Vigil to be Held Sunday, May 29, 5 p.m. on Steps of First Congregational Church of Old Lyme
OLD LYME, CT – The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme (FCCOL) and the Lyme-Old Lyme Partnership for Social Justice announced Friday, May 27, that the organizations would hold a bell-ringing vigil and call to action on Sunday, May 29.
The vigil will be held on the front steps of the church starting at 5 p.m.
The bell in the church steeple will be rung 32 times – once for each of the victims of the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., Laguna Woods, Calif., and Uvalde, Texas.
The community is invited to attend.
Speakers at the vigil are expected to include:
- Kevin Booker from the New London City Council
- Principal Lindsey Thompson from the Mary Hooker Magnet School in Hartford
- Judge Kevin Washington from Windsor, Conn.
- Rev. Dr. Terrlyn L. Curry Avery from Sacred Intelligence in New London
- Colin Heffernan, Democratic candidate for the Connecticut House of Representatives 23rd District
- Rev. Steve Jungkeit from FCCOL and the Partnership for Social Justice
In announcing the community vigil, Jungkeit said, “In the past, small New England villages like ours used bells as a way to call people out of their homes to mark times of worship, celebration and mourning. We are invoking that tradition again on Sunday, calling the entire community to come join us as we remember the 32 individuals who lost their lives to the recent gun violence in Buffalo, N.Y., Laguna Woods, Calif., and Uvalde, Texas.”
Jungkeit continued, “It’s an opportunity to come together and grieve as a community – to voice our shared desire for a society where we protect people, not guns, and where horrific killings like this no longer happen.”
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