GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Over 100 people from the Church of the Brethren, a Christian denomination recognized as a historic peace church, held a rally and vigil calling for an end to gun violence on Saturday.
The group marched from their annual conference at DeVos Place to Rosa Parks Circle for the event.
"We follow Jesus, who we call the Prince of Peace," said Matt Guynn, executive director of On Earth Peace, an agency of the denomination. "When it comes to violence, we have to ask, 'What can we do to reduce the violence and to bring peace?' And so that's what we're committing ourselves to."
Guynn said they were looking to connect with people of all faiths and those who don't belong to any particular religion to seek practical solutions within their community.
Wearing bright orange shirts, people assembled at Rosa Parks Circle for a prayer, followed by speeches from local officials, leaders in organizations such as Moms Demand Action and leaders within the Church of the Brethren.
"We have decided that gun violence is something that we need to speak into, so today we're trying to rally our churches to go home and speak about gun violence and to be able to do that in a very healthy and positive way," said Sandi Rogers, a member of the denominations Gun Violence Prevention Action Team.
Holding a vigil for lives lost to gun violence and their families, leaders also called for places of worship to promote peaceful decisions and help their communities prevent gun violence.
"The face of gun violence in one place might be different than another place," said Guynn. "A church might decide to work on gun safety and hand out gun locks, or it might decide to work on changing the laws that govern guns in your city or in your state."
Being a historic peace church, Church of the Brethren has a history of pacifism that dates back to the early 1700s. Their annual conference is held in Grand Rapids, with their rally against gun violence also being an annual event.
"We give them resources so that they can do some of the similar things that we do in their own community and church, educational pieces, how to talk about safe storage, how to talk to their legislators, all those kinds of things," said Rogers.
Guynn said as a denomination, they're challenging their congregations to take action to prevent gun violence and violence as a whole, but also invite everyone to find ways of making a difference in their own lives and communities.
"It's a spiritual commitment. It's a practical commitment and we're looking to connect with people of all faiths and people of no faith, who are concerned about what's going on in our communities and in our country, so that we can make a better world for everyone," said Guynn.
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