Outside a church in Southfield on a warm Tuesday afternoon, Bishop Bonnie Perry closed her eyes and stretched out her arms in prayer above a couple of chop saws that were about to slice through guns. The Rt. Rev. Perry, who leads the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, was at St. David's Episcopal Church on 12 Mile to kick off the start of a gun buyback and destruction program at several churches in metro Detroit.
"Holy one, bless this saw and this saw and the hands of all who operate these saws that they may take these weapons of destruction and turn them into plowshares, turn them into other objects, turn them into dust where they can no longer do any harm or ill," Perry declared. "We remember all who have been hurt or killed because of guns. Wrap their families in your love and, Holy one, protect all of us. In your most blessed name we pray, creator of Christ and Holy Spirit. Amen."
A man operating the saw then sliced through the gun with a crunch as sparks flew and a crowd of Episcopal clergy and gun control advocates applauded.
The scene came after a week of three mass shootings in metro Detroit, including one at splash pad in Rochester Hills injuring nine, that once again sparked concerns about gun violence in Michigan. Perry has been working on the issue of gun violence for years and, after the shootings at Oxford High and Michigan State University, she joined together with other faith leaders to accelerate their efforts to pass new gun laws. They applauded when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law gun safety bills in April 2023 that expanded background checks and added penalties for failing to keep guns out of the hands of children. But Perry and others say more needs to be done.
At St. David's, the Very Rev. Chris Yaw has been working on a gun buyback program that drew national attention after a report in the New York Times discovered many guns in these programs were not being completely destroyed. On March 12, Michigan State Police said it would make sure the guns were completely pulverized by using a scrap metal processing facility in Jackson for disposal of firearms.
On Tuesday, Yaw announced a new series of six gun disposal programs at Episcopal churches on Saturdays from July 13 to Nov. 9, at his Southfield church and also in Bloomfield Hills, Detroit, Pontiac, Waterford Township and Ann Arbor. Open to all, participants can get gift cards from Target and Meijer — $200 for assault rifles, $100 for handguns and $50 for other long guns such as shotguns and rifles — in exchange for their guns. Gun owners are also being encouraged to transform their gun parts into art. Yaw displayed a framed portrait he keeps in his office of gun pieces making up the word "Peace."
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"We will be providing a gun disposal service for unwanted guns from the community, destroying firearms of all sorts in these church parking lots," Yaw, dressed in a white alb robe with an orange stole, told a crowd before the gun sawing. "We will be using chop saws like the ones you see over here, then using the gun parts to create objects of art like the ones you see here. Donors will have an opportunity to receive gift cards or objects of art or just hand over their weapons that they no longer want. They will be given a chance to make the artwork themselves. We will have a guns and crafts tent."
Yaw's church was recently visited by Jon Stewart and a crew with his "The Daily Show," working on a segment about his efforts to combat gun violence. He was joined at Tuesday's event by Southfield Mayor Ken Siver; Oakland County Commissioner Marcia Gershenson, who helped get money earmarked for gift cards for previous gun buybacks; End Gun Violence Michigan; Moms Demand Action; and a number of clergy, mostly Episcopalian with some Lutheran. Many wore orange, which gun control advocates often use to symbolize their cause.
Yaw and others stressed they want this to be a bipartisan effort across denominational lines. Yaw said they respect responsible gun ownership, noting that the head of security of his church is a member of the NRA.
"We're bringing events of unity and creativity and conductivity to these communities," Yaw said. "Amidst the terrible plague of gun violence that we have and will likely continue in the near term, it's time for a change and coming off of a banner year in Lansing where we saw passages and really important common sense gun laws, I say that change is coming."
Pastor Barry Randolph of Church of the Messiah in Detroit spoke at Tuesday's event, quoting from Nelson Mandela, who said you can judge a country by the way it treats its children. Randolph said guns are the leading cause of death of children in the U.S.
"We have to do something about it," said Randolph, who leads an annual march against gun violence in Detroit that was held Saturday.
Each gun buyback event will cost about $30,000, Yaw said. He's asking for help from the public. To donate and for more information about the gun disposal events at local churches, visit http://stdavidssf.org/ and click on St. David's Gun Disposal Events. You can also mail checks payable to St. David's, at St David's, 16200 W. 12 Mile, Southfield, 48076.
The upcoming six gun buybacks at local Episcopal churches are:
- July 13: St. David's, 16200 W. 12 Mile Road, Southfield, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Aug. 3: Nativity, 21220 W. 14 Mile Road, Bloomfield Hills, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Aug. 24: Church of the Messiah, 231 E. Grand Blvd., Detroit, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Sept. 28: All Saints, 71 W. Pike St., Pontiac, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Oct. 5: St. Andrew's, 5301 Hatchery Road, Waterford Township, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Nov. 9: St. Aidan's, 1679 Broadway, Ann Arbor, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Free Press staff writer Andrea Sahouri contributed to this report
Contact Niraj Warikoo:nwarikoo@freepress.com or X @nwarikoo
