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Worship: Gun Violence Awareness (early June) & International Day of Friendship (July 30)

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Liturgies - Friendship

               

Liturgical Elements

Stream Bishops United Against Gun Violence music | Listen to songs, albums, playlists for free on SoundCloudPray for an end to gun violence. Bishops United Against Gun Violence has created liturgical resources for this purpose. While these prayers are written from a Christian perspective, they can be adapted for other faith traditions. 

Forms of Participation

Congregations can participate in several ways:

  • Urging their congregation to wear orange to worship services. Clergy can wear orange, too, including robes or stoles!
  • Lighting up their building in orange. The National Cathedral has participated in this way for several years, and Everytown for Gun Safety is able to provide orange filters to go over exterior floodlights to show your community that your congregation demands an end to gun violence! Everytown can also provide orange placards to go in windows or doors. 
  • Participating in or hosting community events for Wear Orange Weekend.
  • Sharing your work and your concern on social media. There will be a toolkit for you and your faith community to use to promote Wear Orange Weekend and call for an end to gun violence. 

History

#WEARORANGE to End Gun Violence

National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange Weekend is observed every June to honor Hadiya Pendelton and the more than 43,000 Americans killed with guns and approximately 76,000 more shot and wounded every year.

Why orange? It’s the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others and a color that has become the symbol of the gun violence prevention movement. Here is a history of Wear Orange as a reminder, and also what last year’s National Gun Violence Awareness Day looked like across the nation.

In 2024, the 10th National Gun Violence Awareness Day will fall on June 7, the first Friday of the month. That will kick off Wear Orange Weekend on June 7-9, which will feature virtual and in-person events across the nation.

Ways to Participate

June 7-9, 2024