To the Editor:
Five years ago on Dec. 14, 2012, 20 children and six staff members at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., were shot to death by a man who had previously shot and killed his mother, and who subsequently shot and killed himself. In commemoration of the lives lost in that nightmare and of the more than 500,000 lives lost to gun violence in this country since, clergy from all over the country will hold a vigil in front of the NRA headquarters in Fairfax, Va., at 10 am on Dec. 14, 2017. Clergy on Martha’s Vineyard will hold our own vigil at 10 am on Thursday, Dec. 14. We will first join together at 9:15 am at Owen Park as the multifaith fellowship we are. At 9:30 am, the time that the shooting began, we will march silently to Five Corners, where we will offer prayers and read out the names of the children and adults who died in 2012 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. Members of the clergy will lead us in prayer for an end to the unnecessary loss of life that gun violence has caused and continues to cause in this country, and for a just and moral resolution to the dilemma our country faces between personal freedom and public safety. We invite the public to bear witness in silence to our vigil.
The Rev. Woody Bowman
The Rev. Cathlin Baker
Rabbi Caryn Broitman
The Rev. Bill Clark
The Rev. Mary Beth Daniels
The Rev. Susan Eibner
Jill De La Hunt
The Rev. Sharon Eckhardt
The Rev. Armen Hanjian
The Rev. Vicky Hanjian
The Rev. Cynthia Hubbard
The Rev. Michael Nagle
Bruce Nevin
Sarah Nevin
Janet Newton
The Rev. Chip Seadale
Rabbi Lori Shaller
The Rev. Susan Waldrop
The Rev. Roberta Williams