Today in the Mission Yearbook - Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) vigil raises gun violence awareness, honors lives lost

The Rev. Tony Larson, co-moderator of the 226th General Assembly (2024), brings words of hope and encouragement during event held as part of the Young Adult Advocacy Conference

The Rev. Christina Cosby of the Office of Public Witness, second from
right, speaks during a gun violence prevention vigil held as part of the
Young Adult Advocacy Conference. (Photo by Darla Carter)

T-shirts emblazoned with the names of local victims of fatal gun violence encircled a cross at Union Presbyterian Seminary on a recent afternoon.

The T-shirts, placed on the ground at the base of the cross, called attention to a problem that is all too common, not only in Mecklenburg County but the nation as a whole.

“We recognize the names of individuals no longer with us, lives taken (prematurely) … by a form of violence — gun violence — an epidemic in this country that impacts this soil, in this place,” said the Rev. Christina Cosby, representative for Domestic Issues and Environmental Justice for the Presbyterian Office of Public Witness (OPW). “Lord, in your mercy, hear their names in our prayer.”

The social justice action was the final activity of the Young Adult Advocacy Conference, “Jesus and Justice,” which was held on the Charlotte campus Oct. 18–20 by OPW and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations.

PC(USA) has a long history of speaking out against gun violence and has declared 2022–2032 to be the Decade to End Gun Violence.

The T-shirts represented just a fraction of people who’ve lost their lives to gun violence in the local area.

The Charlotte Observer reported that 61 people were killed in Charlotte in the first half of 2024 (at least 50 victims having been shot to death). That’s more than in the first six months of any year since at least 2015, the newspaper noted in July. And the state as a whole averages more than 1,300 gun deaths a year.

But “today, we say no to gun violence,” said the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, PC(USA) advocacy director.

The Rev. Tony Larson, co-moderator of the 226th General Assembly (2024) of the PC(USA), was present to support the event, which included Scripture, song, and an opportunity to speak the names of victims, either someone local listed on a T-shirt or someone on the heart of a vigil participant.

“May this action, may this symbolic rite remind us and those who pass by that we have been blessed with voices that we might use them, that we are connected, all of us, one to another, that while we are resurrection people, all of these deaths that come too soon break our communities and keep us from being all that God would dream that we could be,” Larson said. “Bless this brokenness and bless us to be repairers of the breach.”

Earlier this year, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declared firearm violence a public health crisis in America, noting that more than half (54%) of U.S. adults or their family members have experienced a firearm-related incident in their lives.

And, as pointed out by recent OPW Summer Fellow Olivia Phelps, firearm-related injury is the leading cause of death for U.S. children and adolescents.

Hawkins said young people have inherited a culture of gun violence that includes living under the specter of school shootings.

Last  year, there were more than 2,300 victims of firearm-related violent crime in Charlotte as of early June, according to local police.

To change society, it’s time “to love one another,” he said, and to recognize “that we are truly the children of God.”

Though the vigil had a local focus, Hawkins also asked attendees to remember people experiencing war overseas, including those in Gaza and Sudan, noting, “only through our sorrow will we have the power (and) the energy to move and act and to speak” to bring about peace.

Recalling the words of previous speakers at the conference, Larson reminded attendees to have courage as they return to their communities and to never let anyone despise them because of their youth since their voices are needed and there is work to be done.

Until swords are turned into plowshares, “give them Jesus,” he said. “Let him abide in you and take care of one another on that work, for it is good when siblings can gather, even with broken hearts and hopeful hearts in unity.”

The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations are among the Compassion, Peace & Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.

Darla Carter, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Let us join in prayer for:

• César Carhuachîn, Mission co-worker serving in Colombia, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency
• Olanda Carr, Senior Ministry Relations Officer, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

O God of love greater than we can imagine, teach us how to love all your children as you have loved us, especially those who suffer unnecessarily. Give us boldness to argue and plead for your reign, especially in your house. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Panelists encourage churches to get involved in gun violence prevention

‘No one ever caused any change by being neutral’

October 6, 2023

A memorial honoring victims of gun violence. (Photo courtesy of the 

Rev. Jimmie Hawkins)

Near the end of a recent Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) webinar, Tracie Campbell made an impassioned plea for people of faith to “do something” to curtail gun violence in this country.

“No one ever caused any change by being neutral, and so I think that the church has a place to be bold, to make a statement, and if people don’t like the statement that you’re making as the church, then they’ll find somewhere else to go and worship, but you have to take a stance because people are dying,” said Campbell, senior health manager for Mecklenburg County Public Health’s Office of Violence Prevention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Campbell was one of three panelists who shared their thoughts and expertise during “The Intersection of Faith and Gun Violence Prevention,” a webinar by the Presbyterian Office of Public Witness (OPW). The event was coordinated by OPW Summer Fellow Ariyah Sadler, with assistance from Christina Cosby, the office’s domestic representative.

Cosby delivered the sobering statistic that, as of the morning of the online discussion, more than 24,600 lives had been lost to various forms of gun violence in this year alone.

In addition to holding the webinar, OPW has issued an Action Alert asking Presbyterians to support the Safer Neighborhoods Gun Buyback Act of 2023 to give communities an opportunity to initiate buyback programs to reduce gun violence.

The Office of Public Witness hosted the webinar, which you can watch 

on Vimeo. (screengrab)

“This legislation would allow the Department of Justice to make grants to state and local governments as well as gun dealers for people to turn their guns in for financial compensation in the form of prepaid cards that cannot be used to purchase another firearm,” according to the Action Alert.

During the webinar, panelists explored some of the root causes of gun violence and how churches and others can address them.

“You know who needs to be doing this more than anybody? The people who are older,” said panelist the Rev. Deanna Hollas, who serves as Gun Violence Prevention Ministry Coordinator for Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. “You have the capacity to do this in ways that you don’t realize because you are able to take risks that other folks may not be able to take. … Let’s use this to our advantage and put our bodies and our efforts into something that is actually going to create the world that our children deserve to live in.”

The panel also pointed out several issues with the Second Amendment, which protects the right to bear arms.

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution “is something that needs to be critiqued, and when placed against the Bible, placed against the trajectories that support our love and concern for our sisters and brothers, we can see that it is quite opposed to these ideas, quite antithetical to them,” said the Rev. Dr. Rodney S. Sadler Jr., an associate professor of Bible and director of the Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation at Union Presbyterian Seminary.

The Rev. Jimmie Hawkins moderated a three-person panel 

during “The Intersection of Faith and Gun Violence Prevention”

webinar.

Sadler also noted that the amendment dates to “when people had guns that could fire maybe one or two rounds a minute, not when you have guns that could fire hundreds of rounds in a minute. The laws were made by people who also talked about Manifest Destiny, and the elimination of the American Indian population by genocide, that also supported things like — oh, I don’t know — slavery. … We’ve recognized some of these other bad ideas. Why don’t we recognize that this might also be one of these bad ideas?”

The panel was moderated by the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, who leads OPW and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations as advocacy director.

Hollas highlighted Guns to Gardens, a movement to collect and dismantle guns that are then transformed into garden tools or other items. Churches that are interested in getting involved can learn best practices in Guns to Gardens action circles being held by Presbyterian Peace Fellowship.

These action circles teach congregations how “they can go about being a safe surrender site so we can begin to embody Isaiah’s words of turning our swords into plowshares,” Hollas said.

The Office of Public Witness is one of the Compassion, Peace & Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.

Darla Carter, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Today’s Focus: The Intersection of Faith and Gun Violence Prevention webinar

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Eliza Minasyan, Coordinator, Jinishian Memorial Program, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Rosa Miranda, Associate, Hispanic/Latino-a Intercultural Congregational Support, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

God of grace, who calls us into a common ministry as ambassadors of Christ and entrusts us with the message of reconciliation, give us courage and discipline to prayerfully support your servants of all backgrounds and nationalities, that together we may declare your wonderful deeds and show your love throughout the world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.