A Message from Dean Thomason

The epidemic of gun violence in our nation continues to take its toll, and we must maintain a resolve to resist it becoming normalized. It is not okay that there have been more mass shootings than days thus far this year. It is not okay that more than 40,000 die each year to gun violence in this nation. It is not okay that death by firearms is the number one cause of death for children and teenagers in this nation.

Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF) has issued a call to all congregations in the Episcopal Church to a Season for Gun Violence Prevention, following the Feast of Pentecost, May 28. This is a call to deepen our commitment as people of faith to resist complacency and to confront the epidemic of gun violence through action at the grassroots level in our parishes and dioceses. Through liturgical action, public witness and legislative advocacy, we will continue to lend our voice to the cause with intention, and we will engage the EPF’s Gun Violence Curriculum as part of our work. You can read more at: episcopalpeacefellowship.net

For a decade now (since Sandy Hook in December 2012), Saint Mark’s Cathedral has also been engaged with Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility (WAGR) as a member organization supporting the legislative work of this broad alliance. We have made considerable strides in safe gun legislation here in this state. It can be done. It must be done!

The weekend of June 2–4 is Wear Orange Weekend, a tangible way to raise awareness about the tragic reality of this epidemic. I hope you will consider wearing orange at points across that weekend as a sign of your commitment to this cause.

In it all, I bid your prayers for our nation, for the victims of gun violence, for our children, for our lawmakers and civic leaders, and for the cathedral community, that we may have the courage and resolve to engage this work with grace and fortitude. I am,

Your Brother in Christ,

The Very Reverend Steven L. Thomason
Dean and Rector