Halfway through her opening statement on a recent episode of “Standing Our Holy Ground,” the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program’s yearlong webinar series about how the church can respond to gun violence, Nicole Hockley of Sandy Hook Promise cited some extraordinary achievements by her group.
Dec. 14 marks the seven-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook tragedy, when 26 people, including 20 first-graders, were shot and killed in their elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. Many people thought that inconceivable event would be the tipping point in our public and legislative complacency following mass shooting incidents in this country. Sadly, since then we have instead grown increasingly numb, as these events have become the “new normal” and 600,000 Americans have been killed or injured by guns in the subsequent years.
Dec. 2, 2012. It was the first Sunday of Advent and the congregation of Valley Presbyterian Church in Brookfield, Connecticut, gathered in its spacious sanctuary, designed with windows looking out onto the peaceful woods outside. They were there to celebrate the installation of their new pastor, the Rev. Adele Crawford.
