A change in leadership for Bishops United Against Gun Violence

Bishop Ian T. Douglas, a founding co-convener of Bishops United Against Gun Violence, speaks at Bishops United’s public witness during the 2024 General Convention in Louisville, Kentucky.

Bishops United Against Gun Violence is in the midst of a leadership transition.

Later this month, Bishops Ian T. Douglas, resigned of Connecticut, and Daniel G. P. Gutiérrez of Pennsylvania will step down as co-conveners of the 120-member network. Bishop Bonnie Perry of Michigan will continue as a co-convener, and she will be joined by Bishop Carrie Schofield-Broadbent of the Diocese of Maryland.

Together, Perry and Schofield-Broadbent will collaborate with other bishops on a new course for Bishops United as the network enters its twelfth year. (Read the story of Bishops United ‘s first decade.)

Douglas co-founded Bishops United after mass shootings at the Sikh temple in Oak Grove, Wisconsin and at Sandy Hook Elementary School in his diocese in 2012. He has been a co-convener ever since. Gutiérrez served six years as a co-convener. His diocese succeeded the Episcopal Church in Connecticut and the Diocese of Newark in handling the network’s finances.

During this period of reorientation, Bishops United will continue to play a role in interfaith efforts to curb gun violence through the work of Bishop Mark Beckwith, resigned of Newark and a former co-convener, who will remain is his position as the network’s liaison to the larger gun violence prevention movement.

Bishops United Against Gun Violence is a network of some 120 Episcopal bishops working to curtail the epidemic of gun violence in the United States through public liturgy, spiritual support, sound teaching and persistent advocacy.