Blessed are the peacemakers

07-05-2023

What do a community activist and a police practitioner have in common? They both want to end violence in their cities. In a two-part series, Jia Johnson, director of McCormick’s Solidarity Building Initiative, interviewed community activist Rev. Michael McBride, and Dr. RaShall M. Brackney, a former police chief for Charlottesville, Virginia, to discuss gun violence and public safety. In part two of this series, Rev. Michael McBride, who serves as pastor of Way Christian Center in West Berkeley, Calif., and director of Lifelines to Healing Live Free Campaign, answers questions about the ways churches can take a greater role in helping to keep the peace in their communities.

Jia Johnson: How did you get interested in working to stop violence as a ministry?

Rev. McBride: I’m a native of San Francisco. I grew up during the crack cocaine era… I saw firsthand the devastation the drug epidemic fueled, the kind of conflicts that occurred, particularly using lethal weapons. I had a front row seat to the response of the government… it was extreme punitiveness to a public health crisis. During my own journey, from adolescence through young adulthood, I saw too many of my friends killed or wounded by gun violence. It forced me to think differently about what it means to have a ministry to God and God's people. How does ministry take care of the whole person's experience and not just focus on the great by and by?

Jia Johnson: Can you offer an overview of the gun violence issue?

Rev. McBride: There are about a hundred thousand or so individuals who are directly impacted by gun violence each year. The overwhelming majority of these individuals are impacted through suicides. Handguns are so available that for some people, in their moment of great desperation, sadness, or depression, they harm themselves. Then you have intimate partner violence. This is the violence that’s based on some form of relationship, family or romantic. The presence of a weapon turns a volatile encounter into a lethal one. There also are conflicts that are usually driven by groups, such as gangs, street organizations or individuals and communities who are in conflict with one another. The presence of a weapon turns that conflict into a lethal encounter and often people who are not involved in the conflict become harmed.

Weapons left unsecured cause loss of life for children and adults who don’t know how to properly use these weapons. And, of course, there are the mass killing events. I try to nuance all forms of gun violence because it's important to be specific about which kind of gun violence we are trying to resolve. There is not a universal solution to gun violence.

Jia Johnson: Where do churches start in their efforts to rid their communities of violence?

Rev. McBride: It’s important for us as clergy and faith leaders to acknowledge that we have not done enough to be peacemakers in our communities. The first transformation is always an internal one. We are good community members, but we give the work of peacemaking to others. There can be a greater appreciated that these are our children, these are our family members, these are members of our churches, these are our neighbors. Why would we think that the state, police departments, or prisons, can do a better job of healing the hurt of our people than we who are proximate and in relationship with those who are hurting? I believe churches have been strategically planted in our communities as outposts of hope, healing, and peacemaking… They can be communities of peacemakers, communities of healing.

Too often people want to immediately jump into signing a petition, showing up to a city council meeting, or planning a march. Instead, we can preach about gun violence and peacemaking… we can host Sabbath weekends, inviting members in our congregations to bring their pictures and their stories of how gun violence impacted on their lives to the church. Charity begins at home…public involvement often emerges from the needs of the congregation...the local community. Out of these tragedies, we can imagine and create programs to minister to families in the aftermath of a shooting. Is there a food pantry? Is there diaper service? Can we specifically imagine programs that can be on deck to help minister to the congregation and the community in times of crisis?

Jia Johnson: Where can churches that want to meet this need in their church and community find support?

Rev. McBride: Churches don’t need to start from scratch. Strategies, tools and organizing campaigns are available from many organizations, including LiveFreeUSA.org. We can use these resource to reimagine public safety and build an infrastructure of peace in our communities.

Meet Dr. RaShall M. Brackney, (insert link to her article) who served as a commander for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and chief of police in Charlottesville, Virginia. Discover ways communities, churches and law enforcement can work together for the good of their neighborhoods.

Learn how you can support McCormick’s Solidarity Building Initiative here.

Jia Johnson

Rev. Michael McBride