A Statement from the North Carolina Council of Churches
As we approach one of the two most holy days in Christianity, our hearts are heavy. The tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, is unspeakable, unimaginable. Twenty first-graders – how our hearts have been broken to hear their names, see their faces, listen to their families. Six school officials, most or all of them killed protecting their students. All of them – children and adults – shot multiple times, as many as eleven for one of them. How can we put into words the horror?
And it is not only those precious lives lost in Newtown. Just this year, similar acts of large-scale violence have taken place at a theater in Colorado and a house of worship in Wisconsin. Other smaller acts of violence are too numerous to count. As followers of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, we are compelled to speak.
First, we join in the shared grief of our nation and especially offer words of comfort to all of those who have had loved ones torn from them. We offer words of blessing and strength to those leaders in the faith communities of Newtown who struggle to minister to their devastated town. And we join with people of faith across the nation in praying for healing and a sense of peace that passes all understanding.
But we must not move on from this massacre, merely wondering where the next one will happen, and so we also call for change. While giving great respect to the freedoms afforded us by our founders and spelled out by our courts, we call on this generation of leaders to rethink the laws governing access to guns, especially those which enable a shooter to spray a classroom with scores of bullets in a few seconds of time. Surely our leaders, both at the state and national levels, can act with courage and wisdom and in a bi-partisan spirit to recognize that common-sense restrictions afford more protection and security than easy access to weapons capable of such horrific destruction.
We also call on the people of our state, many of them people of faith, to rethink frequently heard attitudes toward security. A heavily armed society is not a safe society. Ordinary citizens possessing semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines of ammunition do not advance personal security. Hiding our fears behind guns does not protect us from violence.
The time for prayer is now. But it is also the time for action.
Stan C. Kimer, President
J. George Reed, Executive Director
Leadership of our member bodies who have signed:
- The Right Rev. Porter Taylor, Bishop, Diocese of Western North Carolina, Episcopal Church
- The Rev. Dr. William (Bill) Reinhold, Executive Presbyter, Presbytery of Coastal Carolina
- The Rev. John M. Richardson, Regional Minister, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in North Carolina
- The Rev. Elder Dr. Nancy Wilson, Moderator, Metropolitan Community Churches
- The Rev. Pat Bumgardner, Executive Director, MCC Churches Global Justice Institute
- The Rev. Haywood T. Gray, Ex. Secretary & Treasurer, General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina
- The Right Rev. Kenneth Monroe, Presiding Bishop, Central NC Annual Conference, AME Zion Church
- The Rev. Duane Beck, Bishop, Eastern Carolina District, Mennonite Church, USA
- The Right Rev. Darryl B. Starnes, Sr., Presiding Bishop, Albemarle Conference, AME Zion Church
- The Right Rev. W. Darin Moore, Presiding Bishop, North Carolina Conference, AME Zion Church
- The Right Rev. Roy A. Holmes, Presiding Bishop, Cape Fear Conference, AME Zion Church (also of the New England Conference, which includes Connecticut)
- The Right Rev. Michael Curry, Bishop, Diocese of North Carolina, Episcopal Church
- The Rev. Susan Parker, Pastor for Pastoral Ministry, Wake Forest Baptist Church
- Randy Quate, North Carolina Yearly Meeting, Religious Society of Friends
- The Rev. Peter JB Carman, Pastor, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church
- Bishop Hope Morgan Ward, Resident Bishop, North Carolina Conference, United Methodist Church
- The Rev. Bruce Puckett, Interim Pastor,The Congregation at Duke University Chapel
- Bishop Tonyia Rawls, Unity Fellowship Church Movement Fourth Jurisdiction
- The Rev. Sam Marshall, General Presbyter, Presbytery of Salem*
- Dr. Bob Setzer, Jr., Pastor, Knollwood Baptist Church*
- The Rev. David Guthrie, President, Southern Conference, Moravian Church in America
- Bishop J. Lawrence McCleskey, Retired, Western North Carolina Conference, United Methodist Church
- The Most Rev. Michael F. Burbidge, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh
- Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster, Resident Bishop, Western North Carolina Conference, United Methodist Church
- The Most Rev. Peter J. Jugis, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte
- The Rev. Dr. Stephen Shoemaker, Pastor, Myers Park Baptist Church
- The Rev. Ted Churn, Interim Executive Presbyter and Stated Clerk, Presbytery of New Hope*
*For identification purposes only
Click here to see a list of all those who have signed on.
If you have difficulty with the form, you may e-mail your name, city, and state to info@ncchurches.org
Don’t leave the care of persons to “someone” else. Be God’s child and be that person that someone in need can turn to for strength and care. Show them God’s love. Remember your promise to be responsible to care for all because all are God’s children. This life on earth is not easy – remember we don’t pay the price of this life in the flesh, Jesus did!
Jeannett,
If your comment was directed to me, I don’t have the time to watch over a mentally disturbed person who poses a risk to him/herself and to society at large. Most working people don’t have the time or training to deal with severly distrubed people. This is why society puts them in institutions. Do you want to place your trust that a mentally disturbed person is taking their medications? I don’t.
Part of the solution needs to include protecting the public from mentally disturbed people. I agree assualt weapons should be banned due to the high risk they pose to the public.
Let’s see:
we banned God from our schools
We banned God from our courts
We have all but banned God from the public square.
Religious freedom is under an unprecedented assault.
And yet we are shocked that evil has filled the void.
remember: if you are willing to sacrifice freedom for security, you have neither and deserve neither.
By the way, how are the gun bans working in DC, Chicago,Mexico etc. etc. Gun bans only remove weapons from the law abiding;criminals do not by guns in the legitimate marketplace
There are 300 million people in these United States. The number of people killed by guns is extremely small and fewer still with machine guns. Many people have been saved because they had access to a gun in a violent crime situation. These incidents are rarely reported by the media. A very large number of people have been killed by a wide assortment of devices other than guns. Chipping away at the freedoms of the 300 million, slowly eats away at the foundations on which this nation was built and those principles which attract so many to our shores. Soon there will be no reason for them to come because we will be no different than other nations that have disarmed their citizens (except Switzerland) for an easy takeover. We should be working toward ways to understand what brings such killers to commit such acts and what leads them to kill themselves after they see what they have done. Our schools would be a good place to start.
I am aghast in disbelief at the statement of Rev. Deacon John L Hubisz. That does not sound like Jesus speaking but rather Wyane La Pierre of NRA. I imagine that some people feel as he does. But in my opinion is it not the good news of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace, Savior of the world.
Excuse my visceral reaction, but I could not disagree more with Rev. Deacon John L. Hubisz. He seems to minimize the terrible tragedy of Newtown, Conn.
Aghast in disbelief? Minimizing the tragedy? I think you folks are a little caught up in a misunderstanding between the capabilities of people and the capabilities and plan of God.
There is nothing in the Deacon’s comment that should evoke either reaction. While the statement wasn’t artfully expressed the facts are true enough. This nation was founded in a world of tyrannical governments. Our Declaration and Constitution make that very clear – lots of checks and balances.
My thought is that Jesus had a mission to complete. He was here to die for our sins as true God and true man. And, God – and his infinite Love for us – is the best example of why the Second Amendment exists.
Look back in history and examine all of the “benevolent” dictators. For example, look at Alexander the Great. His tactic was to use soft tyranny – conquer a land and slowly convince the population that it would be better to be Greek. Read the Old Testament to see how the Jews resisted this tactic. It’s pretty awful stuff.
Fast forward to our nations Fathers. They remembered and lived with these examples and added the 2nd Amendment to ensure that an armed populous would be a check – a threat if you will – against tyranny in government.
God loves us so much – like a Dad loves his children time infinity – that he gives us the freedom to choose him. God knows that without this choice/freedom that tyranny will result – that there is not true love possible. God does not offer “security” in exchange for his Love.
Our forefathers knew that our government wasn’t (since it’s made up of people and not God) capable of handling this type of power and it not resulting in tyranny.
So – beware folks asking you to give up freedom for security. It will result in tyranny – a life of tears. Purchase a firearm. Learn how to use it. Teach your children how to use them. Keep them (the children and the firearms) safe.
I PARTially agree:
1. Reinstate the ban on assault weapons. 2. Ban the manufacture and sale of high volume ammunition magazines. 3. Initiate a nationwide buy back program for all guns, especially assault rifles and hand guns. 4. 5. Tighten background checks on all attempted purchases. 6. Maybe most important, increase funding for TRAINING AND ARMING Public Educators and for teachers; they are the true first responders.
7. Provide mental screening and counseling.
8. Employ returning military and retired military, police, to provide on site protection .
..
May they sleep in heavenly peace.
1. Reinstate the ban on assault weapons. 2. Ban the manufacture and sale of high volume ammunition magazines. 3. Initiate a nationwide buy back program for all guns, especially assault rifles and hand guns. 4. Dramatically increase taxes on all gun sales and on imports and exports. 5. Tighten background checks on all attempted purchases. 6. Maybe most important, increase funding for Public Education and for teachers; they are the true first responders.
I pray that our leaders will follow the examples of other countries in the industrialized world who have markedly lower homicides, because there are markedly fewer weapons found in possession of the population.
As a society we have so many laws, but I an glad I know ten that keeps me out of trouble and from doing things that hurt people. The ten I an referring to are the Ten Commandments.