On April 3, 2023, we hosted a practical conversation about the steps that individuals and congregations can take to move the needle on gun violence. Shane Claiborne (Red Letter Christians) and Mike Martin (RAWtools) invited churches to become gun decommissioning sites in our cities. Pastor Amy Kasari (Antioch Church, Bend) shared her church’s journey toward that distinction.
On April 11, we continued this conversation. Mike Martin laid out the specific and very tangible steps toward becoming a gun decommissioning site. Pastor Amy offered more specifics and reflections on the formational journey she and her team have guided their congregation through in preparation for this work. And the moderator of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship’s Gun Prevention working group Jan Orr-Harter oriented us and offered an invitation to a five-week Guns to Garden Tools Action Circle.
Amy Kasari has served on staff at Antioch Church since 2018. She is mother to Jason, Allie, and Claire. She holds as BS from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a Masters in Theology of Social Justice from Kilns College. Amy is an avid traveler, collector of maps, and loves the diversity of creation.
Mike Martin is the founder and Executive Director of RAWtools. A former youth and young adult pastor at Beth-El Mennonite Church, Mike is licensed for specialized ministry for the work of RAWtools by Mountain States Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA. He has a BA in Biblical studies.
Mike learned to blacksmith in order to turn guns into garden tools and is passionate about connecting people to nonviolent skills like restorative justice and conflict mediation. He is trained for restorative justice facilitation, dialogue circles, and encourages everyone to explore how they can connect to similar efforts in their community. Mike believes turning swords into plowshares requires a comprehensive approach to gun violence, one that addresses the triggers in our streets, and the triggers in our hearts.
A retired Presbyterian pastor, Jan Orr-Harter is Moderator of the Gun Violence Prevention Working Group of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. She edits the Peace Fellowship’s monthly Gun Violence Prevention E-News for Congregations and helps to co-lead the Guns to Gardens Action Circles, of which there are now over 200 graduates across the nation. She lives on a small ranch outside of Fort Worth, Texas, and owns a small business. As the mother of two, Jan first became involved in Gun Violence Prevention with the Million Mom March on Mother’s Day on May 14, 2000, which was organized by her mentor in this work, the late Rev. James Atwood, author of America and Its Guns, Gundamentalism & Where it is Taking America, and Collateral Damage. Jan created the Discussion Guides for each of these prophetic books.