GREENFIELD — A solemn tolling of church bells filled a moment of silence among churchgoers at the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew Sunday morning, calling for unity and prayer amid the nation’s ongoing gun violence tragedies.
Since spring, the church has begun worship on the last Sunday of each month with a bell-ringing at 10 a.m. This, the Rev. Heather Blais, rector, said previously, is the church’s way of taking “one small step in responding to the public health crisis of gun violence.” Along with the ringing of bells and a moment of silence, the clergy recites aloud the number of people who have died from gun violence over the course of the month.
“According to the Gun Violence Archive, in the month of July, 1,110 lives were lost to gun violence in the United States,” the Rev. Molly Scherm directed toward the pews on Sunday.
Scherm recalled the idea to ring the bells being conceptualized “after one of the major mass shootings.” She met with co-wardens Ella Ingraham and Virginia Crowl to discuss a way for the church to address the “epidemic” of gun violence.
“One of them made the remark that gun violence is weighing so heavily on all of us,” Scherm said. “She wished that there was more that we could do because we need to grieve.”
According to the Gun Violence Archive, as of Sunday, 25,779 gun deaths have occurred in the United States in 2022. Locally, Greenfield has experienced three shooting incidents since June 10, although nobody was killed. Aside from the recent frequency of incidents within the city, the church’s effort also “keeps the epidemic of gun violence in front of us and gives us an opportunity to share our grief,” Scherm said.
“For me, the services are just so beautiful,” Ingraham commented. “The cool thing about this church is that it’s a community.”
Ingraham said having a community bound under “one body of Christ” is fitting to unify against gun violence.
“It’s definitely a faith issue,” she said. “The diocese is very active.”
Ingraham and Scherm each recognized that even unified under the same faith, those who attend the church’s services may feel differently about how to approach the issue of gun violence. Scherm observed churchgoers are “all in different places on the road.”
“I think it’s fascinating because I think people are on a spectrum,” Ingraham said.
“We’re all in process, and hopefully, we’re always in process,” Scherm said.
Considering the role of faith regarding the gun violence problem, Scherm argued “that prayer changes the one who prays and connects us to the greater reality of love in the world.”
“I think it’s a place where we bring what’s on our hearts,” she said of the church. “It’s a place where we’re reminded that what we see and live with isn’t all there is.”
Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-772-0261, ext. 261 or jmendoza@recorder.com.