DenPres Community,

This past Wednesday, December 14, marked the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting.  We invite your congregation to partner with Denver Presbytery’s Matthew 25 Committee to take action!

We are taking action as part of the PC(USA)’s Decade to End Gun Violence – a project to bring all levels of the denomination into the movement to save lives. Specifically, we ask that your congregation consider contributing time, talent, and/or treasure to support our first Guns to Gardens (G2G) event scheduled for Saturday, February 25, 2023, 9am-1pm, at Columbine United Church in Littleton.

As you may know, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) became the first major religious body to support the Guns to Gardens movement, honoring those churches that are already chopping up unwanted guns and encouraging all congregations to prayerfully consider if they are called to offer this practical and prophetic service in their communities. Learn more about Guns to Gardens at www.presbypeacefellowship.org/gun-violence.

Our Matthew 25 Team is hard at work planning the February G2G event – hopefully, the first of many to come – and we welcome the involvement of YOUR congregation! Perhaps, you have members who would like to volunteer their time to help with planning or on the day of the event? Or, maybe you know folks who feel passionately about gun violence prevention and want to help fund this transformational work turning guns into gardening tools? Of course, we also welcome prayer partners, help with publicity, or a commitment to host an event at your church in the future – there are many ways to contribute!

People of faith must take action to change the culture of gun violence in our country and one faithful way to do that is through the Guns to Gardens movement. While mass shootings garner more news coverage, 150 individual Americans daily are killed by guns; in suicides, homicides, and accidental deaths. Providing communities a way to dismantle unwanted guns they possess is prophetic and personal Christian work - reducing the risk to individuals and families of having a gun forever changes their lives in an impulsive moment. It is a step toward a safer future for all of us.

If you’d like more information to aid in your congregation’s discernment process, please contact Cheryl Fleetwood (member of Central Presbyterian Church) at (303) 877-0211 or cherylrfleetwood@gmail.com.

Thanks for your prayerful consideration.

In faith and love,

Molly Dowling Brown
Central Presbyterian Church, Director of Mission and Faith Formation
Denver Presbytery Matthew 25 Committee