NO SHOTS FIRED: Churches and Clergy to Bless Chop Saw and Host “Caskets of Compassion” in Fort Worth.
Churches and Clergy to Bless Chop Saw and Host “Caskets of Compassion” in Fort Worth.
Noon gathering at New Mount Rose will kick off National Crime Prevention Month and remember people lost to gun trauma. Link: https://www.fwweekly.com/2025/09/10/guns-n-roses-2/
FORT WORTH, Texas — Churches may be unable to participate in the March for Mercy in Morningside because of rain, but the Guns to Gardens Blessing of the Chop Saw and Caskets of Compassion will proceed as planned at noon today at New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church, 2864 Mississippi Avenue, Fort Worth.
Sponsored by Guns to Gardens Tarrant County and the Ministers Justice Coalition of Texas, the gathering will kick off National Crime Prevention Month. New Mount Rose is hosting the event for the second year. The gathering will lead up to the Guns to Gardens unwanted-gun collection on Sunday, October 18, at 2 p.m., at the church.
Faith leaders from several denominations will raise awareness about gun-related deaths in Tarrant County. While gun homicides often receive significant media attention, firearm suicides claim more lives than firearm homicides in the county each year.
“We understand that deaths caused by guns are a horrible way to die. We are coming together to pray and pay tribute to the lives lost to senseless gun trauma in our community,” said Pastor Kyev Tatum, host pastor and safe gun rights advocate. “It may surprise people to learn that more lives are lost to gun suicide than gun homicide. We want to draw attention to both of these tragic and traumatic realities.”
The effort began several years ago when Tatum contacted the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship’s Guns to Gardens program about hosting an event in his community. Following a meeting with the organization’s leadership, New Mount Rose held its first event last year. More than 35 guns were collected and transformed into garden tools for community use.
Since that event, Morningside teen and community member Trevell “Tre” Boyer was killed by gun violence. In his memory, the church planted a garden that has grown into a food forest in a food desert in ZIP code 76104—a community facing low life expectancy, high infant mortality, and significant poverty.
“We live in the tenth-largest economy in the nation, yet we have some of the worst outcomes in communities experiencing poverty,” Tatum said. “Where is the compassion? Where are the investments in prevention, and where are our leaders?”
Caskets of Compassion, sponsored by Angel Hills Funeral Directors and the Ministers Justice Coalition of Texas, will honor Tarrant County residents who died from firearm homicide or suicide last year. Clergy will read each person’s name and place a card bearing the name in a casket as part of the remembrance.
Tatum called on city leaders to direct more resources toward crime prevention in neighborhoods most affected by violence.
“We will continue to see senseless homicides and suicides in our community until mayors and city leaders take this situation seriously and invest more crime-prevention dollars back into the communities that need them most,” he said. “This is not about politics. This is about compassion and mercy for people who are suffering from mental trauma and the pain of loss.”
The public and members of the media are welcome to attend.
Upcoming event: Guns to Gardens unwanted-gun collection, Sunday, October 18, 2026, at 2 p.m., at New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church.
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