On Wednesday April 12th the Texas Impact Ending Gun Violence (EGV) Issue team took their work to the Texas capitol and held a prayer breakfast to remember victims of gun violence and open up discussion on the issue. The event has been a long time coming for the EGV team, who have been following and meeting with legislators from the House select committee for Community Safety, of which several attended: Rep. Bowers from Mesquite dropped by, who has been a long time supporter of Texas Impact and spoke on the need for more groups and individuals who care about gun violence to keep coming to the capitol and being active in the political space. Rep. Goodwin, who sponsored the event, also was able to make an appearance. Rep. Goodwin has also been a steadfast advocate for safer gun laws as she tragically lost her father to gun violence in their Dallas home.
The event consisted of several speakers and silent prayer stations to be used during and after the event. The prayer stations, which were handled by EGV member Rev. Rob Mueller, included a tree of life in which individuals could attach their fears related to gun violence and their hopes for progress. There also was a station to write the names of victims of gun violence on a piece of ribbon and tie it to a frame. The ribbon frame already had all of the names of the victims from Uvalde, Nashville and Louisville tied to it.
Several other members of the EGV prayed at the event, bringing attention to victims and discussing why they feel called to work on this issue. Presbyterian Pastor Emily Owens of Hyde Park Hills opened the breakfast and talked about how every morning she worries about seeing her two young kids again after dropping them off at school, “I remind them to be kind and to show love to everyone. I want those to be the words that echo in their heads all day. Then the car door closes and my heart sinks a little and I say a prayer that they are safe and that I get to see them again in the afternoon.”
Rabbi Nancy Kasten, while unable to attend in person due to Passover, was able to give voice to our Jewish members at the breakfast and called out for a unified response to gun violence, “Help us move on. Not by forgetting about the horrors, not by explaining them away. Not by blaming the easy targets. But by having the courage to mourn the dead, to heal the victims and bless the first responders. To lead with love, to change laws and to save lives.”
Methodist Minister Stephen Sanders closed the event with a prayer that gave silence and space to remember those we have lost to gun violence and described his own personal journey to work in advocacy, “I stayed quiet for too long hoping something would change, that our legislators would take action and after Uvalde something stirred within me… I had to get engaged.”
While the prayer breakfast was a somber event, it was certainly not one without hope. Our keynote speaker was Bryan Miller from Heeding God’s Call to End Gun Violence. Heeding God’s Call, is a faith-based, grassroots movement to stop gun violence that works in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The goals of Heeding God’s Call are to convince gun sellers to be good citizens, and to motivate people of faith to become more active in reducing gun violence. Bryan described how Heeding God’s Call has been effective in putting pressure on Gun Shop Owners to stop selling guns illegally through constant protest and witness. Heeding God’s Call has been able to get Philadelphia to crack down on straw purchases and even close some manufacturers’ doors who wouldn’t enact safe practices.
They also work with families of victims of gun violence, reminding and reassuring them that they are not alone. Heeding God’s Call is also responsible for the installation of “Memorials to the Lost” where youth create T-shirts bearing the names of gun victims in Philadelphia from the previous year, plus their ages and the dates of their deaths (which raises awareness that real people, often young, are lost to gun violence.) These T-shirts are then displayed together (looking like cloth tombstones) for two weeks per location on the grounds of congregations and schools. The displays have been effective in both changing the local gun culture and bringing attention to gun violence to legislators in their communities.
Energized by Bryan Miller, the Ending Gun Violence Issue ended the day by visiting all legislators from the Community Safety Committee who didn’t attend the prayer breakfast to keep pressing for open conversation on the issue and work towards change. Texas Impact and its volunteer teams will continue to work on ending gun violence and other issues during this legislature and beyond. As members of the faith community we cannot sit idly by while our communities continue to suffer. We must heed God’s call to seek long lasting change for a better, more peaceful world.
