Dear Church Family,

I would like to invite you to be a part of a conversation to help us discern our response as people of faith to gun violence in our country. We will meet on Monday Night, August 12 in Fellowship Hall at 6:30 p.m. This will be a time of prayer, discussion and discernment. It will be an opportunity for us to share our concerns with one another, to be present with one another, and to wrestle with the call of our faith in light of continued violence across our nation. This will be an opportunity for us to determine what our next steps we might be – individually and collectively.

We are facing a crisis. No other nation is experiencing the level of violence that we are. I do not believe that we can continue to be complacent or overwhelmed about this and must determine what actions we should take and what our role is to be.

The 2016 General Conference of The United Methodist Church passed a resolution called, “Our Call to End Gun Violence.” It states, “As followers of Jesus, called to live into the reality of God’s dream of shalom as described by Micah (Micah 4:1-4), we must address the epidemic of gun violence so, “that he may teach us his ways that we may walk in God’s path.” The Church recognizes gun violence as a serious social issue and therefore declares, “we call upon United Methodists to address gun violence in their local context.” I hope this gathering will be a first step for us to do so.

Grace and peace,

Reggie