[Episcopal News Service] Episcopal bishops from Province I, which encompasses the seven New England dioceses, and the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s New England Synod released a joint statement Dec. 17 calling for peace this Advent.
The statement includes a call for prayers for the two Brown University students who were shot and killed Dec. 13 on campus while in a final exam prep session. One of the Brown University students killed, Ella Cook, was a member of the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama.
The bishops also called for prayers for the Jewish community in Australia after 15 people were shot and killed Dec. 14 during a Hanukkah celebration on a beach. They denounced antisemitism as a “continued evil.” Antisemitism – hostility or prejudice against Jewish people – has been growing worldwide, including Australia and the United States.
A prayer adapted from Bishops United Against Gun Violence, a network of more than 100 Episcopal bishops working to curtail gun violence, is included in the statement.
As of Dec. 17, 14,030 people nationwide have died by gun violence in 2025, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an American nonprofit that catalogs every gun-related death in the United States.
The bishops’ statement follows.
Our Commitment to Peace and Justice in a Broken World
Beloved of God,
In the midst of an Advent full of joyful preparation, this past weekend delivered a stark reminder that our Lord Jesus Christ was and continues to be born into a broken world full of danger and sin. As Episcopal and Lutheran bishops in New England, we ask you all to hold the people of Providence, and particularly Brown University, in your prayers as they contend with the trauma of gun violence in their community. We pray especially for the repose of the two young people who have died and all who loved them. We pray also for all who are still in the grip of fear and uncertainty.
We also commend your prayers for the people of Sydney, Australia and particularly the Jewish community there and worldwide. Yet another attack on a Jewish religious gathering points to the continued evil of anti-Semitism across the globe. Please join us in standing with our Jewish siblings, while we continue to pray for peace and an end to religious violence of all kinds.
On Sunday we prayed the wonderful collect of Gaudete Sunday, called by some “Stir It Up” Sunday. It reads: “Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever.”
The collect resonates more than ever this week. May God’s power, grace, and mercy be abundantly revealed in our world. We pray also that God will stir up our own resolve to deepen our commitment to peace and justice. May our way and the way of all the lands be Peace.
Blessings upon your last week of Advent. May this time be one of renewed prayer and reflection as we await the entrance of Light into our despairing world.
Faithfully,
The Rt. Rev. Julia E. Whitworth
Bishop Diocesan
Diocese of Massachusetts
The Rt. Rev. Laura J. Ahrens
Bishop Suffragan
The Episcopal Church in Connecticut
The Rt. Rev. Thomas J. Brown
Bishop Diocesan
Diocese of Maine
The Rt. Rev. Douglas J. Fisher
Bishop Diocesan
Diocese of Western Massachusetts
The Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld
Bishop Diocesan
Diocese of New Hampshire
The Rt. Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely
Bishop Diocesan
Bishop of Rhode Island
The Rt. Rev. Shannon MacVean-Brown
Bishop Diocesan
Bishop of Vermont
The Rt. Rev. Jeffrey W. Mello
Bishop Diocesan
The Episcopal Church in Connecticut
The Rev. Nathan D. Pipho, Bishop
New England Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
A prayer adapted from Bishops United Against Gun Violence
Almighty and merciful God, whose only Son came to preach peace to the nations: Hear us, we beseech you, and comfort those in Providence and Sydney with your steady hand, as we come before you in the wake
of unspeakable violence. Help those who mourn, those in pain, and those grieving to feel your healing presence and abiding love. In a world that seems hopeless, help us all to remember that our hope rests always in you, and in the resurrection of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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