Gun Violence Prevention Organizing
A Church of the Brethren Gun Violence Prevention Action Team formed in 2023 to galvanize the Church of the Brethren to be faithful as an effective force for reducing gun violence in our neighborhoods and wherever it occurs.
Goals:
- Convene conversations across the denomination, to share our lived experiences with guns and gun violence, clarify our convictions as Christians and Brethren, and identify strategies for action.
- Build a network of CoB gun violence prevention advocates who provide mutual support, inspiration, and skill-sharing.
- Catalyze congregations to take collective action as Christians, witnessing to God’s shalom/God’s purpose for humanity.
- Activate agencies and institutions of the Church of the Brethren to bring their own resources and expertise to this effort
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GVP Organizing Meetings / 2025 Initiatives / 2025 Calendar / Buy a T-Shirt / Resources
GVP ORGANIZING MEETINGS
Each quarter, the COB GVP Action Team hosts an online organizing meeting designed for Church of the Brethren members and friends concerned about the escalating issue of gun violence in our country who either want to get involved or who are already involved in some way. We especially encourage all current and potential Congregational Ambassadors to attend these meetings.
Our next meeting will be May 3 @ 1pm ET / 10am PT. RSVP here.
Slides from previous organizing meetings can be accessed here.
2025 INITIATIVES
In 2025, the GVP Action Team is focusing on the word effective in our purpose statement. We want to ask ourselves, you, and your communities: what does it look like to be effective at reducing gun violence? At our February 8, 2025 quarterly organizing meeting, we shared our 2025 initiatives, which focus on effectiveness in gun violence reduction for the purpose of preparing ourselves, you, and your communities for future action. We are encouraging COB members, congregations, and ambassadors passionate about gun violence prevention to choose one initiative to work on amidst any other work. Those initiatives are:
Safe Gun Storage Initiative
We will be using resources from Be SMART, a campaign launched by Everytown for Gun Safety which promotes responsible gun ownership. It is an educational program designed to help people understand the importance of safe storage for reducing gun violence and encourage conversation about the topic.
What are we asking you to do?
- Initiate a gun safety effort in your neighborhood or community using resources from Be SMART and On Earth Peace.
- Be SMART has informational resources, conversation guides, webinars, as well as additional training opportunities. The COB GVP AT & OEP will provide additional guidance.
Our Goal
We want Church of the Brethren congregations to commit to:
- Responsible gun ownership through storing any individually owned guns safely.
- Investing in their local communities by becoming a partner in promoting safe gun storage in their neighborhoods.
Kingian Nonviolence Step One Initiatives in Two Paths
The first step when beginning any campaign or initiative is information gathering. This is critical to developing an effective strategy for change. Two paths toward gathering this information are individual connections and collaborative dialogue.
What are we asking you to do?
1. Individual Connection Path
- Find and connect with five key individuals in your community who are already thinking about or working on gun violence.
- OEP will provide you with resources for developing an initial list to work from and how to frame your first conversations to ask relevant questions that get you the information you need to know.
2. Collaborative Dialogue Path
- Host a public meeting in your community around gun violence.
- Participate in a harvesting session with all groups who have hosted meetings.
- OEP will provide the “World Cafe” resource to help guide your meeting.
Our Goal
We want Church of the Brethren congregations to prepare for future action on gun violence prevention by building relationships in their community and building an analysis that will lay a foundation for future effective action.
Strategic Thinking Initiative
Our work is one small slice of a greater long-term gun violence prevention movement in the U.S. In order to develop a long-term strategy, we need to understand the big picture and where we fit in it.
What are we asking of you?
- We are calling all strategically minded people to participate in a short-term research project to answer relevant questions about GVP as an organizing movement.
- Analysis will be from a Kingian Nonviolence framework, utilizing more in-depth organizing resources to help develop a robust analysis.
Our Goal
We want to produce our own analysis of the larger gun violence prevention movement in the U.S. as the foundation for proposing a strategy and next action steps for the Church of the Brethren to become an effective force on Gun Violence Prevention.
Questions on how to jump into one of these initiatives? Contact [email protected] for more information or join us for our next organizing meeting!
2025 CALENDAR
In 2025, the Action Team wants to provide your congregation and leadership with the ability to plan further ahead in deciding which events you will be able to participate in. Thus, we are working toward a year-long calendar, as shown in the image above. Stay tuned for more!
T-SHIRTS
Order shirts and related merchandise here.
RESOURCES
Access our Gun Violence Prevention Toolkit for Congregations (worship and educational resources, slides from organizing meetings, and more)
LINK HERE
Consider becoming a Congregational Ambassador for Gun Violence Prevention - contact [email protected]
Congregational Ambassador Role Description
A Congregational Ambassador feels the call to take action in Gun Violence Prevention. There are two primary roles:
- Attend quarterly meetings to learn, connect, and be inspired
- Bring ideas and actions back to your congregation that take public action on the issue of gun violence
The COB GVP Action Team and On Earth Peace will support you with regular email communication that will assist you in catalyzing your congregation. You will have opportunities to:
- Share monthly resources with your congregation.
- Organize and encourage participation in activities and actions share by the COB GVP AT and On Earth Peace
- Apply Kingian Nonviolence principles to your work
Why Brethren and Gun Violence Prevention?
The Annual Conference statement in 1978 on “Violence and the Use of Firearms” (link) is evidence that the issue of gun violence has long been a concern of the Church of the Brethren. Unfortunately, gun violence has become a more frequent occurrence in the United States with even more deadly consequences now than forty-five years ago. Whether it’s a mass shooting, homicide, suicide, or an accidental shooting, gun violence results in long-lasting trauma and grief. What does the Church of the Brethren have to say in response to all of this? What are specific actions that the Church of the Brethren can take toward the goal of ending gun violence and combating the glorification of guns in our culture?
These questions motivate this national group of Brethren to engage the denomination in search of concerted action. The team longs to hear the denomination’s voice speaking clearly against gun violence, the too-easy access to guns, and the glorification of guns in our culture. They hope to activate local advocates and denominational voices to work towards ending gun violence.
If you would like to get in contact with our team or efforts, contact Matt Guynn at [email protected] or Mandy Park at [email protected].