On Sunday, June 9th, Episcopal churches across The Diocese of West Missouri are invited to participate in “Wear Orange Day” in honor of victims and survivors of gun violence across our country. The week leading up to Wear Orange Sunday, we will be planning an action item each day in support of gun violence prevention. If you can, please share this with parishioners across the diocese to help spread awareness and show solidarity to those who have been affected by gun violence.
Wear Orange Day was born out of a tragic shooting in Chicago. On January 21, 2013, Hadiya Pendleton marched in President Obama’s second inaugural parade. One week later, Hadiya was shot and killed on a playground in Chicago. Soon after this tragedy, Hadiya’s friends commemorated her life by wearing orange, the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others. Wear Orange is now observed every June. Thousands of people wear orange to honor Hadiya and the more than 40,000 people who are killed with guns and approximately 85,000 who are shot and wounded every year.
This year, Bishop Bruce invites the Diocese of West Missouri, along with the Peace and Justice Committee, to observe Wear Orange Sunday on June 9, 2024, in honor of the victims and survivors of gun violence in our country.
You are invited to ask your congregation to participate in a week of action and awareness. Individals are asked to wear orange, and clergy to wear orange stoles. If you can, you are also invited to light your building orange for the weekend, in conjunction with Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, and many other civic and public buildings across the country.
In your Sunday liturgy, you are encouraged to offer special prayers of lament and of hope for a different future. Consider using this bulletin insert to encourage worshippers to choose one way to work toward an end to gun violence. This might be a Sunday to invite a speaker in during the education hour to share information and answer questions. You can also consider decorating the entrance to your church with orange flags or prayer banners, sending weekly emails or social media posts prior to Wear Orange, and more!
Feel free to take pictures of your congregation during Wear Orange Sunday and send them to peaceandjustice@diowestmo.org so we can help spread awareness!
However you choose to observe Wear Orange Sunday, the important thing is that we honor and remember in prayer those whose lives have been cut short by gunfire and those survivors whose lives are forever scarred. Our faith compels us to love one another as Christ has loved us. We who follow the Prince of Peace must commit ourselves to work for peace in our communities.
Download the resources and agenda for Wear Orange Week below.
