by Mike Ford
In spite of some chilly rain, about 100 people from at least six Mosaic Conference congregations and beyond gathered on April 6, 2025 to participate in the second annual Souderton End Gun Violence walk. The Zion Mennonite (Souderton, PA) Peace and Justice Committee planned the event in conjunction with Zwingli UCC and Heeding God’s Call to End Gun Violence, and those that gathered represented a local faith community of over ten different congregations.
The walk started at Zion, where folks first sang songs and listened to poignant stories shared by speaker Movita Johnson-Harrell, who lost two sons to gun violence. Participants then offered a public witness, walking 1.3 miles along Rt. 113 to Souderton Community Park, carrying signs and t-shirts memorializing Montgomery County residents that have lost their lives to gun violence in the last five years. Once at the park, letters were signed that will be sent to state and federal legislators in support of reasonable gun laws, particularly aimed at halting the illegal straw purchase of guns.
The walk concluded with participants transferring the installation of the Memorial to the Lost t-shirts from Zion to Zwingli UCC, providing a continued public memorial and witness to ending gun violence. Zion and Zwingli will continue to cooperate in the future to annually host a t-shirt memorial and End Gun Violence Walk (the next walk will be on March 22, 2026), and welcome additional Souderton/Telford area congregations to join this faith community effort, and also the Memorial t-shirt display.
Mike Ford
Mike Ford loves Jesus and people, and has combined those two loves for the last 40 years through work on a college campus, Program Director at two Christian camps, hospital chaplaincy, and serving as a Youth Pastor and Preaching Pastor at several Mennonite congregations. Mike oversees Zion’s Jr/Sr High youth ministry and helps with its outreach activities.
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The opinions expressed in articles posted on Mosaic’s website are those of the author and may not reflect the official policy of Mosaic Conference. Mosaic is a large conference, crossing ethnicities, geographies, generations, theologies, and politics. Each person can only speak for themselves; no one can represent “the conference.” May God give us the grace to hear what the Spirit is speaking to us through people with whom we disagree and the humility and courage to love one another even when those disagreements can’t be bridged.