Episcopal Church in US buys shares in gun manufacturers

From The Church Times-

THE Episcopal Church in the United States is to start buying shares in gun manufacturers, in order to be able to exert pressure to reduce gun violence.

It is the first time that the Church has bought shares with the sole purpose of engaging in shareholder action. The Church’s General Convention passed a resolution in the summer calling on the Executive Council’s committee on corporate social responsibility to look into investing in gun manufacturers in order to have influence to “minimize lethal and criminal uses of their products”.

The Bishop of Western Massachusetts, Dr Douglas Fisher, is taking over chairmanship of the committee at the beginning of January. He said: “At our January meeting we will begin the preparation for guidelines for investment. Executive Council needs to sign off on that. We should be ready for investment by the late spring. We need to hold stock for 12 months before we can file resolutions, but we can engage in dialogue before that time.”

More here-

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2019/4-january/news/world/episcopal-church-in-us-buys-shares-in-gun-manufacturers

The NRA’s Assault on Christian Faith and Practice

From Religion and Politics-

On Monday, November 6, Robert Jeffress, the senior minister of First Baptist Dallas, told the hosts of “Fox and Friends” that a mass shooting such as the one that had taken place the day before in Sutherland Springs, Texas, would not likely happen on the premises of his 130 million-dollar church campus downtown. “I’d say a quarter to a half of our members are concealed carry, they have guns, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.” Jeffress agreed with co-host Ainsley Earhardt’s remark that carrying guns to church makes you feel safer, and added, “I think if somebody tries that in our church, they may get one shot off or two shots off, but that’s it, and that’s the last thing they’ll ever do in this life.”

Jeffress’s response to the Sutherland Springs massacre comes straight from the gun lobby’s playbook. A week after the mass killing of 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, declared in a nationally televised press statement, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” A safer nation lies in the hope of every good guy being armed. All the time. So bring your guns to church.

More here-

http://religionandpolitics.org/2018/01/03/the-nras-assault-on-christian-faith-and-practice/

Should more people bring guns to church? Local pastors weigh in

From Kansas-

"It's got no safety...and I keep it loaded."

Cliff Snell, pastor at Word of Life South Campus, shows the pistol he conceals on a daily basis. For him, carrying a gun is second nature.

"It's just been a part of my world since I was a kid."

His decision to carry in church came easily.

"I don't find anything in my new testament that tells me I can't own a gun, I don't find anything that tells me I can't have a gun, that I shouldn't posess them, and that I can't carry them in church." He says.

"When we post a sign that says "no guns permitted here", this is my opinion, and I understand that it's my opinion, but what we post is an open season sign."

Outside his church, you'll see no signs stopping others from carrying guns inside, and it's likely you'll see at least a few men in his congregation also carrying a firearm.

More here-

http://www.kwch.com/content/news/Should-more-people-bring-guns-to-churchc-Local-pastors-weigh-in-455690043.html

Norfolk art exhibit aims to curb gun violence

From Southern Virginia-

The Rev. John Rohrs sees art as a way of opening up a conversation about difficult subjects.

That's the reason the rector of St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Norfolk helped organize  "Under the Gun," a new exhibit at Work | Release on Granby Street. The show opened Jan. 12 and runs through Feb. 4.

Disturbed by mass murders across the country over the past several years, Rohrs became interested in hosting an event or several events that could bring people together to peacefully discuss the ramifications of gun violence. He hopes the exhibit will also serve as a launching pad to address mental health topics, gun safety education and more.

More here-

http://pilotonline.com/news/local/norfolk-art-exhibit-aims-to-curb-gun-violence/article_9ec363c5-35f9-57fc-acf1-8e9d573ee4bb.html

Oregon pastor plans to destroy AR-15 won in rifle raffle: 'This gun will never be used for a mass shooting'

From The Daily News-

An outspoken Oregon pastor known for his anti-gun stance plans to destroy an AR-15 rifle he won in a raffle conducted by a girls’ softball team.

The Rev. Jeremy Lucas, a pastor at Christ Church Episcopal Parish in Lake Oswego, Ore. spent $3,000 to purchase 150 tickets at $20 apiece to secure the winning ticket.

Lucas, in the wake of so many heinous acts committed using AR-15 style weapons, believes winning the rifle serves a greater purpose.

“This gun will never be used for a mass shooting," Lucas said in an interview with Oregon's KGW news. "This gun will never be used for any of those tragic events that we pray for, that we hold moments of silence for. No one will ever hold a moment of silence because this gun has done that thing. And that made me pretty happy."

More here-

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/oregon-pastor-plans-destroy-ar-15-won-rifle-raffle-article-1.2729872

Why this pastor spent $3,000 in church funds to win a raffle with an AR-15 as the prize

From The Washington Post-

The Rev. Jeremy Lucas had just returned to Oregon from a family vacation back home to Alabama, the deep south state where he was first introduced to guns and where, as a kid, he learned to shoot a rifle, when he pulled out his phone and started scrolling.

It had been just days since the deadly mass shooting in Dallas that left five police officers dead and seven wounded. They were targeted by a black man with three guns, including an assault rifle, while working a Black Lives Matter protest. That same week, two black men, Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, were shot and killed by police, the incidents captured on video and circulated worldwide. Only one month earlier, 49 people were killed in the country’s deadliest mass shooting at an Orlando gay nightclub.

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/07/28/why-this-pastor-spent-3000-in-church-funds-to-win-a-raffle-with-an-ar-15-as-the-prize/

Reverend wins rifle at raffle, plans to destroy it

From Oregon-

The winner of a controversial AR-15 rifle raffle by an Oregon softball team is a Lake Oswego church reverend, who now plans to destroy the weapon.

Christ Church Episcopal Parish Rev. Jeremy Lucas purchased 150 $20 tickets, valued at $3,000, to win the rifle.

Lucas said he learned of the rifle raffle from the Willamette Week. The Oregon's Big League Girls' All Star Softball Team was trying to fundraise a trip to California to play in a tournament through a raffle. The grand prize was an AR-15 rifle.

"I hate that we live in a world where a girls' softball team feels like they have to raffle off a rifle to get enough money to go play a game," he said.

More here-

http://local12.com/news/offbeat/reverend-wins-rifle-at-raffle-plans-to-destroy-it

Video: Presiding Bishop asks for prayers following shootings

From ENS-

Primate Michael Curry has issued the following video asking every Episcopalian to share in deep prayer following the shootings in the United States.  The video is available here.

Many Episcopal groups have prepared resources that may help congregations and individuals in their prayer and conversation this weekend.

A liturgy resource for praying after Ferguson, created in the Diocese of Missouri and shared by the Beloved Community: Commission for Dismantling Racism in the Diocese of Atlanta

A summary of Episcopal resources for racial reconciliation

Episcopal News Service feed with statements and resources from across the church
If you have created resources to help your community to pray and to work for healing and justice, please share them with the Presiding Bishop’s staff here: reconciliation@episcopalchurch.org.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2016/07/08/video-presiding-bishop-asks-for-prayers-following-shootings/

Kansas bishops issue pastoral directive banning firearms in churches

From ENS-

 Episcopal Diocese of Kansas Bishop Dean Wolfe and Episcopal Diocese of Western Kansas Bishop Michael Milliken June 20 issued a pastoral directive banning firearms from Episcopal churches in the state, effective Aug. 1, unless they are carried by designated law enforcement officials in the line of duty.

In a letter sent to all churches, the bishops said changes to state law in recent years “has led to permission being given to carry firearms, openly or concealed, into churches and other houses of worship. These changes reverse long-standing law and practice regarding firearms in our state.”

The bishops concluded that the changes allowing anyone to bring guns into a church “unnecessarily endanger the citizens of our state and the members of our parishes.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2016/06/22/kansas-bishops-issue-pastoral-directive-banning-firearms-in-churches/

We have right to be safe, but as a nation we are failing to make it happen

From Maine-

The recent shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs and the mass murder in San Bernardino are frightening reminders of the unprecedented level of gun violence now assaulting our country. In each of the last few years, more than 30,000 of us have become victims of gun violence, often at the hands of a friend or family member, or at our own hands.

Headlines about terrorism and mass shootings blind us to the fact that there are daily shootings of dozens of people across the country — more than 80 a day. In Maine, there were 158 firearm deaths in 2013, the last year for which there are published statistics from the Centers for Disease Control. That’s nearly double the number in 2003 (82).

More here-

https://www.centralmaine.com/2015/12/11/we-have-right-to-be-safe-but-as-a-nation-we-are-failing-to-make-it-happen/

Why Walmart is battling a church over gun sales

From CBS-

Walmart (WMT) is gearing up for a battle over gun sales with an influential New York parish.

Located in the heart of Manhattan's financial district, Trinity Wall Street is an Episcopal church where George Washington once worshiped and which became a symbol of New York's resilience after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It now has a new mission: it wants Walmart to stop selling assault rifles with high-capacity magazines. Walmart, for its part, is arguing that the church's plan would interfere with its "ordinary business operations."

While selling guns with high-capacity magazines is controversial in its own right, the heart of the battle is over whether Trinity, as an investor in Walmart, has the right to place proposals about a company's day-to-day operations -- such as its inventory mix -- onto shareholder ballots. Given the rise of activist investors, who have in recent years pressured companies to ditch board members and spin off business units, an anti-Walmart precedent could add fuel to the movement.

More here-

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-walmarts-battling-a-church-over-gun-sales/

Church leaders demand guns to protect faithful from attacks

From Kenya-

Pentecostal church leaders in Mombasa have renewed calls to the State to arm them to protect their property and faithful from terrorists following Sunday’s attack on worshippers in Mombasa’s Likoni slums. 

Speaking in Mombasa under the umbrella of the Kenya National Congress of Pentecostal Churches and Ministries (KNCPCM), they asked major churches such as the Catholic and Anglican Church of Kenya and their umbrella organisations to offer direction on the issue of security in churches, particularly in Mombasa. 

The church leaders expressed concern that the attacks could reduce the number of worshippers attending services due to fear. “We ask our national church leaders to meet as a matter of urgency to guide the church in this country at this crucial time,” said KNCPCM chairman Bishop Tee Nalo. Speaking at a Press conference held at the Darajani Hotel in Mombasa yesterday, the church leaders called on Kenyans to support the Government efforts to eliminate terror activities.


Read more at:


http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/thecounties/article/2000107832/church-leaders-demand-guns-to-protect-faithful-from-attacks

Slaying galvanizes Episcopal Church

From Boston-

Jorge Fuentes did things his own way. “If you’re not being yourself, you’re not having fun,” he would say, flashing a smile.

As a contrarian kid, he sometimes drove his mother and teachers and pastors crazy. But by his late teens, he was a standout counselor at his church’s youth programs. He traveled everywhere on mission trips, doing farm work in Virginia, feeding poor people in New York. He planned to join the Marines.

Then, just over a year ago, came the stray shot, fired from a stranger’s gun, that hit the 19-year-old in the head as he walked his dog across the street from his family’s home in Dorchester.

The death of Fuentes was a loss of incalculable proportions, not only for his close-knit family, but for Episcopalians across Eastern Massachusetts. A thousand people came to his calling hours and a candlelight vigil that followed at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in the South End. The following spring, more than 650 marched in his name at the Mother’s Day Walk for Peace. Last month, Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, just back from treatment for brain cancer, came to Beacon Hill to tell Jorge’s story and demand changes to gun laws.

More here-

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/10/07/the-death-year-old-and-wounding-hope-cause-episcopal-church-reexamine-its-commitment-young/w39oEtRMs6x9jUPzALRz1M/story.html

The Rev. Douglas Fisher, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts, marches in anti-violence procession in Washington, D.C.

From Massachusetts

 The Rev. Douglas John Fisher, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts, joined 20 other bishops in Washington, D.C., Monday to rally support for tighter gun control laws.

Along with a group from Greater Springfield, Fisher marched in an Easter week procession on Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the U.S. Capitol to denounce gun violence that claims thousands of American lives each year.

“Today was a spiritual and political experience,” Fisher said later, adding that the procession marked the Stations of the Cross commemorating the suffering and death of Jesus.

“We remembered the death of Jesus - an innocent man killed violently by the Roman Empire. As we prayed in this city where we make laws for our country, I kept remembering the call of our president in his State of the Union Address,” he said.

“He kept naming the victims of massacres involving gun violence in the last few years and shouting “they deserve a vote. They deserve a vote.!” And they do. They really do,” he added. 

More here-

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/03/the_rev_douglas_fisher_bishop.html

Episcopal Church procession aimed against gun violence

From MSNBC-

Hundreds of Episcopalian bishops, clergy, and lay people challenged violence on Monday while praying the Stations of the Cross in Washington, D.C.

More than 20 Episcopal bishops from throughout the church led the procession along Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the U.S. Capitol to defy violence, especially the epidemic of gun violence that claims thousands of American lives each year.

During Monday’s procession, participants stopped in front of memorials, government buildings, and works of art, praying for an end to violence, the culture of violence, and the social and economic conditions that spawn violence.

“Walking the Way of the Cross invites us, compels us, to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation,” Bishop Ian T. Douglass of Connecticut wrote on the church’s website.  The Stations of the Cross commemorate the ordeal of Jesus from his condemnation by Pontius Pilate. Worshipers metaphorically walk with Jesus, pausing to offer prayers.

More here-

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/03/25/episcopal-church-procession-aimed-against-gun-violence/

Morris County Gun Buyback Program Nets 600 Weapons

From New Jersey-

The Morris County Gun Buyback Amnesty Program this weekend resulted in the surrender of 600 weapons, and a total payout of $49,550.

The event, held Friday and Saturday at St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown, was designed to get weapons off the streets, “no questions asked.”

Money for the program were supplied by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, the Morris County Park Police and Morris County CrimeStoppers.

The totals collected included 15 illegal assault weapons, 91 semi-automatic weapons, 192 revolvers, 251 rifles/shotguns, 18 inoperable weapons, and 33 BB guns.

Acting Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office thanked the following partners and agencies for their help in making this program a success:

New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa, Morris County Sheriff’s Office, Morris County CrimeStoppers Commissioners, Morris County Park Police, Madison Police Department, Most Reverend Arthur J. Serratelli, St. Paul Inside the Walls, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Morristown Police Department, Florham Park Police Department, Morris Plains Police Department and Morris Area Clergy Council.

More here-

http://www.thealternativepress.com/towns/madison/articles/morris-county-gun-buyback-program-nets-600-weapon

Gun buyback program coming to Morris County in March

From New Jersey-

Got guns? Want to get rid of them?

Morris County will host a two-day gun buyback program in March.

Participants will trade cash for guns from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 15 at Saint Paul Inside the Walls at 205 Madison Ave. in Madison, and during the same hours March 16 at Saint Peter's Episcopal Church at 70 Maple Ave. in Morristown.

The guns will be purchased on a walk-in basis and with no questions asked. Guns should be submitted unloaded and either wrapped in paper, tied with string or tape, or transported in a box or container.

Participants won't be compensated for more than three weapons, and law enforcement officers and licensed firearms dealers aren't eligible for the program.

More here-

http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2013/03/gun_buyback_program_coming_to.html