The congregation of Holy Cross Episcopal Church on 420 N. Main St. is inviting people of all denominations to a prayer vigil broadcast from Trinity Episcopal in St. Louis.
The Sunday service is part of Gun Violence Awareness Sunday on Dec. 10, an event sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri and supported by the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis and the Central States Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
“This is an interdenominational vigil,” said the Rev. Dr. Paul Nancarrow of Holy Cross. “Bishop Deon Johnson will be at that service in St. Louis along with representatives from the Roman Catholic archdiocese and the ELCA church body as well.”
The prayer vigil will start at 6 p.m.
“We will set up here at church so anyone who would like to gather with your church friends, your church brothers and sisters to pray together while watching the live stream,” said Teresa Lee, Holy Cross’s representative in the diocesan Gun Violence Prevention program.
The date of Sunday, Dec. 10, was chosen for a reason, she adds.
“It is close to the anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting,” Lee said, referring to the Dec. 14, 2012, school shooting in Newton, Connecticut, that claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults, according to history.com.
“This is a diocese-wide effort to try to get the legislature to discuss appropriate and common-sense violence and gun prevention laws,” said Lee.
Holy Cross is also participating in a letter-writing campaign to reach the Missouri House of Representative and the state Senate.
“We are simply asking that proposed gun bills calling for reasonable restrictions and limitations be allowed to come through the Democratic process for discussion,” said the Rev. Mary Haggerty, missioner for Gun Violence Prevention Advocacy for the Diocese of Missouri.
“The letter signing and envelope stuffing will happen during coffee hour Dec. 10,” said Lee.
Materials provided by Holy Cross will be available for parishioners and anyone who wishes to participate in the letter writing campaign.
Earlier this year Johnson told the congregation of Holy Cross, “We pledge to be a part of the change toward the realization of a time where we will ‘beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks… and study war no no more.’”
“This December campaign shows the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri’s intention to address that pledge through a prayer vigil and a letter-writing project pushing for sensible gun violence regulation in our state,” Lee said.
Anyone wishing to attend the prayer vigil, but unable to go to Holy Cross will be able to access the livestream through www.trinitycwe.org. Anyone wishing to contribute to any of the gun violence prevention efforts of the Diocese of Missouri can contact Teresa Lee through Holy Cross’s Facebook page.
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