Serve, Work and Transform: Gun Violence Prevention News

Presbyterian Peace Fellowship

Gun Violence Prevention News

for Congregations Feb. 2025

Welcome to New Readers

Yet another prayer after gun violence

My heart breaks, God,

my anger flares,

my soul aches

as gun violence continues.

I grieve, I weep, I rage

for people killed outside a driver’s license bureau in Louisville,

for people killed and wounded at an air force base in New Mexico,

for a police officer killed and others wounded at a hospital in York, Pennsylvania,

for people shot in places that do not make the news....

See HERE for this prayer by Mark Koenig, 2024 Atwood Institute Graduate

Peace-ing It Together is a new Peace Fellowship podcast. Listen to the Jan. 7 episode with Margery Rossi, PPF's Minister for Gun Violence Prevention and the Feb. 4 episode with Scotty Utz, Guns to Gardens leader with RAWtools South.

Learn more HERE.

Presbyterian Advocacy Hour --Monthly zoom series on how to be faithful on public issues now, offered by the PCUSA Office of Public Witness. Starts today Feb. 26!

Learn more HERE.

Tufts University School of Medicine invites you to: Translational Science Day April 4 - Translating Gun Policy Science into Reducing Firearm Violence, a daylong virtual symposium featuring some of the nation's top GVP experts. Learn more HERE.

Take Direct Action by

Joining the Guns to Gardens Movement in 2025.

Help Reduce Gun Suicide, Gun Theft & Unintentional and Mass Shootings

Guns to Gardens

Save Lives by Transforming Unwanted Guns into Garden Tools and Art

Learn How Here:

Spring Zoom Action Circles

Thursdays April 24-May 22

Noon ET or 7:30 pm ET

1 Hour Per Week & 1 Hour of Preparation

Photo: Atwood Institute 2024 participants train on using a chop saw to dismantle unwanted guns for Guns to Gardens Safe Surrender events.

Plan Now for Growth in 2025

James Atwood Institute for Congregational Courage

Sept. 24- 27, 2025

Massanetta Springs Conference Center, Harrisonburg, VA

Read a Presbyterian News Story HERE

The Atwood Institute is a game-changing, ecumenical project of the

Presbyterian Peace Fellowship to gather, equip and encourage

clergy and lay leaders for gun violence prevention ministry by congregations.

It honors the legacy of Rev. Jim Atwood,

Christian prophet of gun violence prevention.

Photo: 2025 Keynote Speaker, Rev. Sharon Risher

Build Skills, Courage & Friends --Guns to Gardens Hands-On Training & More

Hold your space! Learn More HERE

Plan now to attend the Atwood Institute for Congregational Courage in 2025. Bring a Team!

Scholarships Available

Protecting Chidren from Gun Violence

BeSMART for Kids Training

March 10, Online

7 pm ET, 6CT, 5MT, 4PT

Learn How to Promote Secure Gun Storage

in your Community - a Direct Action to Save Lives

Photo, Gun Violence Prevention Hero Gabby Giffords receives a PPF Gun Violence Prevention Congregational Toolkit from Jan Orr-Harter, your editor, at a recent gathering in Dallas, TX. Gabby's call to action for the next years: Defend good gun laws at the federal level and work, work, work at the state level for new laws. According to Giffords, since the Sandy Hook shooting, over 700 good gun safety laws have passed at the state level, saving lives every day.