GUNS TO GARDENS: Clergy from Many Denominations Gather to Turn Guns into Garden Tools “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.” – Isaiah 2:4

 

GUNS TO GARDENS: Clergy from Many Denominations Gather to Turn Guns into Garden Tools

“They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.” – Isaiah 2:4

FORT WORTH, TEXAS – In response to the recent tragedy of yet another school shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and ongoing violence in communities across the nation, clergy from throughout Tarrant County will gather to launch the Guns to Gardens Project on Saturday, September 6, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church, 2864 Mississippi Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas 76104.

The initiative is part of a nationwide Christian movement rooted in the biblical vision of peace, where instruments of death are transformed into tools of life. Guns to Gardens, a ministry supported by RAWTools and the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, is active across the United States, including Dallas, and is now coming to Tarrant County to meet the urgent need in Fort Worth’s most impacted neighborhoods.

Over 21 Tarrant County Clergy and Congregations Gather to Turn Guns into Garden Tools “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.” – Isaiah 2:4

Guns to Gardens Collaboration Membership:

1. New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church 

2. Presbyterian Women, First Presbyterian Church FW

3. Ministers Justice Coalition of Texas

4. St. Stephens Episcopal Church-Hurst

5. Circle of Christ of Christ of Mount Moriah 

6. Missionary Baptist Church 

7. Justice Network of 

8. Tarrant County

9. Westminster 

10. Presbyterian Church-Arlington

11. University Christian Church FW

12. Mothers of Murdered Angels 

13. All Souls Episcopal Church

14. Greater True Light Holy Sanctified Church 

15. Divine Word Ministries COGIC

16. RAWTools South

17. First Presbyterian Church Social Concerns Committee

18. Christ Temple Holy Sanctified Church

19. Heritage Height Holy Sanctified Church

20 Episcopal Diocese of Texas: North Texas

21. Presbyterian Peace Fellowship 

Pastor Kyev Tatum, site host, shared:

“Our hearts hurt for the people of Minnesota, Uvalde, and the Morningside of Fort Worth. The Guns to Gardens Project is a way for us to bring hope and healing to families suffering from the trauma of gun violence. As the Bible says, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God’ (Matthew 5:9). This is our faithful response to a broken world.”

A Movement of Faith and Action

Earlier this year, a coalition of about 20 clergy and church members marched down Mississippi Avenue in southeast Fort Worth, pushing an empty coffin to honor those who have died by gun violence. At every intersection where blood had been shed, they stopped to pray. That march was a prophetic act, echoing Jesus’ command to “mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15), and marked the first step toward launching Fort Worth’s chapter of Guns to Gardens.

Nationwide, the Guns to Gardens movement invites gun owners to surrender unwanted firearms. Volunteers, under strict safety training, dismantle them with a chop saw and transform the metal into garden tools and artwork. These tools then become symbols of hope, healing, and new life—just as God promises to bring beauty from ashes (Isaiah 61:3).

Local organizers also plan to build a community garden at New Mount Rose, where survivors and families can plant, nurture, and heal together in God’s creation. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). This garden will be a space of restoration and peace.

Responding to a Local Crisis

Gun violence has devastated Fort Worth. In the 76104 ZIP code alone—where Pastor Tatum grew up—there have been 24 fatal shootings since January 2020. Across the city, hundreds of lives have been lost, with southeast, east, north, and southwest Fort Worth all facing heavy tolls. The disproportionate impact on communities of color highlights the need for a faith-filled, trauma-informed response.

“We recognize that homicides and suicides caused by gun violence do not discriminate,” Pastor Tatum said. “But how we respond to it is where the difference is made. The church must rise to the call of Christ to bring comfort, compassion, and hope. ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted’ (Luke 4:18).”

A Call to the Faithful

Organizers are seeking to raise $50,000 to support the effort, provide gift cards for surrendered firearms, and sustain trauma-informed ministry. Clergy from Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, and Baptist congregations are uniting across racial and denominational lines to answer the Gospel call to peace.

Rev. Allison Sandlin Liles, vicar of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Hurst, noted:

“We can’t stop at ‘thoughts and prayers.’ As James reminds us, ‘Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead’ (James 2:17). Guns to Gardens is a tangible way to live out our faith and be the hands and feet of Christ.”

The public is invited to attend the launch on Saturday, September 6, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church. Together, the community will witness the first dismantling of firearms in Tarrant County, followed by prayer, worship, and the blessing of the tools that will grow new life.

“And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5).

For more information or to support this effort, please contact New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church.