“God is with Us”: UCC clergy discuss efforts of resistance in Minnesota

Minnesota has been a hotbed of activity, and not for good reasons over the last month. Following the fatal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shooting of Renee Nicole Good on January 7, and Alex Pretti on January 24 in Minneapolis, protestors around the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area and the country have been hitting the streets in protest, speaking out against ICE and the Trump administration. The Rev. Susan Hayward of Creekside UCC in the city was among the many clergy who rushed to the scene moments after news of Good’s death broke. 

Hayward, who spoke with UCC News recently, lives about a mile from the scene of the shooting. She joins a growing list of clergy who have been hit with chemical agents or even shot by ICE agents with pepper spray, rounds, and bullets after protesting Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Jorge Bautista, a UCC minister from California made national news when he was struck in the face with a pepper round by an ICE agent back in October 2025. 

“We have been under siege in the Twin Cities, and there is deep trauma we’re living amidst,” said Hayward. She, along with the Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, and the Rev. T. Michael Rock, pastors at Lyndale UCC, also in Minneapolis, have been among the many clergy on the ground to offer support, prayer, and resources in the aftermath of the shooting. 

Dressed for Combat 

Hayward, Rock, and Voelkel described the situation on the ground in Minneapolis as tense and uneasy, and say that in response, those on the front lines are ‘dressed for combat.’ They say folks have been ready for any possible scenario, and say that despite fear, staying home was not an option. 

“I have been experiencing this ICE assault as a deeply concrete manifestation of the modern rearticulation of the doctrine of discovery,” Voelkel said. That ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ refers to a 15th-century European legal and religious concept that any land not inhabited by Christians was available to be discovered, claimed, and exploited by Christian rulers. 

Voelkel says she feels a personal responsibility to be a part of the resistance and adds her voice for the call to end the ICE raids in the area. 

One of Ours. All of Yours.

In a January 2026 Homeland Security press conference, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem faced intense criticism after comments she made referencing Nazi propaganda. 

“If you lay a finger on one of our officers, you will feel the full extent of the law,” Noem said in the press conference. The podium at this conference had a sign that said “one of ours, all of yours,” furthering criticism. House Democrat Robin Kelly of Illinois has introduced legislation to impeach Noem from her role, saying ‘she needs to be held accountable.’

“Our faith is our guide in this. We speak of a liberating God, and we’re experiencing in the streets and from our federal government a very fearful God,” said Rock. “We’re in the midst of facing an empire, and we’re choosing a oneness conscientious over empire.” 

The entirety of the nearly hourlong conversation with these UCC clergy can be viewed below, as well as on the UCC’s YouTube page.

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