Participants will break paper chains, symbolizing indifference to capital punishment, as churches from across the city gather for “A Witness Against the Death Penalty.” The community worship service will be held on Sunday, November 11 at 7:00 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1345 S. 16th St. The public is invited.
Three speakers will share their opposition to the death penalty from very different perspectives.
Captain Jim Davidsaver is a 20-year veteran of the Lincoln Police Department. In a March 2007 Lincoln Journal Star column he wrote, “Of the accused murderers my fellow officers and I have brought to justice, I do not believe any of them was deterred in the least by Nebraska’s death penalty.” He compares the $1 million to $3 million cost of a death penalty trial and execution to the $500,000 average cost of life imprisonment.
Stephanie Maser has always been against the death penalty. Now, as the aunt of murder victim Missy Maser-Schmidt, she has had first-hand experience with a crime for which capital punishment might be imposed. Even so, Stephanie Maser maintains her opposition to the death penalty.
His religious faith prompts Rev. Jim Keck, Senior Minister of First Plymouth Congregational Church to favor abolition of the death penalty. “We used to put to death a person if they stole a horse. But we would consider that barbaric now,” he comments. “The next step in our moral evolution would be the abolition of the death penalty altogether.”
The service is organized by Clergy Peacemakers, an interfaith group of Lincoln clergy men and women committed to peacemaking. Rev. Brent Johnston, the senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church and a leader of the group asks, “When the innocent continue to be exonerated on death row thanks to the work of the Innocence Project, can any one doubt that the American judicial system is flawed?” He concludes, “Maybe Jesus’ verdict about capital punishment is still apt today, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they are doing.’”
Information is available at: www.fmclincoln.org/Clergy_Peacemakers.htm. Media presence at the service is welcome.
Resources
Witness Against the Death Penalty Flyer - full page PDF format
Announcement: WITNESS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY – Break the chain of indifference. Attend an Interfaith Service to witness against the death penalty at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 11 at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1345 S. 16th St. Speakers will include Rev. Jim Keck, Senior Minister of First Plymouth Congregational Church; Captain Jim Davidsaver, a 20-year veteran of the Lincoln Police Department; and Stephanie Maser, aunt of murder victim Missy Schmidt-Maser.
Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty - Nebraska's statewide abolition organization
Death Penalty Facts - A growing collection of informational post cards