On Sunday, January 8, a mix of parishioners and interested local residents gathered in the crisp air around a pair of anvils in the parking lot of Newtown Congregational Church.

Standing inside the circle, carefully holding a piece of glowing orange metal was The Right Reverend James Curry, co-founder of Swords To Plowshares (S2P) Northeast, an organization focused on reducing gun violence in communities by transforming gun parts into garden tools.

Curry used tongs to gracefully place the smoldering metal onto an anvil, which he then hammered into the shape of a trowel. As the metal cooled, the head of the trowel began to solidify into shape.

This trowel was unlike the typical trowels seen in local garden stores, however: it was forged from an old gun barrel.

It is “forged with love,” remarked Curry, “the power of love transforming weapons into useful garden tools.”

The crowd nodded and clapped, and within a few minutes, attendees began donning gloves and glasses to stafely start working on creating the garden tools themselves.

He then produced a long metal barrel from the trailer — another old barrel, this one still in its original shape.

Gingerly placing the barrel into the forge, Curry said forge was near 2,000 degrees. For reference, that’s about the temperature of molten lava.

Pulling out the near-molten metal, Curry placed it onto an anvil, next to an eager young girl holding a hammer.

Assuring attendees that molten metal cools quickly, especially with the colder temperatures outside, he helped a young volunteer hammer down the metal. Onlookers watched as the cavity in the barrel began to close.

Curry exclaimed, “This is the power of love! This weapon won’t fire and kill any more. Instead, it will serve as a tool for the seeds we plant in the ground.” The young girl smiled, and the audience members applauded.

After some more demonstrations, and a workshop where audience members could their own forged heart-shaped necklaces, Curry invited a few more community members to come up. This included Real Food Share Founder CT, The Victory Garden at Fairfield Hills, and Newtown Parks & Recreation.

Representatives from the three groups offered remarks about local gardening efforts. Cindy Clark encouraged members of the Newtown community to consider planting a row in the Victory Garden, and Parks & Rec Director Amy Mangold shared the success story of the fruit trail at Fairfield Hills. The fruit trail was established a few years ago by Mangold's son Andrew.

Curry then presented each with a two-pronged weeding hoe made out of guns that were from buybacks in Hartford, New Haven, Hamden, and Worcester, Mass.

The workshops and demonstrations continued through the early afternoon, leaving all attendees with new insights into how communities can be transformed with the power of kindness, gardening, and a little bit of persistence — transforming weapons into garden tools.

For more information, visit Swords to Plowshares Northeast at s2pnortheast.org.