for Ministry, and will lead the Safe Church program for the diocese.

The Rev. Alanna Van Antwerpen will serve as Officer for Community Engagement, coordinating the holy work of our commissions on reconciliation, earth care and educational equity. One new feature to this work will be to explore collaborations with our neighboring dioceses. Alanna will also continue to serve as Digital Missioner, offering digital worship, faith formation, and online community for the spiritually curious.  The Rev. Kate Harmon Siberine will continue to serve as Missioner to Franklin as she plants a church community in the vibrant “Three Rivers” city.

Katie Clark will join diocesan staff as Director of Communications. Katie currently serves as Director of Communications in the diocese of Maine and will now serve both states. She will evaluate the communications resources of the diocese and direct our communications strategies (website, social media, communications management, media relations), and support the communications needs of our churches. Lisa Laughy has joined the staff as interim archivist. Lisa brings an extensive background in archives and digital content and will be making recommendations for our collection. 

Shelli Gay will continue the work she began in April as the Bishop’s Executive Assistant. Shelli will also focus on coordinating the diocesan capital campaign and next year’s convention with Bishop Curry. Kathy Traynor, who joined our staff in August, will continue to serve as our Communications and Program Administrator, coordinating building and office systems, managing our database, and assisting with events and communications. 

I began by speaking of the importance of paying attention to small things and find myself concluding with a heart bursting in awe for the powerful ways God multiplies and amplifies blessings among us. I pray that you have a like experience in this season of light and peace.

Gratefully Yours in Christ,

+Rob

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A Reflection on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11

September 11, 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of a day that cannot be forgotten in American history. That horrible day has become unlike any other day in our shared history. The neat lines that demarcate days on the calendar dissolve, and the meaning of 9/11 now spill into an era that I believe we are still wrestling to understand fully.

September 11, 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of a day that cannot be forgotten in American history. 

That horrible day has become unlike any other day in our shared history. The neat lines that demarcate days on the calendar dissolve, and the meaning of 9/11 now spill into an era that I believe we are still wrestling to understand fully. It was a day of senseless violence committed against citizens in this nation who were simply going about their business and lives, working, running errands, visiting loved ones, growing families, and enjoying the freedom that comes from believing they were safe.

It was also a day of countless acts of courage, compassion, and self-less giving for the sake of others. Hundreds of women and men, first responders, police officers, paramedics, and fire-fighters, threw themselves into harm’s way to save lives — only to have their own lives snuffed out by collapsing towers, falling debris, and then later the inhalation of air filled with toxins.  

For a brief period afterward, we experienced a kind of solidarity that we have not since known. We had the empathy and support from peoples around the globe. It seemed that they felt that the deadly assaults were as assaults on the hopes of all humanity. But clearly that center of compassionate solidarity did not hold for long.

It’s hard not to notice how, since 9/11, our outward concern for our neighbors seems to have eroded. Our respect for institutions that sought to guide us, as flawed as they are, has collapsed in many places. We are less kind, more toxic, more callous toward people whose views or backgrounds differ from us. I wonder if the root of this unkindness is fear, fear that we are vulnerable to other acts of violence, fear of defenselessness, fear of weakness, fear of how being in an authentic relationship with those unlike us might change us.

At the heart of our Christian faith is the cross, the place where God chose to be weak in order to unmask the futility of the violent. On the Cross, Jesus Christ chose, quite literally, to open his sacred heart to the evil of this world so that when he rose from the dead, he would make weak all the powers and principalities of this world, those of empire, and even of religious self-righteousness who seek to condemn the children of God. God chose to be tread upon, freely deciding to set aside any privilege, power, worldly claim to use force so that human kind itself, in Jesus Christ, could instead rise out of the tomb. Once risen, Jesus then breathes peace, not revenge, on those who denied and abandoned him at his most needed hour.

For Christians it’s the Cross of Jesus that is an anchor of hope for turbulent times. The 13th century Franciscan theologian Bonaventure, writing in a time racked by political unrest and religious violence, said that the Cross is the medicine of the world. By that he meant to invite us to look not to the counterfeit and corrosive power of human violence, revenge, and hatred for our purpose and identity in this life, but to the life-giving presence of God, gloriously shown by Christ’s self-offering on the cross, for our strength, hope and inspiration in our dealings with one another — even as we seek justice for the victims of cruelty and brutality.

On this 20th anniversary of that horrible day, a day that has tragically become an era, I believe it is in the humility of Jesus that we will ever have hope of freeing this world from the fears that result in cruelty. With God’s help and God’s graces may we seek to bring healing to this beautiful and hurting world.

Faithfully yours,
The Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld

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Letter to NH House Education Committee against HB20

My name is Robert Hirschfeld. I am Bishop of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire.

In my role as Bishop, I serve as President, ex officio, of the Boards of both the White Mountain

School and the Holderness School. Each of these are pr ivate schools with a long relationship

with the Episcopal Church. Each school was founded by one of my predecessors to provide

quality education to children of “more modest means” than those who were attending other

independent schools in the Granite State such as Phillips Exeter Academy and St. Paul’s School.

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