Directly across the street from the Gold Dome stands Central Presbyterian Church, at the intersection of power and powerlessness. There we are called to speak words of compassion and hope to the homeless who sleep on our sidewalks and others in need, but also to speak what we believe to be truth to the neighbors who shape and enact the laws that govern us.
Whatever our message, we are a welcoming community, making our space available to a wide variety of citizens throughout the week. Every Sunday morning, I or one of our other pastors opens the worship service with a warm greeting to all in attendance. Often, we specifically note that we are pleased to have them with us in this place of sanctuary, be they Democrat or Republican, poor or rich, gay or straight, and whatever the hue of their skin.
We also are a faith community that is shaped by the Judeo-Christian commitment to non-violence. We dare to embrace the wisdom of Jesus who told Peter to put away his sword when the disciple sought to use violence to prevent Jesus’ arrest.
To combat a prevailing culture of violence offered to them every day, we teach our children and young people that non-violence has greater transformative power. We hold up to them — and their elders — the example of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Sitting in a Birmingham jail cell, Dr. King celebrated the “real heroes” who fought majestic battles against racial segregation, armed only with the tools of non-violence. “One day,” he wrote, “the South will know that … these disinherited children of God … were in reality standing up for the best in the American dream and the most sacred values in our Judeo-Christian heritage.”
At Central, we embrace those values and reject the terrifying logic that the presence of more guns in more public places makes us a safer society. For that reason, House Bill 60 presents us with a profound dilemma about the limits of the welcome we wish to continue extending. How can we in good conscience and with integrity invite armed visitors into a space we call a sanctuary?
So, our governing body has concluded that guns are not welcome at Central.
My prayer is that one day, Georgia will celebrate those congregations and classrooms and bars that stood up for the best of the American dream and the most sacred values in our Judeo-Christian heritage by refusing to welcome the culture of violence within their doors.
So, please join us at Central Presbyterian any Sunday morning. You are welcome here. Your guns, though, are not.
Gary W. Charles is pastor of Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.
