‘Prayer alone’ won’t stop gun violence

It is back to the drawing board for the Anglican Diocese as it tries to devise a plan to assist Government’s battle with the rise in violence.

Yesterday, following a special service to announce the Christian denomination’s Mission Action Plan at Holy Innocents Church, St Thomas, Bishop Michael Maxwell said the level of violence was a major concern, noting that the church must do more than just pray.

“We are concerned about gun violence. It is a really challenging thing for us to focus on in terms of being able to curb it. We continue to pray for our police and we would also encourage families who know of these things to try to give the information to try to help us to get rid of the guns in our nation.

“But it is something that we have to look at again. It would have reduced due to COVID-19 and all the protocols and curfews that were put in place; that is why we believed it would have dropped at that point in time but it is raising its ugly head again now that a lot of things are freeing up.”   (SB)