Gun Violence Prevention Team Efforts – 2023 in Review

Pursuing Justice

June 11 – Rev. Neal Christie addresses NUMC encouraging us to continue working toward Micah’s dream of beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. 

June 12 -  Rev. Christie, Pastor Rachel, Angela Pupino and Lois Weaver on Capitol Hill to demand Congress vote in favor of assault weapons ban legislation.

Transforming Lives

July 30 – August 2   TraRon Kids to Camp  (TKTC)

  • 25+ NUMC folks raised >$10,700 for registration and transportation to send 15 TraRon kids (ages 9-18) to West River UMC Retreat.

  • Our own Kevin Settlage and 2 TraRon counselors camped overnight with the kids.

  • Adas Israel donated $600 for sleeping bags.

  • More NUMC folks donated rain ponchos, bibles, journals, sunscreen, insect repellent, etc. to fill individual ditty bags that Ann Michel helped deliver to the TraRon Center.

  • TraRon kids want to go back in 2024.  

  • West River wants them back!

Rev. Neal Christie at Metropolitan Memorial Campus.

Children from The TraRon Center

Rev. Christie, Pastor Rachel and Angela Pupino.

 
 

Extending Radical Hospitality AND Pursuing Justice AND Transforming Lives

October 14 – Silence the Violence (STV) Concert

·        ~100 guests in the sanctuary

·        ~30 guests streaming

·         ~10 NUMC volunteers provided snacks

·         4 volunteers served as hosts for choral groups

·         5 interfaith groups donated as concert partners

·         8 interfaith members served as greeters

·         $12,236 raised from ticket sales and direct contributions to further the work of The TraRon Center which a) supports those affected by gun violence and b) engages the community in dialogue to promote gun violence prevention solutions. 

 

Advocacy Initiatives

 

Gun Violence Prevention

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Responding to the 2016 General Conference of the United Methodist Church Resolution #3428 “Our Call to End Gun Violence” and following the lead of the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society and national groups such as Faiths United, The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety, National UMC formed a gun violence prevention (GVP) group. 

GVP Group Vision Statement:

"A Nation Beyond Gun Violence"

GVP Group Mission Statement:

  1. To educate about the causes and implications of gun violence;

  2. To advocate for laws that reduce gun violence in order to promote public health and public safety.

  3. To build relationships with one or more non-profits engaged in direct support of gun violence victims and gun violence prevention.

Our agenda items are:

  • We support universal background checks for all gun purchases.

  • We support a requirement that all guns be sold through licensed gun retailers.

  • We support a ban on straw purchases, the act of buying a gun on behalf of someone else.

  • We support a ban on sales to civilians of military assault-type weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Get Involved

As we explore actionable steps to address the complicated problem of gun violence, we need many voices....young and old, gun owners and non-gun owners, victims and survivors. If interested, please contact Lois Weaver. 

Reconciling Ministries 

We Are a Reconciling Congregation

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National UMC is proud to be a reconciling congregation that welcomes the participation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender persons and their families and advocates for their full inclusion in the church and society. In May of 2021, National UMC adopted an updated reconciling statement in conjunction with our ongoing work with Reconciling Ministries:

We celebrate God’s gift of diversity and value the wholeness made possible in community equally shared and shepherded by all. We welcome and affirm people of every gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, who are also of every age, race, ethnicity, physical and mental ability, level of education, and family structure, and of every economic, immigration, marital, and social status, and so much more. We acknowledge that we live in a world of profound social, economic, and political inequities. As followers of Jesus, we commit ourselves to the pursuit of justice and pledge to stand in solidarity with all who are marginalized and oppressed.

GET INVOLVED

Our team works to welcome and support gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons into our congregational life. Members of the team also work to advocate for their full inclusion in the church and in the broader society. National’s reconciling team is also involved with the Baltimore/Washington Area Reconciling United Methodists (BWARM) which works to encourage dialogue and education about LGBT issues, increase the number of reconciling congregations, and stand in solidarity with all who have been excluded or marginalized by the Church.

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Show your support

Each year since becoming a Reconciling Congregation, National UMC has taken part in the Washington area’s Pride events and marched in the annual Pride Parade. All are welcome to participate in this act of witness.

To learn more about reconciling activities or join the team, contact Kerm Towler.

 

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Welcoming Strangers 

One of the hallmark features of our congregation is a passion for justice and a commitment to act. The recent national and international focus on immigration has made us aware of the need to be vocal in our opposition to anything that fails to welcome a stranger and support for making all immigrants feel welcomed.

On Sunday, February 19, 2017, well over 70 congregation members gathered after worship to begin exploring this sense of call. We followed up on that meeting throughout March, as we engaged in a five-week Food for Thought series on Wednesday evenings, open to all members of our congregation and visitors, to explore immigration and refugee issues, related legal issues, and the concept of “sanctuary.”

Washington Interfaith Network

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National UMC is proud to be a leader in the Washington Interfaith Network (WIN), a broad-based, multi-racial, multi-faith, strictly non-partisan, District-wide citizens’ power organization, rooted in local congregations and associations. WIN is committed to training and developing neighborhood leaders, to addressing community issues, and to holding elected and corporate officials accountable in Washington, DC. WIN’s 48 dues-paying members represent 25,000 families in every section of the District and reflect its theological, racial, geographic, and economic diversity.

WIN seeks to create long-term power through a broad and united front of organized institutions, organized people, and organized money–acting consistently and persistently for change on multiple issues at the neighborhood, regional, national, and city-wide levels. WIN engages leaders across the divides of race, culture, income, faith, and neighborhood in order to initiate public action on their issues (e.g. affordable housing, public safety, youth, etc.) and to partner with and hold the government and corporate sectors accountable for addressing these issues.