Statistical Report Training is Today!
Just a reminder that training for how to complete the statistical reports will be held today from 1-3 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the Conference Mission Center. If you would like to attend, please feel free to stop by.


Prodigal Worship Conference Early Bird Registration

Register for the Prodigal Worship Conference for only $69- early bird special. Come and experience worship that transforms individuals, congregations and communities. Mark Beeson, Kim Miller and Marvin Moss are the featured keynote speakers and 20 workshops offered. For more information and registration visit, www.bwcumc.org/prodigalworship.

Heeding God's Call

Dear Clergy Friends:   We call your attention to what could be a real Kairos moment with the convergence of a three part series in the Washington Post (Oct. 24-26) entitled “The Hidden Life of Guns”, the distribution last year of God’s Renewed Creation: Call to Hope and Action of The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church and the recent adoption of Ending Gun Violence: A Resolution and Call to Action by the National Council of Churches of Christ. Both the Bishop’s Foundation Document and the NCC Resolution call on denominations to take action to prevent gun violence and recommend a program called ‘Heeding God’s Call.’ Heeding is a faith- based movement which focuses attention, persuasion and public pressure on those gun shops and gun shows which sell guns into the illegal distribution system. These are the guns used to threaten, wound, maim and kill.

We imagine most of you have read the alarming Post series, but in case you haven’t we urge you to do so, particularly the article on Realco Guns of Prince Georges County(PGC) in suburban Maryland. You can find it at the link below: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/23/AR2010102302994.html

The full Post series describes gun shops within your Conference bounds that are the major source of crime guns in DC, Northern Virginia and Southern Maryland. It’s well-documented work and is consistent with data that slightly more than 1% of gun dealers nationally are responsible for nearly 60% of the guns recovered from crime by law enforcement. The series details the sleazy businesses that willingly supply the illegal distribution system that fuels gun crime and violence. 

The bottom line is that these are guns sold to straw purchasers and buyers who turn them over to illegal gun traffickers, criminals, domestic abusers, even hit men. While DC has no walk-in gun shops, it is ringed by more than 100 shops in Maryland and Virginia. Of the 996 guns successfully traced in 2009 by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that were recovered from crime within DC, one-fourth came from Maryland dealers, one-fourth from Virginia dealers and the rest from shops elsewhere. The top known crime gun supplier in the area is Realco of PGC. Heeding God’s Call was co-founded by a Presbyterian layman, Bryan Miller. Heeding’s work with ecumenical leaders resulted in the September ‘09 closing of the Philadelphia gun shop most notorious for the number of guns it sold that ended up in crime. Heeding is working with ecumenical leaders in Richmond, VA, Harrisburg, PA and Columbus, OH and has recently been wholeheartedly endorsed by the three leading ecumenical organizations in Baltimore. Heeding/Baltimore took its first public action in October. The site below gives a description of Heeding and its unique approach to reducing the movement of guns from legal sale at gun shops to illegal street sale: www.heedinggodscall.org.

Heeding does not focus on political or legislative solutions, which always move at glacial speed and in the end may be divisive within congregations. It calls instead for a spiritual awakening within the church and asks people of faith to rediscover their moral voice and authority as we work for peaceful communities. It calls on people of faith to focus on the trafficking of guns that are sold illegally to dangerous individuals. This is not a political issue; this is a moral, spiritual issue.

We invite you to an information meeting with Bryan Miller on December 16 at Western Presbyterian Church at 1:30 P.M. The church is in Foggy Bottom on the orange/blue line- 3 blocks away from the metro stop. Parking is also available in the church garage.  (2401 Virginia Ave. N.W. Washington D.C. 20037).

We will learn about the possibilities for an effective faith-based witness that Heeding God’s Call offers us. If there is enough interest among the clergy assembled, we will organize ourselves and bring others to Realco Guns and begin the process of seeking to persuade the company to adopt the 10-point Voluntary Code for a Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership which has been signed by Walmart, the biggest firearms dealer in the country.

Again, we repeat - this is not an anti-gun campaign.  We seek to organize the church and others against illegal guns going to dangerous individuals. Please RSVP at your earliest convenience to Jim Atwood at jatwood1959@aol.com or 703-569-0046. Thanks for your attention.

Yours in Christ,

Dr. John Wimberly, Pastor, Western Presbyterian Church

Rev. Jim Atwood, (Ret)

Live Job Training from General Board of Discipleship

The General Board of Discipleship (GBOD) will be hosting two one-hour live job training sessions with follow-up resources online for:

Local church SPRC chairs on January 20, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. EDT/ 6:30 p.m. CDT/ 5:30 p.m. MDT/ 4:30 p.m. PDT 

Local church finance chairs, treasurers and financial secretaries on January 27, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. EDT/ 6:30 p.m. CDT/ 5:30 p.m. MDT/ 4:30 p.m. PDT

These sessions will be hosted by Betsey Heavner of GBOD Leadership Ministries. For more information or to sign up contact Betsey Heavner at bheavner@gbod.org.