Guest column: Responding to urgent need to do something more to keep people safe

The orange stole is the one we never want to wear. We wear the orange stole when families have been torn apart. We wear it when hatred rears its ugly head and gun violence takes innocent lives. We wear it when our hearts are breaking. We wear it when we need to stand up to the injustice of it all. I wish we didn’t have to wear our orange stole. But sadly, we must.

Recently, things have gone from bad to worse. We were stunned, heartbroken and furious at the loss of life in Uvalde, Texas. The loss of 19 children’s lives and two teachers — our future. We should not allow tragedies like this to continue, and yet it is seemingly a regular occurrence in the United States. According to the Gun Violence Archive, 278 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2022 alone. And on June 16, we found ourselves mourning once again. This time for the community of Vestavia Hills, Alabama, where three people were killed at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church.

As Episcopalians, we seek to be in relationship with everyone, welcome everyone, and value everyone. Some mistake our commitment to these sacred traditions as weakness, but it is not. It's a great strength.

We are people of love, hope, compassion and mercy and we are people who stand up for justice; people committed to respecting the dignity of every human being. We pray for the victims, the families, and even the shooters, but we don't stop there. Prayers are important, a vital part of a Jesus-centered life, but we are called to do more than just pray. We're called to act.

Because of our commitment to justice and respect for the dignity of every human being, we stand up and call out loud and clear for things to change. Again and again, the church has done this. In a statement from the Episcopal Office of Government Relations the church did it again: "We reiterate today our urgent call for legislation that will restrict who can own firearms, require background checks, eliminate loopholes, tighten laws against gun trafficking, require gun safety training, fund gun violence prevention programs, and address gun violence as a public health crisis."

We want all people to know peace and we will not stop calling for it until this becomes reality.

Yes, we start with thoughts and prayers, mighty and strong commitments to hold one another up in faith. We pray for those who walk through the valley of the shadow of death and send love and light to all who grieve. But that is not where we stop. It is where we start.

We call for action. We call for change. We call for making a difference. No one should have to live in fear when going to school, the grocery store, a movie theater, the mall. No one should have to live in fear while attending church. So how do we accomplish this? Advocate for commonsense gun safety policies. We must stand up in honor of the victims and their families.

With prayers for peace and healing, and the desire to never have to wear my orange stole again.

The Reverend Susan Bek is the Rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Ventura.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Responding to the urgent need to do something more to keep people safe