Kinnamon urges NCC board and communion heads to join call for control of assault weapons

["Philip Jenks" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

Kinnamon urges NCC board and communion representatives
to join the call for control of assault weapons and hand guns

NCC to join with interfaith partners in 'Vigils Against Violence'

New York, January 14, 2011 -- On the eve of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, 
the general secretary of the National Council of Churches has called on individual 
NCC governing board members, communion heads and other representatives to let their 
political officials know they oppose the easy availability of fire arms.

"I strongly urge you to write your own congressional delegates and state 
governor, letting them know that you, too, are the NCC -- and that together we say 
an emphatic 'No!' to laws that allow assault weapons and handguns with oversize 
magazines to be readily available on our city streets," Kinnamon wrote today 
in a letter to NCC representatives.

Kinnamon said his message comes "in the aftermath of the tragic shooting in 
Tucson, an event which I am sure we have all named in our personal times of prayer."

A surge of voices from national, state and local bodies will remind political 
leaders of the scope of the NCC's partnerships, Kinnamon noted. "When we send
letters from the NCC office to Congress and/or the Administration, they are too 
often dismissed as the message of a single organization instead of the collective
witness of a community of communions," Kinnamon wrote.

Kinnamon noted that the NCC Governing Board adopted a resolution against gun 
violence last May.

"Ending Gun Violence: A Resolution and Call to Action by the National Council 
of Churches " calls upon the NCC's member communions to "prayerfully, 
financially, and otherwise support the NCC staff in coordinating ecumenical efforts
for gun violence reduction, including preparing educational materials about the
magnitude of gun violence, developing avenues for dialogue among gun owners and gun
control advocates within our congregations, and offering a faithful witness in
cooperating with inter-faith and nonreligious anti-gun advocacy organizations."

The full text of the resolution can be downloaded at 
http://www.ncccusa.org/NCC policies/gunviolence.pdf

Kinnamon wrote: "In addition to prayer and calls for civility, I believe this 
is also the moment to press our long-standing concern as a community of Christian
communions for laws aimed at reducing gun violence in America. It is not exploiting 
(Tucson) tragedy for followers of the Prince of Peace to say, 'Enough!' Every 
serious study on the subject shows that easy access to guns is a menace to our
nation's public health."

Kinnamon cited a column by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times calling 
for regulations "to regulate guns as seriously as toys."

Kinnamon said the NCC staff is "collaborating with the Jewish Council on 
Public Affairs, the Islamic Society of North America, and the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops in order to provide materials and encouragement for Vigils Against
Violence in communities across the country. Our colleagues in various state and 
local councils have indicated strong interest in helping to coordinate such vigils;
and I hope that many of you will look for opportunities to be involved and to
encourage others in your communion to do the same."

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an appropriate time for NCC member
communions to take collective action on the issue of gun violence, Kinnamon said.
(See also http://www.ncccusa.org/news/110113weekofprayer.html)

"As I see it, the ecumenical movement is a movement for unity, but also 
a movement for peace-and the two go hand in hand. It is important to advocate for
sane gun laws. But our most significant witness for peace in a culture of violence 
is our ability to live trustfully with differences because of our shared faith in
Jesus Christ, the One whose life, death, and resurrection make possible a more
excellent way ... May God strengthen our shared witness for unity and peace in 
this season of mourning and prayer."

The full text of Kinnamon's message can be downloaded at 
http://www.ncccusa.org/pdfs/MKtucsonresponseletter.pdf.

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in 
the USA has been the leading force for shared ecumenical witness among Christians 
in the United States. The NCC's 37 member communions -- from a wide spectrum of
Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living
Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local 
congregations in communities across the nation.

NCC News contact: Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 646-853-4212 (cell),
pjenks@ncccusa.org