The Role of the Church in Gun Violence

The Role of the Church in Gun Violence

by | Jun 14, 2022

In 1999, I was co-pastoring a church in Parker, Colorado when the Columbine shooting happened in the community next door. At that time, school shootings were relatively infrequent. It was wholly unbelievable that it had happened in our community. Even more unthinkable was that it would be the beginning of a decades-long battle, where these kinds of events became increasingly frequent.

The church was flooded with broken-hearted people who wanted to know why such a tragic event had taken place. We led a series of healing services in an attempt to deal with this devastating reality.

Pictures of the victims were in every newspaper and on every broadcast. I aimed to remember the name and story of each student and teacher who had been killed. I never thought I’d see the day where non-stop shootings made it impossible to remember all who have been lost. And now, here we are.

After the recent mass shooting at a Tulsa, OK medical clinic I texted my clergy colleague, James, who pastors in that community and asked what I could do to help. James replied with such a clear and powerful response that I promised to take action. I invite you to do so as well. But first, let me give you some background.

 

The Intensifying Problem of Gun Violence

In the last 3 months alone, there have been mass shootings at a Taiwanese church (Laguna Woods, California), a grocery store in a primarily black neighborhood (Buffalo, New York), an elementary school (Uvalde, Texas), and a medical center (Tulsa, Oklahoma). Sadly, this list is not comprehensive. These are just the stories that have made the national news.

Gun violence is at a higher rate than ever, even with stay-at-home orders being imposed for the greater part of 2020. According to the Pew Research Center, “The 2020 total [number of gun murders] represented a 34% increase from the year before, a 49% increase over five years and a 75% increase over 10 years.”

Yet, our methods of coping have not kept pace with the rise in gun violence. The pandemic badly disrupted our normal means of belonging, further worsening the situation. The government is often at a standstill on this matter. Churches struggling with dwindling attendance often feel overwhelmed with the idea of taking on potentially divisive issues. Thus we are left in a reactive mode when it comes to gun violence.

 

The Myth Behind Mass Shootings

With this background in mind, let me next dispel a common myth. That is, that there is only one kind of mass shooting and one kind of answer. But we can already see that schools, stores, medical clinics, and churches represent a range of public spaces. Add to that nightclubs, festivals, synagogues, mosques, homes, and places of work, and the list of where gun violence takes place goes on and on.

When it comes to fixing the problem—answers range there as well. Should we find help for the single, young, disturbed white male with poor mental health? Should we be concerned about the radical White supremacists that have infiltrated every corner of the internet and are spreading prejudice and intolerance to anyone who will listen? Should we get better gun policies?  Should we promote better school safety? Your answer may depend on your political leanings, or simply on your knowledge of the situation. Yet as much as we know, we seem to have taken action on precious little.

 

The Church’s Role in Gun Violence

James reminded me that the church does have a positive role to play in gun violence. One that goes beyond comforting victims and actually gets to root causes. “Prayers are appreciated, but the best thing we can do is to put pressure on politicians to get real about addressing the root problems. Mental health, common sense gun policies, the pervasive culture of hate and violence, and the deflection of responsibility. As a clergy leader, I am preaching, leading, and encouraging members of my community to take action.”

I love this list because it’s not either/or. It’s not us vs. them. And, it’s not beyond our reach. After all, our baptismal vows call us to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves, and to be a witness for the gospel of good.

 

Next Steps

As part of my commitment to take action, I’ll be addressing each of these components in turn through the lens of the church. As we continue to heal ourselves, our congregations, and our communities, I’d like to offer some suggestions for next steps you can take today or in the coming week:

  • Create space for conversation in your ministry setting. Gun violence impacts everybody, and everybody is concerned, no matter what their answers are for how to deal with it.
  • Plan to preach a series on these topics.
  • Tune into my upcoming Leadership Mojo broadcasts on Facebook Live, where I’ll discuss these topics with some special guests.
  • Join me for the next three blogs in this series for a more in-depth look into the four components that need to be addressed to impact gun violence.

I want to leave you with the following thought, which was published in a recent editorial featured in Intermountain Jewish News:

“There is no single answer to mass shootings. But there are answers. There is an all hands on deck approach. There is: both/and. Yes to better gun laws (as we have urged repeatedly). And, yes to additional mental health services (as we have also urged repeatedly). And, yes to federal standards of safety for schools (and, yes to Democrats and Republicans working together on this). And, yes to a painful process of national introspection on the decline in our personal mores and on the social media obsession that leaves so many isolated. And, yes to anti-bullying efforts… We owe it to [our children] ‘to do something.’ But, in our simplistic world ‘to do something’ has come to mean, ‘to find the solution.’ Which has also come to mean: to reject an opponent’s solution. Which means: do nothing.”

Copyright © 2022 rebekahsimonpeter.com, All Rights Reserved.

Three Tips for Church Leaders in Weird and Crazy Times

Three Tips for Church Leaders in Weird and Crazy Times

by | Apr 13, 2021

Three Tips for Church Leaders in Weird and Crazy Times

How do you lead well as a church leader in a weird and crazy world?

Most church leaders were trained to lead congregations during times of relative stability. You knew you would have to work harder than your predecessors to keep and attract young people. You knew you would have to don more hats and roles than those who came before you. You even knew you might have to steward churches through the process of closing their doors. All of that was trying, stressful. But in retrospect, it was easy compared to the times you’re in now.

Today, you are doing all the above while leading congregations through succeeding waves of a global pandemic. At the same time, you’re dealing with ongoing racial reckonings and trying to keep political division from derailing your ability to preach the Gospel.

Seminary didn’t give you a playbook for leading in times like these.

That’s why I’d like to give you three tips for leading in these weird and crazy times. Plus, I’ll share with you the beautiful flip side of weird and crazy. Finally, I want to give you a hint about how long to expect things to be this weird and crazy.

Our spiritual superpower.

Let’s start with the flip side of weird and crazy.

While the world is spiraling out of control, a new era of human cooperation is also taking shape. It’s as unexpected as all the weird and crazy stuff. But it’s the stuff of hope.

The most obvious example is how scientists from around the globe quickly collaborated to produce at least three highly effective vaccines using innovative technology, developed in part through the genius of female scientists. Remember when public health officials speculated that there might never be a vaccine? Now, hundreds of different vaccines are being tested. Crazy, huh?

Less obvious is the way that strangers came together to support people whom they never met. For instance, the crowdfunding site GoFundMe raised $625M in just six months for COVID relief. At the same time, giving to advance racial justice skyrocketed. Meditation groups multiplied all over the world as people brought spirituality into their homes. Online worship numbers soared even as yoga classes, 12-step meetings, and concerts streamed directly into people’s living rooms. Crazy good.

These two extremes—both the chaos and the creativity—remind me of Deuteronomy 30:19: “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse: therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live.”

That choice is still before us. It will remain a stark set of choices for at least the next five years, a period that correlates with increased solar activity. Solar flares are historically correlated with the highest incidences of human reactivity—like revolution and civil war—as well as equally high incidences of human flourishing—like breakthroughs in the arts and sciences. This time of volatility will last through 2025. So, expect to be working with the energies of change for a while.

Church leadership, a candle symbolizing energies

Church leaders, your role is to channel these energies. Here are three important tips on how to do this.

  1. Don’t underestimate your influence as leader. You have the distinct privilege of channeling these energies. There’s a reason the biblical writer noted that “without a vision the people perish.” Leaders bring vision. Vision paints a positive picture of the future that guides people’s focus, resources, and imagination. Visionless people, on the other hand, wander; they can wander into chaos or creativity.
  2. Use your influence wisely. Actively steer folks toward being spiritually grounded, and emotionally centered. The more self-regulated they are, the more they will be able to tap into creativity and collaboration, instead of chaos and grievance. Capitalize on this season of change by calling your people to their own greatness. They will rise to the occasion and join you in your positive vision.
  3. Declare what you are FOR. When your vision is “against” or “anti” you exacerbate the energies of division. As tempting as it is, don’t go there. Being against something reprehensible may strengthen you, but it also strengthens “them.” When you choose what you are FOR, however, you draw forth the energies of collaboration. When you are FOR something, anyone, even “them” can join in.
Yes, these are weird and crazy times, church leaders. Not only because of the health, economic, and societal challenges we face, but because of how much good is taking place! Click To Tweet

The human family is coming together to create a global network of resilience. Strangers far and wide are eager to help bear one another’s burdens. We finally get how interconnected we are. Faith leader, this is your time to lift up Jesus, his dream of the Kingdom, and the Beloved Community that calls us all.

You don’t have to weather these weird and crazy times alone.  Join me for a free seminar, How to Create a Culture of Renewal, in which you’ll learn the barriers to achieving renewal, the miracles renewal can bring, and how to take your next step—a “must attend” for church leaders.

The Vital Step Your Church Can Take in Addressing Racism

The Vital Step Your Church Can Take in Addressing Racism

by | Jul 6, 2020

As conversations about race, racism, and racial justice heat up, you may be wondering what you can do to engage your congregation and your community in addressing racism. Where should you begin? March for Black Lives Matter? Write letters to the editor? Support people of color in your midst?  While all of these are important actions, I suggest a more basic, yet vital, step to take. Begin by defining terms.

When asked the question, “Are you racist?” most people I know would answer “No.” That answer makes sense if you understand racism to be conscious of hatefulness toward a person of a different race. Instead, that’s a more apt definition of prejudice, not racism.  Yet so many conversations on race and racism get stopped right there: “But I’m not a racist!”

Just as you wouldn’t conduct a Bible study without distinguishing between the Gospels and the Letters of Paul, or between the Old and New Testaments, so having a conversation on race and racism without using agreed-upon terms would be equally frustrating and fruitless.

Racism is not so much about the particular actions of a prejudiced individual or group—even though that is one of Merriam-Webster’s current dictionary definitions—as it is about how prejudice is built into a society’s very systems and structures. Especially when those systems and structures deliver vastly different results for White people and Black people or other people of color. In that case, every White person I know, including me, is racist.  Not because you or I consciously chose to be, but because of the systems we are born into.

What can you do to engage your congregation and your community in addressing racism? I suggest beginning by defining terms. Click To Tweet

The Important of Addressing Racism

While I can’t speak to systems in other countries, US society is built on a series of interlocking systems of wealth, education, housing, criminal justice, and media that inherently extend the privilege to White people while at the same time disadvantaging non-White people. Check out this video for a quick introduction to these five interlocking systems.

Racism isn’t the only term that needs a deeper explanation. The idea of race itself requires exploration. Ancestry.com and 23andMe aside, genetically speaking there are very few differences between the so-called races of humanity. When it comes to differentiating between peoples, even the Bible does not speak of race; rather it speaks of tribes and nations.  In a word, the race isn’t real.  That doesn’t mean White people can or should be color-blind. Because while racial distinctions aren’t real, racism is.  Even if you can’t see it or haven’t experienced it.

Last week, I interviewed Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, author of Race, Law, and American Society for the launch of the Uncomfortable Conversations series. A civil rights attorney and professor of constitutional law, she was very knowledgeable and articulate.  We spoke about these very terms.  My takeaways from our hour together included the value of listening to each other, learning from each other, and using a shared vocabulary. These values make possible a new and positive shared future where everyone has a fair shot at a good life.

Understanding and transforming a society built on systemic racism won’t be easy.  Or comfortable.  But it will bring us that much closer to Jesus’ big dream: “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

How the Pandemic Prepared Churches to Address Racism

How the Pandemic Prepared Churches to Address Racism

by | Jun 9, 2020

Over the last three months, the church pivoted quickly to be able to serve people in a new way.  You have made changes that needed to be made for years.  You have moved from being building-bound to offering online worship, from attendance-based giving to online giving, and from resisting change to embracing it. In many ways, churches have weathered the pandemic well.

Now, a new crisis is before us.  Pain and outrage over the recent videotaped murder of George Floyd, and so many others, has brought American society to a tipping point. Most folks agree—systemic racism, and implicit bias, is a pervasive problem. It must end.

Can the church effectively pivot from one crisis to the next?  My answer is yes.  In fact, I think the pandemic has actually prepared churches for just such a time as this.  

The deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor and so many others, point to a series of changes that have been needing to be made for many long years. The issue of structural or systemic racism has been with us since the founding of our country.  While much progress has been made, clearly, we are not there yet.

The church, once hemmed by tradition and limited by fear of change, has proven it can slip the knots that prevented it from making meaningful change. The result is a brand new way of being a spiritual community. The church can reimagine worship, fellowship, giving, Holy Communion, baptism, funerals, and hospitality—the very things that defined it before. It can do the same with the insistent tentacles of systemic racism. In part, because there are a surprising number of similarities between the two crises.

Systemic racism is a pervasive problem. The pandemic has actually prepared churches for just such a time as this. Read more here: Click To Tweet

Racism vs. A Pandemic

Surprising Number Of Similarities

First, like the pandemic, systemic racism has far-reaching life and death implications.  Addressing it well means we have to change the way we think about things and do things. The church now has experience with this.

Second, churches now know that what seemed impossible before is actually quite possible.  Although many congregations resisted the idea for years, they can now make quick adjustments based on changing circumstances, adopt new forms of communication, and embrace innovative ways of being a community. Similarly, recognizing and addressing systemic racism once seemed impossible to many. But if mainline congregations can grow and thrive during a pandemic, then perhaps churches do have the agility to tackle something as pervasive as systemic racism.

Third, churches learned a new language to deal with an invisible virus whose vocabulary includes social distancing, droplets, and N95 masks. It also mastered new technologies like Facebook Live, Zoom, breakout rooms, and online giving platforms. Likewise, dealing with the almost invisible scourge of systemic racism will require a new language and a new willingness to try emerging technologies.

Fourth, during the pandemic, tired church practices yielded to more foundational life-giving spirituality. Taking the claims of systemic racism seriously will require a shift from dogmatic denials of racism and the unconscious exercise of the privilege to painful yet life-giving awareness of the people and the world around us.

Fifth, and finally, the faith-based community enjoyed a resurgence during the pandemic.  People looked to spiritual leaders to provide meaning, solace, and inspiration. In the same way, spiritual leaders can guide us in this uncomfortable new world of identifying unconscious bias, unacknowledged privilege, and unseen barriers that have kept us away from each other.

Beloved Community

None of this will be easy.  And none of this is guaranteed.  It will take equal parts guts, prayer, self-reflection, education, determination, inspiration, and action to make the changes needed to envision and ensure a world that works for everyone. But now is the time to begin.  It just might be the Beloved Community that arises.

Your First Sunday Back

Your First Sunday Back

by | Jun 1, 2020

“What should we focus on during our first Sunday back in the building?” someone recently asked me. “Celebration,” I said, without thinking. “Celebrate who you have become through this pandemic.  A crisis of this proportion has expanded your capacity.  Own it. Celebrate what you accomplished together. Even if, and especially if, you have sustained losses. Don’t let their passing be without meaning.”

The scriptures lay out a history of celebration in the midst of national trauma. The Passover celebration took place in the wake of a dozen plagues. Both Moses and Miriam led the Israelites in song and dance after crossing the Red Sea. Even the song was sung at contemporary Passover Seders, Dayenu (translated “it would have been enough”), is a litany of God’s faithfulness in light of an unspeakable tragedy.

In this article, I am going to share the three steps to celebrate your first Sunday back even as COVID-19 continues to spread. Just as importantly, I’m going to share a bonus step with you about how to not waste a good crisis.

Celebrate Your First Sunday Back

On your first Sunday back, a celebration is highly appropriate.  But when you celebrate, make sure that you don’t focus on God’s faithfulness to the exclusion of your own. God’s faithfulness means nothing if you don’t join in the dance with God. Likewise, your readiness means nothing if you have missed God’s cues. Celebrate your wins as a mutual partnership with the Divine.

Remember the Journey

As you prepare to celebrate, first, highlight the events and turning points that led you to this moment. For instance, when and how did you make the decision to go online?  When and how did you throw caution to the wind (figuratively speaking, of course) so that you could quickly organize for worship outside the building?  When and how did you decide the way you would make online giving available?  Online pastoral care?  Online missions? How did you reach out to your community?  What ministries have continued unabated?  Who has been involved in these decisions and ministries?

Gather these memories as stones on a journey, markers of the terrain you have traveled. But don’t stop there. Reflect, too, on the spiritual lessons the pandemic has taught you.  Think about the funerals, memorial services, and weddings you may have performed. What did you learn about the value of community? The value of presence? Gather these memories to share as well.

Finally, consider those who have served your congregation and community with kindness, skill, and passion. Be sure to lift them up in prayer, celebrating their integrity and sacrifice.

Choose Your Words with Intention for Your First Sunday Back

Second, as you select which memories to share, be intentional about word choice. You are crafting a narrative that will live on in the minds and hearts of the people. How you frame your communal story sets the stage for what comes next. Instead of getting caught in the post-pandemic blues, set the stage for your next vision and the next stage of growth.

Three steps to celebrate your 1st Sunday back at church. Read more here: Click To Tweet

Growth and Gaps

Not everything you recall will be cause for celebration. Doubtless, you goofed up on some things.  You mishandled a challenging situation or relationship. Probably you let some things slip through the cracks. So, third, find ways to acknowledge the gaps as well as the growth. There is nothing to be ashamed of. Both the gaps and the growth can lead to your deepened skill as a leader, and your deepened faith as a congregation.