Join Shane for a RawTools event beating swords into plowshares at Grace Episcopal Church (116 W. Washington Ave., Madison, WI 53073). The event starts at 3pm CT and will be followed by dinner.

The event, “Beating Guns in Madison,” will begin at 3pm at the church and is free and open to the public. It will feature a keynote address by Shane Claiborne, who has brought similar events to cities across the nation, and a demonstration by a local blacksmith, Jeff Wild, on how to make garden tools and art out of donated firearms. Although no firearm donations will be accepted at this event, anyone wishing to have their guns turned into garden tools after the event can learn how here.

The event will also feature local survivor testimonies describing how gun violence has impacted their lives, and musical performances by recording artist Fr. John Francis Maher, associate rector of Grace Episcopal Church.

“This event will address the proliferation of guns on our streets and honor the victims of gun violence in Madison, most of whom are persons of color. In fact, more than half of Madison’s gun crime victims are Black,” said Fr. Jonathan Grieser, rector of Grace Episcopal Church. “More than 39,000 people in the United States die each year as a result of gun violence.”

The “Beating Guns” initiative, stemming from a book by the same title written by Claiborne and Michael Martin, allows victims and perpetrators of gun violence to tell their own compelling stories, offering hope for change and helping to reimagine the world as one where swords become plows and guns are turned into garden tools, following the intent of the Bible’s Book of Isaiah (2:3-4.)