Gun violence.  Columbine frightened me.  Sandy Hook bewildered me.  Charleston woke me up.

Wednesday Bible study.  Nine people killed, several of them ministers.  The setting of the Emmanuel AME church shooting June 17, 2015, brought the devastation of gun violence home to me.  When I read the news on my phone the morning of June 18th, I knew that simply scrolling past news articles about mass shootings was no longer an option for me–either as a pastor or as a person.

As I tried to make sense of what happened in Charleston and the catastrophic rise in death and injury due to gun violence, a song emerged.

The more I sang the song and listened to the final chorus–“We can make all this killing end by living out our humanity….”–I began to wonder what that might look like.  After the shooting in San Bernardino, that wondering led to planning a Prayer Vigil to End Gun Violence with other interfaith spiritual leaders in Cobb County.

I hope you will join us this Sunday, May 1, 2:30 p.m., on the Marietta Square.  Our time of prayer and song will begin with lament then will move toward hope, people across our community, across faith traditions working together to act our corner of the world into wellbeing.