This book and toolkit is designed to help churches who have an interest in reducing gang violence, and includes a collection of writings, best practices and valuable resources based on the Boston TenPoint Model, as well as tools from others committed to reducing gang violence.What should we do about gang violence, as some cities experience record numbers of shootings and homicides? Often the answer revolves around changing failing institutions such as the schools, the criminal justice system, and the family. Others point to easy access to firearms, a lack of economic opportunities, or social services, misguided urban housing policy, violence in the media, and persuasive racism that runs throughout all of them. But what about the church and the faith community, what is their role in trying to solve this life and death issue? The church as an institution also needs to change if it wants to play a role in reducing this human tragedy. In the age of "Black Lives Matter," or urban cities experiencing record numbers of homicides, there is much to be learned from the success and failures of the Boston TenPoint Coalition, and the "Boston Miracle." The Boston TenPoint Coalition "movement" demonstrated that when Black clergy and White police officers were able to work together, amazing results could be achieved, such as homicides falling from 152 to 31, a twenty-nine month period when there were no teenage homicide victims! As a result of its work, The Boston TenPoint Coalition has received public commendation from Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, several U.S. Attorney Generals, the U.S. Senate, and several Democratic and Republican Massachusetts governors. The book contains the never before seen thinking and theology of Rev. Rivers, Rev. Hammond and Rev. Brown, the founders of the Boston TenPoint Coalition, and is organized in the following sections: Background on The Boston TenPoint Coalition, The Role of the Clergy and the Church, Frameworks and Resources.
About the Author: I had the unique opportunity of going to the Department of Justice and meeting with four department heads, who all expressed a sincere desire to work with the faith-based community in general and the church in particular, in efforts to reduce gang violence. I've heard that sentiment echoed from law enforcement across the country. However, in doing my research, I saw there was a lack of materials on the topic of how or what the church could do. This book and toolkit is designed to fill that gap. Ed Gaskin