by Allen Fitzpatrick | Apr 24, 2023
St. John’s Episcopal Church Gun Violence Prevention Ministry, and the Temple Sinai Gun Violence Prevention Group invite you to this hybrid community forum on gun safety policies. A recent empirical study has identified four state-level policies that will save lives and on which there is substantial consensus between Americans who do and do not own guns. Maryland has already enacted some of these policies, but further legislation could strengthen them as well as enact others. What are these policies and how feasible is their adoption in Maryland? Firearm owners are especially welcome to participate in the Question & Answer period.
by Bishop Mariann | Apr 20, 2023
Jesus said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?”
Luke 24:17
In church this Sunday, we’ll hear the story of two of Jesus’ disciples who in their grief at Jesus’ death, felt compelled to take a long walk.
Sometimes grief propels us to walk, too.
On April 17, I joined a procession of mourners walking the streets of Nashville, Tennessee. We were led by a student carrying a child’s coffin, with pallbearers carrying other coffins behind her, each representing one of the children and adults killed at Covenant Christian School. Slowly we made our way from a downtown church to the State Capitol Building. Some in the crowd carried placards that read, “Protect Our Children.”
Bishop William J. Barber II, leader of Repairers of the Breach invoked the memory of Mamie Till-Mobley, who insisted that the world see her teenage son’s mutilated body after he had been tortured and lynched in Mississippi. “We need our elected leaders to see what their willful inaction has wrought,” Barber said, as the coffins were placed on the capitol steps.
We were clergy, students, teachers, and survivors gathered to express our grief at the unchecked death toll by gun violence and renounce the lie that nothing can be done to prevent the daily carnage.
We didn’t talk as we walked. Many were holding back tears. We sang spirituals of quiet determination:
I don’t feel no ways tired,
I’ve come too far from where I started from.
Nobody told me that the road would be easy,
I don’t believe He brought me this far to leave me.
At the capitol steps we listened to those whose lives had been forever changed by gun violence.
One mother of a student at Covenant School described the terror of March 27th, the agony of waiting in the family reunification center, and the cries of a mother when she learned that her child was among the dead. “The trauma will never leave us,” she wept. “Third graders saw their classmates’ bodies torn apart.”
Another man spoke of his brother, killed by a gun while driving in his car by another driver as he passed by. It is legal to drive in Tennessee with a loaded gun, even without a state-issued permit to own or carry it. “If lenient gun laws protected people, we would be among the safest states to live in,” he said. “But we have one of the highest rates of gun deaths.” He’s right. Tennessee ranks 11th in the nation.1
A mother described the active shooter drills in her children’s school. “They are told to crouch in the darkness and be as still as a mouse. The restless ones are given lollipops to keep them quiet. We are asking them to rehearse their deaths.”
The three Episcopal bishops in Tennessee, in their written statement, urge both prayer and action in response to the gun deaths in their state:
We pray that our state legislators will act now to find and walk a path together, enacting legislation which embraces common sense gun regulations. We ask that our legislators give our communities the tools necessary now to ensure that the children of Tennessee will be able to play safely in our streets, and grow up to be elders, without a daily fear that acts of gun violence are impossible to stop.2
Sometimes it feels as if gun violence is impossible to stop. On Monday I walked with others whose hearts are broken, yet who refuse to give up hope. Together we remembered how Jesus walks with us in grief and empowers us to act in ways that bring life and healing into our world.
One day future generations will look back on this period in our nation the way we look back on the horrific era of public lynchings, when crowds would gather to cheer as men, women, and children were brutally killed, and elected leaders insisted that nothing could be done. One day others will look back on this era the way we look back in shame at the laws that perpetuated Jim Crow. Many people in that era believed the lie that racial segregation not only shouldn’t change, but that it was, in fact, ordained by God.
It was a lie then, and it is a lie now, that nothing can be done to stop us from changing what must be changed. The journey is long and the grief is real. Sometimes grief propels us to walk, and we draw strength from each other. Jesus meets on the road and helps us to keep walking away from death toward life.
The change will come. How many children must die before it does is up to us.
Bishop Mariann is part of the national network, Bishops United Against Gun Violence. Their annual meeting will be at St. Mark’s, Capitol Hill on May 17-18. If you would like to attend the sessions that will address neighborhood violence here in our cities and communities, please contact her.
1“Tennessee is Among the Worst States for Gun Violence,” Linda Sullivan, guest column in The Tennessean
2Tennessee’s Three Bishops Issue Moral Monday Statement, The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee website
by Bishop Mariann | May 26, 2022
Pero Jesús les dijo: No lloren por mí, sino por ustedes mismos y por sus hijos.
Lucas 23:28
Queridos amigos de la Diócesis de Washington,
Mientras asimilamos el horror del tiroteo en la escuela de Uvalde, Texas, y oramos por la misericordia de Dios para todos los que han perdido la vida, los heridos y los que están en duelo, es comprensible que tengamos el corazón cansado. Desde el tiroteo en una tienda de comestibles en Buffalo, Nueva York, el 14 de mayo, han habido otros 15 incidentes en los que 3 o más personas han sido asesinadas o heridas por la violencia de armas en todo el país. Como en los tiroteos de inspiración racial en Buffalo, la magnitud de la tragedia en Uvalde se ve agravada por la juventud del autor.
Al escuchar en las noticias a los familiares de anteriores tiroteos masivos describir la agonía que saben que les espera a los habitantes de Uvalde, vi en mi mente a las familias de Newtown, Connecticut, que viajan a Washington, DC, cada año para abogar por leyes en contra de armas más estrictas, incluyendo la prohibición de las armas de asalto que mataron a sus hijos en 2012, a cientos de otras personas desde entonces, y ahora a los niños de Uvalde. El dolor nunca desaparece, nos dicen. Como dijo un padre en la televisión: “No hay ‘seguir adelante’; solo hay que avanzar”.
Aunque las causas de la violencia con armas de fuego son muchas, el denominador común en todas ellas es el fácil acceso a las armas letales. Hasta que no tengamos el valor de poner los mismos límites a las armas de fuego que ponemos a cualquier otro producto de alto riesgo en este país, podemos esperar que las muertes por armas de fuego continúen en tiroteos masivos, entre individuos y por suicidio.
El Obispo Michael Curry concluyó su carta pastoral después del tiroteo masivo en Buffalo hace dos semanas con esta exhortación: Incluso en medio de la tragedia, incluso cuando las manifestaciones del mal amenazan con abrumarnos, aferrémonos al bien. Es el único camino que lleva a la vida. Cuando se reúnan con sus amigos y familiares, y en el culto del domingo, oren para tener la fuerza de aferrarse al bien. Pero también debemos luchar por el bien, y como ciudadanos exigir que se haga más para proteger a nuestros mayores, a nuestros jóvenes y a nuestros niños de tal horror.
Para ayudarte en el culto, hemos recopilado algunas oraciones a continuación, incluyendo una redactada por el Obispo del Oeste de Texas, David Reed, dos letanías para después de un tiroteo masivo, y otras. También hay una gran cantidad de recursos en la página web de Bishops United Against Gun Violence (Obispos Unidos Contra la Violencia de Armas).
Para aquellos de ustedes que tienen niños y jóvenes a su cargo, aquí hay dos recursos para ayudarlos en las difíciles conversaciones sobre lo que escuchan en las noticias. Al leer estas páginas, me pareció que contenían un sabio consejo para todas nuestras conversaciones en estos tiempos delicados.
Sé que muchos de ustedes están celebrando o participando en vigilias de oración y reuniones comunitarias en respuesta a los asesinatos. Gracias. Por mi parte, sigo rezando y abogando por una legislación que aborde esta crisis nacional, como he hecho hoy con el dean Hollerith y otros en los los alrededores de la catedral.
El viernes, 3 de junio, me uniré a un grupo de líderes religiosos para rezar en el Capitolio el viernes e instar a que se aprueben las medidas de prevención de la violencia con armas de fuego que están actualmente estancadas en el Congreso. Después, nos dirigiremos a la iglesia Washington City Church of the Brethren, 337 North Carolina Ave SE, para una reunión pública de recuerdo y demostración pública de cómo las armas pueden transformarse en herramientas de jardinería. Si desea unirse a mí para la procesión y el servicio, por favor hágamelo saber (mebudde@edow.org).
Que la fuerza y la misericordia de Dios nos sostengan a todos.
Fielmente,
Obispa Mariann
Una oración por Uvalde
Reveredismo David Reed, Obispo del Oeste de Texas
Oh Dios, Padre nuestro, cuyo amado Hijo tomó a los niños en sus brazos y los bendijo: Danos la gracia de confiar a tus amados hijos de Uvalde a tu cuidado y amor eternos, y llévalos plenamente a tu reino celestial. Derrama tu gracia y tu amorosa bondad sobre todos los que sufren, rodéalos de tu amor y devuélveles la confianza en tu bondad. Elevamos a ti nuestras almas cansadas y heridas y te pedimos que envíes tu Espíritu Santo para que quite la ira y la violencia que infectan nuestros corazones, y nos haga instrumentos de tu paz e hijos de la luz. En el nombre de Cristo, que es nuestra esperanza, te lo pedimos. Amén.
Una oración de Alden Solovy que aborda la pandemia de Covid-19
Adaptada por Reuben Varghese para abordar la epidemia de la violencia de armas
Dios de la Consolación
Seguro que cuentas en el cielo,
Así como nosotros contamos aquí en la tierra,
En la conmoción y en el dolor,
Las almas enviadas a ti,
Una por una,
Los muertos de esta violenta epidemia,
A medida que unos pocos se convierten en decenas,
Las decenas se convierten en cientos,
Los cientos se convierten en miles,
Los miles se convierten en diez mil
Y luego en cientos de miles,
Cada alma, una angustia,
Cada alma, una vida negada.
Dios de la sabiduría,
Seguramente en los salones de la justicia divina
Estás reuniendo a los tribunales
Llamando a los testigos a declarar,
Para declarar
La compasión de algunos
Y la insensibilidad de otros
En la lucha contra este mal.
Las almas tomadas demasiado pronto
Cuyos funerales fueron prematuros,
Que no necesitaban morir,
que murieron solas,
contarán sus historias
Cuando juzgues
Nuestros triunfos
Y nuestros fracasos
En estas horas de necesidad.
Dios de la curación,
Bendice a los que están al servicio de la humanidad.
Bendice a los que lloran.
Bendice a los muertos,
para que sus almas estén unidas en el vínculo de la vida eterna.
Y concede a los que aún están afligidos
Por esta enfermedad o trauma
Una curación completa y duradera,
Uno por uno,
Hasta que el sufrimiento cese,
Y podamos dejar de contar los muertos,
En el cielo y en la tierra. Amén.
Una letanía tras la violencia con armas de fuego
La Reverenda Michele Morgan, rectora de St. Mark’s, Capitol Hill
Dios de la Justicia, Tú has dado a nuestros líderes, especialmente a nuestro Presidente, a nuestro Gobernador, a los miembros del Congreso, a los jueces de nuestros tribunales y a los miembros de nuestras legislaturas, el poder y la responsabilidad de protegernos y de defender nuestro derecho a la vida, a la libertad y a la búsqueda de la felicidad. Por todos los que tienen esa responsabilidad, por todos los que luchan por discernir lo que es correcto frente a las poderosas fuerzas políticas, Dios amoroso,
Pueblo: Haznos instrumentos de tu paz.
Dios de la compasión, te damos gracias por los primeros en responder, por los agentes de policía, los bomberos y los paramédicos, y por todos aquellos cuyos deberes los llevan a las calles, a los vestíbulos, a los clubes nocturnos y a los hogares donde la carnicería de la violencia armada tiene lugar día tras día. Dales valor y buen juicio en el calor del momento y concédeles compasión por las víctimas. Por nuestros hermanos que arriesgan su vida y su serenidad al acudir en nuestra ayuda, Dios bondadoso,
Pueblo: Haznos instrumentos de tu paz.
Dios misericordioso, venda las heridas de todos los que sufren la violencia de las armas, de los mutilados y desfigurados, de los que se quedan solos y en duelo, y de los que luchan por pasar un día más. Bendícelos con tu presencia y ayúdales a encontrar la esperanza. Por todos aquellos cuyas vidas están marcadas para siempre por el azote de la violencia armada, Dios bondadoso,
Pueblo: Haznos instrumentos de tu paz.
Dios que recuerda, que no olvidemos a los que han muerto, más de 30.000 este año, en la violencia de las armas que hemos permitido que se convierta en rutina. Recíbelos en tu corazón y consuélanos con tu promesa de amor y cuidado eternos. Por nuestros seres queridos, por nuestros vecinos, por los extraños y extranjeros, y por los que sólo tú conoces, Dios amoroso,
Pueblo: Haznos instrumentos de tu paz.
Dios de la justicia, ayúdanos, a tu iglesia, a encontrar nuestra voz. Danos el poder de cambiar este mundo roto y de protestar contra las muertes innecesarias causadas por la violencia de las armas. Danos poder para superar nuestro miedo a que no se pueda hacer nada y concédenos la convicción de abogar por el cambio. Por tu sueño de amor y armonía, Dios amoroso,
Pueblo: Haznos instrumentos de tu paz.
Finalmente, ayúdanos a convertirnos en votantes y activistas para llevar nuestra rabia y cambiar el mundo para que otros puedan vivir.
Amén.
Llorando con Uvalde
La Rvda. Maria A. Kane, Ph.D., rectora de St. Paul’s, Waldorf
Dios de nuestros años cansados,
La muerte nos ha destripado y nos ha dejado tambaleando… una vez más.
La violencia masiva ha empujado a la gente de Uvalde a un abismo implacable de dolor.
En lugar de planificar las fiestas del último día de clase, los padres y los seres queridos deben ahora planificar los funerales.
No debería ser así.
No debería ser así.
Simplemente no debería ser así.
Pero lo es.
Nuestras palabras nos fallan.
Nuestras lágrimas nos empapan.
Nuestra cólera nos consume.
Nuestro cansancio nos abruma.
Que nuestro dolor se convierta en combustible para la compasión; que nuestro cinismo sea un catalizador para la reflexión honesta; y que nuestra cólera sea un impulso para la acción santa, para que las herramientas de la violencia den paso a los caminos de la paz.
Oh, Dios, que mucho después de que las cámaras se hayan ido, tu amor feroz y tu ternura sostengan las rodillas débiles y los corazones destrozados de aquellos cuyas vidas han cambiado para siempre.
En el nombre de Jesús, cuyo amor por los niños no tuvo límites y cuyo corazón ahora llora en agonía, clamamos… y luego trabajamos para reparar la brecha.
Amén.
by Bishop Mariann | May 26, 2022
Jesus said, “Weep not for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. . .”
Luke 23:28
Dear Friends in the Diocese of Washington,
As we take in the horror of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and pray God’s mercy for all those who have been lost, wounded, and those who are grieving, we are understandably heartsick and weary. Since the shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York on May 14, there have been 15 other incidents where 3 or more people have been killed or wounded by gun violence across the country. As in the racially inspired shootings in Buffalo, the magnitude of tragedy in Uvalde is compounded by the youth of the perpetrator.
Listening on the news to family members of previous mass shootings describe the agony they know lies ahead for the people of Uvalde, I saw in my mind’s eyes the families from Newtown, Connecticut who travel to Washington, DC each year to advocate for stricter gun laws, including a ban on the assault-style weapons that killed their children in 2012, hundreds of other people since then, and now the children of Uvalde. The grief never goes away, they tell us. As one father said on television, “There is no ‘moving on;’ there is only moving forward.
While the causes of gun violence are many, the common denominator in all of them is easy access to lethal weapons. Until we have the courage to put the same boundaries on firearms that we place on every other high-risk product in this country, we can expect gun deaths to continue in mass shootings, between individuals, and through suicide.
Bishop Michael Curry concluded his pastoral letter after the mass shooting in Buffalo two weeks ago with this exhortation: Even amid tragedy, even when manifestations of evil threaten to overwhelm, let us hold fast to the good. It is the only way that leads to life. As you gather with friends and family, and in worship on Sunday, pray for the strength to hold fast to the good. Yet we must also strive for good, and as citizens demand that more can be done to protect our elders, our young people, and our children from such horror.
To assist you in worship, we’ve collected a few prayers below, including one drafted by the Bishop of West Texas, David Reed, two litanies for after a mass shootings, and others. There is also a wealth of resources on the webpage of Bishops United Against Gun Violence.
For those of you with children and young people in our care, here are two resources to help you through the difficult conversations about what they hear on the news. Reading through these pages, they struck me as holding wise counsel for all our conversations in this tender time.
I know that many of you are holding or participating in prayer vigils and community gatherings in response to the killings. Thank you. For my part, I continue to pray and to advocate for legislation to address this national crisis as I did today with Dean Hollerith and others on the Cathedral grounds.
On Friday, June 3rd, I will join a group of faith leaders to pray at the Capitol on Friday and to urge passage of the gun violence prevention measures that are currently stalled in Congress. Afterwards, we will process to Washington City Church of the Brethren, 337 North Carolina Ave SE, for a public gathering of remembrance and public demonstration of how guns can be transformed into garden tools. If you’d like to join me for the procession and service, please let me know.
May God’s strength and mercy sustain us all.
Faithfully,
Bishop Mariann
A Prayer for Uvalde
The Right Rev. David Reed, Bishop of West Texas
O God our Father, whose beloved Son took children into his arms and blessed them: Give us grace to entrust your beloved children of Uvalde to your everlasting care and love, and bring them fully into your heavenly kingdom. Pour out your grace and loving-kindness on all who grieve; surround them with your love; and restore their trust in your goodness. We lift up to you our weary, wounded souls and ask you to send your Holy Spirit to take away the anger and violence that infects our hearts, and make us instruments of your peace and children of the light. In the Name of Christ who is our hope, we pray. Amen.
A Prayer by Alden Solovy Addressing the Covid-19 Pandemic
Adapted by Reuben Varghese to Address the Gun Violence Epidemic
God of Consolation
Surely you count in heaven,
Just as we count here on earth,
In shock and in sorrow,
The souls sent back to You,
One-by-one,
The dead from this violent epidemic,
As the ones become tens,
The tens become hundreds,
The hundreds become thousands,
The thousands become ten-thousands
And then hundred-thousands,
Each soul, a heartbreak,
Each soul, a life denied.
God of wisdom,
Surely in the halls of divine justice
You are assembling the courts,
Calling witnesses to testify,
To proclaim
The compassion of some
And the callousness of others
As we’ve struggled to cope.
The souls taken too soon,
Whose funerals were premature,
Who didn’t need to die,
Who died alone,
Will tell their stories
When You judge
Our triumphs
And our failures
In these hours of need.
God of healing,
Bless those who stand in service to humanity.
Bless those who grieve.
Bless the dead,
So that their souls are bound up in the bond of life eternal.
And grant those still afflicted
By this disease or trauma
A completed and lasting healing,
One-by-one,
Until suffering ceases,
And we can stop counting the dead,
In heaven And on earth. Amen.
A Litany in the Wake of Gun Violence
The Reverend Michele Morgan, rector of St. Mark’s, Capitol Hill
God of Righteousness, you have given our leaders, especially our President, our Governor, the members of Congress, the judges of our courts and members of our legislatures, power and responsibility to protect us and to uphold our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. For all who bear such responsibility, for all who struggle to discern what is right in the face of powerful political forces, Loving God,
People: Make us instruments of your peace.
God of Compassion, we give you thanks for first responders, for police officers, firefighters and EMTs, and all those whose duties bring them to the streets, the lobbies, the nightclubs and the homes where the carnage of gun violence takes place day after day. Give them courage and sound judgment in the heat of the moment and grant them compassion for the victims. For our siblings who risk their lives and their serenity as they rush to our aid, Loving God,
People: Make us instruments of your peace.
Merciful God, bind up the wounds of all who suffer from gun violence, those maimed and disfigured, those left alone and grieving, and those who struggle to get through one more day. Bless them with your presence and help them find hope. For all whose lives are forever marked by the scourge of gun violence, Loving God,
People: Make us instruments of your peace.
God Who Remembers, may we not forget those who have died, more than 30,000 this year, in the gun violence that we have allowed to become routine. Receive them into your heart and comfort us with your promise of eternal love and care. For our dear ones, for our neighbors, for strangers and aliens, and those known to you alone, Loving God,
People: Make us instruments of your peace.
God of Justice, help us, your church, find our voice. Empower us to change this broken world and to protest the needless deaths caused by gun violence. Give us power to rise above our fear that nothing can be done and grant us the conviction to advocate for change. For your dream of love and harmony, Loving God,
People: Make us instruments of your peace.
FINALLY, help us to turn out as voters and activists to take our anger and change the world so that others may live.
Amen.
Weeping with Uvalde
The Rev. Maria A. Kane, Ph.D., rector of St. Paul’s, Waldorf
God of our weary years,
Death has gutted us and left us reeling…once again.
Mass violence has thrust the people of Uvalde into an unrelenting abyss of grief.
Instead of planning last-day-of-school parties, parents and loves ones must now plan funerals.
It shouldn’t be this way.
It shouldn’t be this way.
It just shouldn’t be this way.
But it is.
Our words fail us.
Our tears drench us.
Our rage consumes us.
Our weariness overwhelms us.
May our sorrow become fuel for compassion; our cynicism a catalyst for honest reflection; and, our rage a drive for holy action, that tools of violence may give way to pathways of peace.
O God, long after the cameras have moved on, may your fierce love and tenderness steady the feeble knees and shattered hearts of those whose lives have been forever changed.
In the name of Jesus, whose love for children knew no bounds and whose heart now weeps in agony, we cry out…and then we work to repair the breach.
Amen.
by Bishop Mariann | May 15, 2022
For 400 years, Americans have wrestled with our original sin of racism and the false doctrine of white supremacy. The wages of that sin have been borne by generations of enslaved African Americans; by Emmet Till and Medgar Evers and Dr. Martin Luther King; by the martyrs of Mother Emanuel; by Trayvon Martin, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor; and countless others known only to God.
That legacy haunts us still, as we confront yet another slaughter, this time at the hands of a white man in a Black neighborhood in Buffalo, N.Y. Every time a life is lost to the murderous ideology of racism, we lose a bit of our soul, and such hate-fueled violence grieves the very heart of God.
Each of the 13 shooting victims is a beloved child of God and we grieve with the families of the 10 who died. Our hearts and our prayers are with those who are mourning in Buffalo.
The 18-year-old gunman in Buffalo did not come into this world harboring hatred in his heart toward Black people. Contempt needs to be taught, nourished and sustained. If we are honest, we must acknowledge that the soil that gives root to such hatred is still being tended in this nation.
This man found a sadistic echo chamber online, amplified by fringe extremist groups that have been granted a veneer of legitimacy by media personalities, politicians and, yes, some religious leaders. He came of age in a country where politicians genuflect to a gun lobby that has made easy access to weapons of war a near sacrament of our civil religion. Here in Washington, D.C., a dozen people have been killed just in the first two weeks of May, and half of all gun deaths are the result of desperate people taking their own lives.
Even as our streets are awash in guns, when the inevitable mass shooting occurs or when a young mother is gunned down while walking her baby, we ask ourselves how this could happen.
In Buffalo, easy access to military-style weapons combined with extremist ideology to produce an act of domestic terrorism. The gunman’s murderous manifesto grew out of a twisted belief that white people are being intentionally “replaced.” But let’s talk about what’s really being replaced in our nation.
Our safe spaces – our grocery stores, movie theaters, classrooms, and yes, even our sanctuaries – are being replaced with crime scenes where innocent blood is shed and families are forever shattered.
Our social contract – built on the idea of mutual respect and a common understanding of fact – is being replaced by dangerous and delusional ideas that are allowed to flourish without penalty or consequence.
As people of faith, we are called to replace hatred with love.
Nearly 60 years ago, after a heinous act of domestic terrorism at Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Dr. King eulogized the four young Black girls who were killed in the bombing: “In their death, they say to all of us, Black and white alike, that we must substitute courage for caution. They say to us that we must be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers.”
The victims of Buffalo are speaking, too. May God grant us ears to hear, eyes to see and hearts to act.
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde
Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington
The Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith
Dean of Washington National Cathedral
