The participants will learn comprehensively about various facets of “gun violence” and explore ways in which the faith community can respond and live out “Gospel Values” that bring peace where there is violence or its aftermath.
The colloquium is planned in response to the “urgent reality” of gun violence, which has reached “devastating proportions” in the United States, according to conference organizers. The total collected numbers for 2005 reveal that 30,694 people, among them 3,006 children and youth, were killed by firearms in the United States, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is the equivalent to having two to three Virginia Tech tragedies each day, every day throughout the whole year.
Catherine Snyder, Presbyterian campus minister at Virginia Tech has said, “Sixteen months after the Virginia Tech tragedy, I still do not have words to begin to describe the suffering that one man with two guns wreaked in our community. The body of Christ is called to prevent such suffering. I believe this conference will bring us much-needed knowledge and wisdom, so that we can become better disciples of the Prince of Peace in a nation that so easily accepts more than 30,000 gun deaths a year.”
Keynote speakers will include Garen Wintemute from the Violence Prevention Research Program at University of California Davis Medical Center, and Thomas Diaz, senior analyst of the Violence Policy Center, Washington, D.C. Among the workshop leaders are Josh Horwitz, Adan Mairena, Deb Milcarek, Jerry Bonavia, Bob Ricker, Pat Gleich, Frida Berrigan and more. The Biblical and theological reflection will be provided by Jim Atwood and Catherine Snyder, and the preacher for the worship services will be Gayle Griffin, assistant superintendent of Newark, N.J, Public Schools, who deals with gun violence among young people on daily basis.
Part of the program will focus on concrete action plans to follow up on the conference. The most recent General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved a two-year study of gun violence. Papers presented at this conference will be read by the study team currently being selected, and nominations for service on that committee are welcome (see www.pcusa.org/acswp).
There is still time to register for the conference, and scholarships are available with priority given to students. For more information including the brochure and registration form, please check https://www.stonypointcenter.org/. The Peacemaking Colloquium at Stony Point Center, an annual gathering since 2004, is co-sponsored by various units within the PC(USA) including the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, Presbyterian United Nations Office, as well as the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and Stony Point Center.
