In response to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, one month ago, Bishop Barry Beisner and Dean Brian Baker are welcoming all to Trinity Cathedral at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 14, for a Service of Lamentation, one of the actions recommended by the national group, Bishops United Against Gun Violence. Clergy are strongly encouraged to attend, but not to vest.

The bulletin for the service is available for download  here.

An ad hoc choir will practice at 6:15 before the service. Choirmaster Chris Reynolds asked that anyone who would like to sing email him at [email protected].

March for Our Lives on Saturday, March 24

On Saturday, March 24, Episcopalians across the diocese are planning to join March for Our Lives.

• In Sacramento, Archdeacon Gary Brown is coordinating our contingent for the march, which will start from Crocker Park (the open area north of the Crocker Museum between O and N streets, from the freeway to 3rd Street). Our group will try to gather at the southeast corner of the park at O and 3rd streets around 9:30 a.m.; the march will begin at 10 a.m. and go to the west side of the Capitol by noon. Please register here.
• In Arcata, there will be a similar march for those in the northern part of the diocese, said the Rev. Anne Pierson, a deacon at Christ Church, Eureka. 
• At St. John's, Chico, Deacon Lewis Powell said, "We will be doing a series of prayers and periods of silence associated with gun violence that is occurring around our nation. The event will be from 10-11 a.m. at our newly completed Prayer Garden (weather depending) with opportunities to walk the labyrinth in the garden."

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Statement of the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church

Camp Allen, Texas

March 7, 2018            

 

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today 

that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.

Choose life so that you and your descendants may live." (Deuteronomy 30:19)

 

At this critical moment young people of the United States are inviting us to turn away from the nightmare of gun violence to the dream of choosing life. The young people of Parkland, Florida are calling for elected officials to:

• ban the sale of assault weapons
• prohibit the sale of high capacity magazines
• close loopholes in background checks[1]

Others are seeking to:

• ban the sale of bump stocks
• raise the age to 21 years to purchase firearms
• challenge the National Rifle Association to support safe gun legislation. 

We, the bishops of The Episcopal Church, wholeheartedly support and join with the youth in this call to action.

 

At the same time, we acknowledge that black and brown youth have continuously challenged the United States to address the gun violence that they and their communities are experiencing. We repent that, as bishops, we have failed to heed their call.

 

As bishops we commit to following the youth of the United States in their prophetic leadership. To that end we will observe a day of Lament and Action on March 14th, one month to the day after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.[2] We pledge ourselves, and we invite our dioceses, to participate in the "March for our Lives" on March 24 in Washington DC and in cities and towns across the United States. We recognize the urgency of this moment and we recommit to working for safe gun legislation as our church has called for in multiple General Convention resolutions.[3] In addition, we pledge ourselves to bring the values of the gospel to bear on a society that increasingly glorifies violence and trivializes the sacredness of every human life.

 

We will walk with the youth of the United States today and into the future in choosing life.

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[1]  https://marchforourlivespetition.com

[2] Bishops United Against Gun Violence: http://bishopsagainstgunviolence.org

[3]  https://episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_topic_search.pl?topic=Gun+Control