Liturgical Action

Actions for Parishes and Families

Liturgical Actions to Raise Awareness and Nurture Hope:

 * Observe #WearOrange Sunday on June 9, 2024, in support of National Gun Violence Awareness Weekend.  Wear orange for worship, the color hunters wear for safety. Visit www.wearorange.org for sample fliers and other ideas and resources.

* Create an orange altar cloth and stoles.

 * Preach Gun Violence Prevention on Gun Violence Awareness Weekend or any Sunday of the year.

 * Make us Instruments of your Peace Litany” by the Rt. Rev. Stephen Lane (via Bishops United Against Gun Violence).  Bishop Lane offers this litany for a congregational vigil in the aftermath of a shooting, when words are not enough but all that we have.  Visit the B.U.A.G.V. website for other prayers and litanies. This vigil from the Washington National Cathedral lifts up victims, families, and survivors of gun violence.

* Invite a SURVIVOR of gun violence to be part of  the worship service. Lead the prayers of the people, preach and share their story.

* Pray for the victims of gun violence regularly in the Prayers of the People. This liturgical action can take many forms, beginning with simple truths:  “We pray for all the children who lost their lives this week to gun violence, the #1 cause of childhood death.”  To engage in “Say Their Names” in memory of victims requires a sustained commitment to keeping a log of gun deaths in one's town or region. The Prayers of the People can raise awareness of the magnitude of gun violence. It is more than mass shootings; it is suicides, accidents, criminal acts, lethal policing, domestic violence. 

Educational Actions to Raise Awareness and Nurture Hope:

* Organize a parish “Guns to Gardens” event. Dismantle guns surrendered at community buybacks or donated privately and turn them into gardening tools.  Visit Guns to Gardens to begin planning. Then visit the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship’s GVP program for the date of their next online training series. Contact Church of the Epiphany in Euclid OH (via email) to speak with the designers of a successful “Guns to Gardens” event.

* Intergenerational project: make Orange Stoles as symbolic reminders of our prayerful desire to engage in gun violence prevention. It's a new twist on making Advent Wreaths during coffee hour!

* Study websites of leading Gun Violence Prevention organizations to learn the horrific effects of gun violence in our nation today. Visit Bishops United Against Gun Violence, Brady, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, and all the affiliates of Everytown for Gun Safety.  Base your action in facts.

 * Use liturgical, prayer, and advocacy materials on gun violence prevention gathered by the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio’s EPF Chapter from a wide range of ecumenical sources.