Gun Violence Prevention Lenten News for Congregations

Gun Violence Prevention News for Congregations Lent 2023 Why Mass Shootings? This newsletter is being written in Orlando, FL, a city, like so many others, now traumatized by a mass shooting. So far, there have been 92 mass shootings this year.* From Feb. 17-19, on one weekend, there were ten mass shootings, with over 50 victims, many of them children. We know that most gun violence consists of suicide, domestic violence or conflicts grown violent. However, mass shootings and school shootings impact us differently, as everyone in the community and beyond is left fearful and traumatized.     Why is this happening? It is happening because the gun industry has vigorously sought profits by inundating the nation with handguns and semiautomatic assault weapons. They drive these sales by convincing us that more guns will maker us safer. That is a myth. The reality is that more guns lead to more gun violence, including mass shootings. With over 400 million guns now in private hands, we are well on our way to half a billion guns in the United States. With insufficient regulation to keep this flood of guns out of the hands of those who are danger to themselves or others, we are drowning in a sea of easy access to guns. *The nonpartisan Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more persons are killed or injured, not counting the shooter. There are other causes of mass shootings, but the easy access to so many guns is the uniquely American crisis. How can the church help heal and change us? Please see action suggestions below for a time of mass shootings. 1. Focus on the victims and survivors •Pray for victims and survivors by name. Hold a moment of silence in worship. •Create a poster for church members to send messages of support. Mail it to a Church near the mass shooting. •Honor photos and stories of victims on your church Facebook page. See sample HERE from New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence. •Find vigils, prayers and other worship and action resources in the Congregational Gun Violence Prevention Toolkit under "Pastoral Resources" HERE. Photo: The Soul Box Project uses art to show the human face of lives taken by gun violence 2. Advocate for change: • Learn HERE how legislative action such as comprehensive background checks and regulating assault weapons could prevent mass shootings and other gun violence. • Join the Gun Sense Action Network HERE to become a citizen advocate for change. 3. Take Direct Action to Prevent Gun Violence •Gun Safe Storage: Most young mass shooters take unsecured guns from homes of friends or family. Provide free gun locks as a service to your community. Order Gun Safe Storage information cards HERE from God Before Guns in Ohio. •Guns to Gardens - Join this growing movement to keep unwanted guns from being used, stolen or going back into the gun market where they could do harm. See below!!! Guns to Gardens Spring Action Circle March 2-30 Five spots still open! These one hour Zoom sessions will introduce your congregation to Guns to Gardens, including safety, logistics, publicity, pastoral care and best practices for planning your own Guns to Gardens ministry. The Action Circle gathers folks from churches across the nation every Thursday for one hour at 12:30 ET on Zoom. Register Here June 10 National Guns to Gardens Safe Surrender Day If your congregation is planning or considering a "Safe Surrender" Guns to Gardens event on or near June 10, please let us know HERE. There will be a Guns to Gardens "tune up" Zoom call on Thurs. April 13 at 12:30 pm ET for all 200 graduates of past Action Circles. Watch for link to register. Denver participants in the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship's Guns to Gardens Action Circle training have created a new website to publicize their Guns to Gardens events. Great idea! See HERE.  Calling all Peacemakers! May 7-10 Gathering in Kansas City The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship invites you to its first in-person national gathering since before COVID. It will be held May 7-10 at the Heartland Center in Kansas City. Activists will enjoy learning, worship, action planning and community building. Gun Violence Prevention and Guns to Gardens will be a part of our experience. This is a great way to meet other Presbyterian peacemakers and learn more about PPF. Learn more HERE. Photo: The Heartland Center in Kansas City, MO Art for Gun Violence Prevention  At RFK Charter School in Santa Fe, NM, artist Pedro Reyes, second from left, worked with students to create flower vases from dismantled gun parts. The gun parts came from the Guns to Gardens Safe Surrender events of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence. Learn more HERE. Can we count on you to support this Gun Violence Prevention Ministry? Please make tax-deductible gifts HERE. Gun Violence Prevention Ministry Presbyterian Peace Fellowship gvp@presbypeacefellowship.org Rev. Deanna Hollas, Coordinator 214-702-2265 deanna@presbypeacefellowship.org presbypeacefellowship.org

Presbyterian Justice & Peace - SDOP invites you to engage in anti-poverty work and embrace Matthew 25 like Jesus

(Photo by Rich Copley/Presbyterian Mission Agency)   In Matthew 25, Jesus asks his disciples the profound question "where have you seen me?" In doing so, Jesus profoundly shows us that God loves and cares deeply about the plight of the poor.   Matthew 25 also shows us that we are implored to recognize that Jesus’ ministry was one of intentional engagement of anti-poverty work in which he promoted justice, encouraged the building of relationships, and established economic equity -- these are also the pillars on which the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People stand. As we engage in this ministry of anti-poverty, we have much to learn, and we are called to learn how to do this work of transformation and relationship building together.   We are both prayerful and hopeful that the following links would be helpful in aiding you in taking up the mission of Matthew 25 by encouraging you in recognizing Christ in our midst and by making deep, connectional relationships in the communities where you serve. Let the work of SDOP be for you both a resource and opportunity for you to engage the critical and transforming work of Matthew 25.   Rev. Dr. Alonzo Johnson Coordinator, Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People

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New SDOP Sunday Resource & Yearbook released in time for annual celebration

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'The Struggle is Real' webinar series returns May 16; view past conversations on poverty and intersectional issues

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One Great Hour of Sharing gifts support housing affordability and fairness

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Home sweet home: Native Americans return to their roots in Alabama

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SDOP looks to boost women’s empowerment in Panama

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SDOP partnership with Hyatt Regency fights hunger and helps live out Matthew 25 vision

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Spreading the Vision of Matthew 25 across the Church

Matthew 25 is a living translation of Jesus Christ — strengthening relationships, transforming your church, and bringing alive your commitment to those who are marginalized or in need in your community and the world around us. Make no mistake, Jesus is calling us to perform ordinary acts of compassion in daily life. But we have also been called to consider the factors that led to these conditions, to confront the causes of inequality, to confess the sin of greed and to correct the problem of poverty — whether in our own nation and neighborhood, or around the world.

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