| Ways to Help Uvalde
NCC Newsletter June 3, 2022 |
| | NCC Agonizes After the Elementary School Shooting in Texas
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| | They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. Psalm 106:37-38 NRSVueThe National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) grieves for the 21 lives lost at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. We pray for the loved ones of the 19 children and two teachers who were killed and for the 17 who were wounded.
There are no words sufficient for the horror of this act. Our United States are covered with blood - the blood of innocent children and their teachers. We mourn these new victims as we still grieve the lives lost and traumatized during past school massacres at Columbine High School, Red Lake Senior High School, Nickle Mines schoolhouse, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Rancho Tehama Elementary School, Stoneman Douglas High School, and Santa Fe High School. This year so far, there have been 27 school shootings and over 200 mass shootings in our country. The long-term effects of these shootings exacerbate the harm and trauma experienced by those most impacted as well as our nation as a whole.
We must act to stop this from ever happening again. It is sinful to offer thoughts and prayers without taking decisive action to reform gun legislation.
An overwhelming majority of Americans want tighter gun laws. A recent survey found that 90% of registered US voters want background checks required for all gun sales. Yet, those who have made idols out of guns they sell for profit continue to be in control of national gun laws through political contributions and lobbying efforts. A false theology of “God and guns” has also seeped into too many churches giving cover for elected officials who are intent on doing nothing to stop these mass shootings. Since this horrendous shooting of elementary school children, the main gun lobby organization, the National Rifle Association, continued to promote the sale of guns at their annual meeting in Houston, just a few hundred miles from Uvalde, with the participation of the former president and current Texas elected leaders. When will there be justice?
We admonish those who assert that even more guns should be placed in our communities. Arming more people is not the solution. We know that the best way to stop bad people with guns is to prevent them from having guns. We hold the simple truth that with more guns, there are more gun deaths.
Every country has people with mental health issues and racist beliefs but only US laws make it easy to pick up a gun and kill people, easier, in fact, than it is to obtain a driver’s license. The US has more gun violence than every other developed nation in the world. This is shameful and we should not accept that we must live like this.
“We are angry,” said Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, NCC Interim President and General Secretary. “The right to bear arms is not the right to kill innocent children, teachers, or grocery store shoppers. We can’t be tempted to blame everything on mental health instability, either. No one should be able to purchase assault-style weapons, especially not someone not even old enough to buy alcoholic beverages.”
There are legislative solutions that we know will be effective. In addition to expanding Medicaid in every state in order to make mental health services available to all who need them, stricter gun laws must also be passed. The NCC continues to call for thorough background checks and the ban of assault guns and other military-grade weapons, which have no practical use in our communities beyond mass shootings. The nation should also have “red flag” laws so that law enforcement and others can stop people from buying guns and confiscate guns if they already own them.
Today, we again reaffirm, our 1967 statement calling for Firearms Control. The NCC holds that the God-given “right to life” is fundamental and sacred and that it is not possible to protect life and maintain public order when individuals have unregulated access to firearms. Then and now, the NCC calls for permit requirements that incorporate “proper identification of applicant (by the fingerprint method if possible), and a waiting period prior to issuance so that an adequate check can be made of the prospective purchaser to verify such matters as age, absence of mental illness, and lack of a felony record.” In addition, we repeat our 2010 call for local, state, and federal legislators “to enact reforms that limit access to assault weapons and handguns, including closing the so-called federal ‘gun show loophole,’ which allows for the purchase of firearms from private sellers without submitting to a background check, or providing documentation of the purchase.”
Furthermore, we challenge those who have embraced White Christian Nationalism and associate guns with their identity as Christians. We ask them to examine how unchecked use of guns reflect our Christian beliefs. Considering guns as sacred above every other right including voting, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion is immoral.
“We pray but we know that prayers are not enough,” stated Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton, NCC Governing Board Chair and Presiding Bishop of the Fifth Episcopal District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. “The NCC calls on the members of our denominations to advocate, vote, and campaign for appropriate gun laws and elect people who will continue to put our lives, and the lives of our children, above the profit of gun companies. Over 50 years of advocacy has not brought results. We need our churches to have the tough conversations around gun laws and hope that ministers will feel compelled to bravely enter into discussions about gun safety laws in their congregations. We will not be silent and as people of faith, we must act.”
NCC’s policies adopted by the NCC Governing Board regarding gun control:
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| | | Pastoral Letter With Ways to Help Uvalde
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| | | | | Bishop McKenzie Scheduled to Travel to Uvalde, TX |
| The NCC announces that Bishop McKenzie will be traveling to Uvalde, Texas, this Saturday to provide a ministry of presence to this community experiencing unspeakable tragedy following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, where 19 children and two teachers were murdered. There are also 17 other victims who were wounded in the shooting. Bishop McKenzie will attend the morning worship service at St. Philip's Episcopal Church on Sunday, June 5, 2022.
“There are no words and when there are no words, the ministry of presence is needed,” explained Bishop McKenzie. “I will go and pray with and for church members and the community. I hope that my visit motivates people to give support to the families who are experiencing this tragedy and have immediate needs that are not being met as they wait for other funds to be distributed. As I go bearing gifts, I encourage others to give their gifts and send thoughts and prayers in a tangible way.”
“Thank you for reaching out to us,” responded Rev. Dr. Michael K. Marsh, rector of St. Philip’s. “We greatly appreciate your prayers and support. We welcome your presence with us in worship and prayer.”
The NCC released a statement on June 2 expressing the grief many in the nation feel at the loss of so many innocent lives. “There are no words sufficient for the horror of this act,” says the statement. It goes on to say, “We must act to stop this from ever happening again. It is sinful to offer thoughts and prayers without taking decisive action to reform gun legislation.”
The Episcopal Church is one of NCC’s member denominations. Bishop McKenzie’s visit to Uvalde comes just a week and a half following a trip to Buffalo, NY, where she met with families of those murdered at Tops Grocery Store, as well as churches, community groups and agencies providing help and support for that community following the massacre of 11 innocent people by a gunman who targeted them because they were Black.
For those who would like to know ways to support the families of the victims and the Uvalde community, a list of resources is below.
WAYS TO HELP UVALDE FROM REV. DR. MARSH, ST PHILIP’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
While large amounts of money are being collected through various organizations and foundations it is not yet being released and some families need financial assistance now. St. Philip’s is collecting monetary donations to assist with those immediate financial needs. Here’s how churches can help:
Online Giving
https://stphilipsuvalde.breezechms.com/give/online Use the dropdown arrow on the right to designate that you would like your donation to go to “Robb/Uvalde Outreach Fund”
Text Giving
Text the amount and “Uvalde” to 830-240-2070. For example: text "$50 Uvalde” - please be sure to include the notation of “Uvalde” after the amount.
Giving by Mail
Make checks payable to “St. Philip’s Episcopal Church” with a notation of “Robb/Uvalde Outreach,” and mail to:
St. Philip’s Episcopal Church
343 North Getty
Uvalde, TX 78801
Purchase Gift Cards
Purchase a $100 or $50 Visa or Amex gift card and mail it to St. Philip’s at the address above.
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| | Why We Can't Wait - HR 40 On the Move |
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Introduced by Dr. Ron Daniels as the "go-to faith leader" for reparations, Rev. Aundreia Alexander, Esq., NCC Associate General Secretary of Action and Advocacy for Justice and Peace, provided the invocation and remarks at the virtual national rally, “Why We Can’t Wait: HR-40 On the Move.” The rally was convened on June 1, 2022 and sponsored by the HR-40 Strategy Group to declare Juneteenth "Reparations and Racial Justice Day."
“America has a truth problem," stated Rev. Alexander during her remarks. "The Doctrine of Discovery, Manifest Destiny, American exceptionalism, the hierarchy of Whiteness and patriarchy, are all in this nation’s DNA. They are lies. America has a truth problem. These principles are grounded in the misinterpretation of Christian biblical and theological beliefs that denied the very image of God reflected in every human being and thereby denies God’s existence and that my friends, is blasphemous. A sin for which this nation must account for. Reparatory justice includes acknowledging the truth of an injustice, repenting, and making right the wrong and committing to transformational changes that ensure we don’t repeat those wrongs. HR 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act is a tool to start that process.”
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| | | | | COVID-19 Pandemic Response: Made To Save Issues Report |
| | Made to Save has issued a full Impact Report which details their success and includes recommendations on how to continue saving lives from COVID-19 and how to build a resilient public health infrastructure to respond to future threats.
As we have shared in this newsletter, the Made To Save coalition worked to increase vaccine access, equity, and information across the country, especially in communities of color that were hit the hardest by the pandemic. The coalition also addressed long-standing public health disparities laid bare by the pandemic. |
| | | Interfaith Vigil to End Gun Violence in DC
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National Faith Leaders for Ending Gun Violence is gathering together for a solemn interfaith vigil followed by a procession to a major rally in Washington, DC on Wednesday June 8, 2022. In this moment faith leaders are called to go beyond thoughts and prayers to take action as religious leaders can no longer tolerate their complicity in the deaths of innocent people.
The event begins at 10:00 am ET at the Church of the Reformation, which is accessible from Union Station and Capitol South Metro stations. The event will include a musical offering and testimony from gun violence survivors and interfaith leaders; 21 moments of silence for those killed in Uvalde, Texas; a poetic lament for the 10 killed by hate and terrorism in Buffalo, NY; and a Sacred Litany for Those Lost to Gun Violence before the group processes to the rally on Capitol Hill at 11 am ET. Clergy are invited to wear clergy attire.
The vigil will call for officials to pass legislation for common sense gun laws including universal background checks, extreme risk protection orders, and community violence intervention funding.
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| | | | Join the NCC in Washington, DC on June 18th |
| | NCC is partnering with the Poor People's Campaign (PPC) to mobilize people from across the country to join us in Washington, D.C. Make sure you RSVP in advance and when you do, select "National Council of Churches USA" as your Mobilizing Partner on the form.
The "Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly & Moral March on Washington and to the Polls" will be a declaration of the power of poor and low-wealth people and our moral allies. The NCC joins with the PPC to declare, "The system is broken. We all know it. Political and policy violence is being waged on the poor every day. But we refuse to be silent, and demand that our voices will be heard. On June 18, we will assemble and march on Washington and demand an end to systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation and the war economy." |
| | | | | Here's this week's faith-related Wordle! We've customized the game solutions to be religion-based each Friday. If you have never played, click on the "Play" button and you will be able to find instructions by clicking the "i" for information. Please share this newsletter with your friends, family, and faith community members who may enjoy completing these special Wordles! |
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