Dear friends,
Next Friday, June 6 is National Gun Violence Awareness Day and the kick-off of Wear Orange Weekend. Trinity will observe Wear Orange Sunday this Sunday, June 1, because next Sunday, June 8, we’ll celebrate Pentecost. So please wear orange to church this Sunday! Why orange? Because it’s the color of safety for hunters, chosen to honor 15-year-old Hadiya Pendelton, who was shot and killed on a playground in Chicago in 2013. Dr. Yolanda Dawn Waller will be our guest preacher. Dawn is a gun violence survivor, and I have learned in doing this work that it must be victim and survivor-centered. The voices that need to be amplified are those closest to the issue. Survivors are the leaders of the movement to reduce gun violence. They need and deserve our support. They welcome us to walk with them as allies. Read about Dawn’s background here, and come hear her preach on Sunday!
I became involved in gun violence prevention in Toledo two years ago when I marched in the Old West End Festival parade with Moms Demand Action and met Mike Linehan, a parishioner from Olivet Lutheran Church. Mike and I had a brief conversation about how our two faith communities were wrestling with the issue of gun violence, and exchanged contact information. Later in June, we began to work together to form the Multifaith Coalition to Reduce Gun Violence. We have hosted five public forums on topics including survivor testimonies, legislative advocacy training, safe gun storage, and updates from the City of Toledo’s Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE). About 250 people from more than 50 northwest Ohio congregations representing many faith traditions have participated in at least one forum, including an impressive 40 Trinity parishioners. Thank you for your commitment to help reduce gun violence!
Several members of the Multifaith Coalition to Reduce Gun Violence engaged over the past year and a half in MONSE’s community-driven process to develop Peace in Motion, the City of Toledo’s five-year plan to reduce violence, which was approved by City Council earlier this month. The City’s dedicated efforts have reduced homicides, from 65 in 2022 to 37 in 2024. 2024 saw the lowest number of youth (under age 18) homicides since 2019. The City’s Save Our Community (SOC) program has built up a caseload of young people who are at high risk of experiencing gun violence. SOC staff provide mediation, de-escalation, and connection to services, opportunities and support to help meet their needs. The Peace in Motion plan contains actionable recommendations, such as the launch of the Healing & Compassion Fund – United Way of Greater Toledo to provide immediate financial support after the unfathomable loss of a loved one from gun violence (application and more detail here). The process to develop the Peace In Motion plan has helped to eliminate “silos” within the community around efforts to address gun violence. We can accomplish far more working together than we can in isolation. Partners like the Multifaith Coalition to Reduce Gun Violence bolster this work and ensure a community-oriented approach to addressing gun violence.
This Sunday, we will remember recent victims of gun violence, and honor the bruised and broken, strong and resilient survivors that are leading the movement to prevent gun violence. Free gun locks will be available for anyone who wants them. Here are many resources to explore for more information on how to reduce gun violence: organizations, safe gun storage, books and more. Please email me if you’d like to receive email updates from the Multifaith Coalition to Reduce Gun Violence. See you Sunday with your orange on!
Peace,
Deacon Meribah