Birmingham Funeral Directors Lament Gun Violence

Rev. Dr. Jonathan McPherson

Funeral directors in Birmingham, Alabama, are struggling to understand and cope with the ever increasing violence in that city.  According to an article in the Birmingham Times gun violence has increased by 80% over the past three years and is heading for a triple digit increase this year.

Not only has the violence, much like we hear on the national news about Chicago, drawn the attention of law enforcement and elected officials, but it is wearing out funeral directors as well.  The funeral directors talk about how they can not help but be affected as they work to comfort the bereaved.

According to Korie J. Anderson, pastor of Liberty Baptist Church and a licensed funeral director, the violence is stemming into at least one homicide per week and is affecting the entire Birmingham area.

The article mentions the Davenport and Harris Funeral Home that was founded in 1899 and has witnessed much in Birmingham — including the civil rights movement –  but it also mentions that the community  has lost much of its perspective as a caring and nurturing village.

The Rev. Dr. Jonathan McPherson, a funeral home owner was quoted, “Rather than getting better, our  community is getting worse.  We wonder what would the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. think about this violence.”

Funeral Director Daily take:  Funeral directors all over the country  can only empathize with our metro area brethren who are on the front battle of this homicidal epidemic in our nation’s inner cities.  We know how the death of young people – by any means – and the subsequent work in helping grieving families can drain a funeral director’s energy and desire.  Those of us in our industry must lead and stand for non-violence in the solutions that we seek. . . . easier said than done —but necessary.[wpforms id=”436″ title=”true” description=”true”]

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