An 'Amen' to  Interfaith Gun Violence Prevention

Photo copyright 2009 Church of the Brethren/James Beckwith

WHY THIS STORY IS IMPORTANT:
Dealing with violence of any sort is not without risk. Grounding action in a peace perspective requires courage, hope and stamina. This approach alone would be noteworthy; even more is the fact that this sustained work of people of faith is having a real impact on their commmuity.

How do people of faith "heed God's call"? For Historic Peace Churches and all of the faith communities partnering against gun violence in Philadelphia, it means:

"to strengthen our witness and work for peace in the world by inspiring hope, raising voices, taking action."

The peacegathering2009.org web site explains that the planners of the January 2009 meeting:

... have a growing sense that the Spirit is stirring people of faith to renew, revitalize and bring together efforts to seek peace amidst our nation’s violent responses to international terrorism and the violence in institutions and neighborhoods. These people of faith must seek nonviolent ways to confront this violence, terrorism and fear. The challenge is to find new ways to address violence through acts of goodness, compassion and honest efforts to understand and meet the legitimate needs of others.

Among the many calls to action arising from the initiative, key was the effort to address gun violence in a city which news reports say has the highest rate of homicides, rape, robbery, and aggravated assaults among the the 10 biggest cities in the United States.

For a look at the ongoing results of gun violence prevention efforts, here is an excerpt from Mimi Copp's report for the Church of the Brethren's Newsline:

As soon as we had said "Amen" to close our morning prayer time, my community member gave me the news: late the night before she learned that Colosimo's Gun Center had been charged by the federal government for illegally selling guns to straw purchasers.

Two days earlier, on Sept. 21, more than 60 people of faith from across Philadelphia had gathered in front of the gun shop to hold a prayer vigil as part of On Earth Peace's International Day of Prayer for Peace Campaign.

By Sept. 30, the business owner of Colosimo's Gun Center had pleaded guilty in court, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) had permanently revoked the store's license to sell firearms, and the store had been closed down.

These are the dramatic, recent developments in a string of actions, vigils, and protests by many faith communities in Philadelphia to do something about the gun violence choking our city. Read more