FCCOL and the Lyme-Old Lyme Partnership for Social Justice announced today that the organizations would hold a bell-ringing vigil and call to action on the front steps of the church on Sunday, May 29, at 5:00 p.m. – ringing the bell in the church steeple 32 times, once for each of the victims of the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, Laguna Woods, California, 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, Connecticut
  • Dr. Terrlyn L. Curry Avery from Sacred Intelligence in New London
  • 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, New York, Laguna Woods, California, and Uvalde, Texas.  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.”