Gun violence is sickeningly common, and Christian leaders often are called upon to respond when it happens. Here are resources from the Faith & Leadership archives to help in that difficult task.
Guns and violence
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Alaina Kleinbeck: Thoughts, prayers and condolences are not enough
The author, who was present at a 2002 mass shooting at Los Angeles International Airport, says faith leaders must not only console their communities after gun violence but also hold them responsible for making a change in our society.
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Kyle Childress: God, guns and guts
What’s the solution to the firearms dilemma for a pastor in gun-loving Texas? Visiting and listening. That allows a pastor to see how isolated and fearful people are, and it offers a chance to connect them to community.
The Rev. Sharon Risher became an advocate for gun safety after her mother was killed in the Emanuel AME Church massacre. Photo courtesy of Sharon Risher
Sharon Risher: God is using me as a messenger for gun safety
A pastor whose mother and cousins were killed at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston speaks out for Everytown for Gun Safety, saying God gives us not only prayer but motivation and willingness to take action.
Photo courtesy of Union Theological Seminary
Lisa L. Thompson: Preaching and teaching about gun violence
Guns and gun violence may not be addressed in Scripture, but human dignity, the sanctity of life and other matters that speak to the issue and resonate with Christians’ core beliefs are, says the Union Theological Seminary homiletics professor.
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Michael McBride: Gun violence, race and the church
Gun violence in America is disproportionately visited upon dark-skinned people in urban neighborhoods, part of a legacy of racism and violence, says a California pastor. And the church must lead the way in transforming such neighborhoods into places of true peace, justice and inclusion.
The Rev. William H. Lamar IV, (center, in the pulpit), at Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, D.C., at a June 21, 2015, service which honored the nine victims of the mass killing in Charleston, South Carolina.
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William H. Lamar IV: Reject the myth of redemptive violence
In the aftermath of the mass killings in Charleston, South Carolina, church leaders must begin having real conversations about the truth of America’s history and its mistaken belief in the myth of redemptive violence, the pastor of Metropolitan AME Church says in this interview.
Responding to tragedy
The Rev. Laura Everett, in front row wearing black and white skirt, joins congregants and other visitors at a June 15 interfaith prayer vigil, asking for healing and unity following gun violence in Orlando, Boston and elsewhere. The vigil was held at Bethel AME in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. Getty Images / Photo by Lane Turner.
There is gospel to preach here: Christian leaders respond to the Orlando shooting
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Resources for leading amid tragedy and crisis
Every tragedy -- large or small, public or private -- is different, but they all pose challenges for leadership. Here are resources from the Faith & Leadership archives on leading in times of tragedy and crisis.
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G. Lee Ramsey Jr.: Las Vegas and the violence in God's vineyard
In the aftermath of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, a homiletics professor and UMC pastor finds an important message in the parable of the vineyard owner’s son: Enough is enough. God did not mean for us to live this way.
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Alaina Kleinbeck: Go where there is violence and defy it
Jesus Christ the Liberator confronts violence, and following Christ means we must go and do likewise, writes the director of Duke Youth Academy.
Laura Everett: What the living do
Mundane, ordinary acts of living defy that which would entomb us, says the executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches in a sermon preached the Sunday after the Boston Marathon bombing.
Reconciliation
Photo by Lissa Gotwals
Bearing witness to the pain of violence
When a faith-based organization realized its tactics were not accomplishing its goal of stopping violence, members tried a new approach: simply being with people who were suffering.
Photo by Lissa Gotwals
Marcia Owen: Affirming the dignity of our neighbors
Justice and healing from violence are best approached by simply being with those who are suffering, says a United Methodist layperson who directs a faith-based organization.
Interrupting violence
CeaseFire has created a new model for combating crime. The key: Looking at urban violence as a public health problem, not a criminal justice problem.
Forgiveness
"Reconciliation -- Luke 15" is a bronze sculpture by Margaret Adams Parker displayed on the terrace of Duke Divinity School. Duke Photography/Les Todd
Christian forgiveness and the Boston Marathon bombing
Faith & Leadership offers resources for pastors and laypeople seeking to explore the question of forgiveness.