May 13, 2008

VALLEY FORGE, PA – Millcreek Baptist Church, part of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, is planning the Stop the Violence Conference that includes an opportunity for community members to turn in guns for gift cards. They are joined by various civic and community organizations including the Philadelphia Police Department and Philadelphia Safety Net.

"This event is one response to an environment replicated in far too many urban areas across our country, where American Baptist congregants reside," said Rev. Valentine Royal-Thomas, executive director of American Baptist Women In Ministry. "It is a powerful witness of what one congregation and one willing pastor can do to help heal our broken communities. Pastor McCabe and Millcreek's courage is an open invitation to other American Baptist congregations to ‘go and do likewise,' to prayerfully consider the possibility of sponsoring a similar event."

Held May 30-31, the conference will feature noted speaker, Dr. R. Dandridge Collins, Ph.D., author of The Trauma Zone. A graduate of Eastern University, Palmer Theological Seminary and Temple University, Dr. Collins will address the dynamic of overcoming anger, rage and bitterness.

Besides offering the guns for gift cards trade-in, the conference will also host personal testimonies, music and dance. Millcreek Baptist Church is pastored by Rev. Dr. Dolores E. Lee McCabe, formerly the Associate Professor of Counseling and Social Justice at Eastern University.

ABCUSA General Secretary, Rev. A. Roy Medley, said, "This is a powerful example of what it means to be the hands and feet of Christ: the church actively reaching out to set free those imprisoned by violence and the fear of violence."

The church continues to seek additional support to expand its effort. Information on the Conference and ways to support it can be found by contacting the Conference Coordinator, Minister Adrienne Carter, at 215-386-2989.

American Baptist Churches USA