Rt Revd Rob Wickham said the Citizens Assembly was “timely”, given fatal stabbings have claimed 35 lives across the city so far this year.
Encouraging people to support the event at St Mary’s Church Primrose Hill in the north of the capital, he said: “This issue affects everyone, which means that everyone needs to respond.”
Eight current or former members of St Mary’s youth centre on Elsworthy Road have lost their lives to stabbings in the last 16 months.
Speaking about the rise in youth violence in London, a 16-year-old who is supported by St Mary’s Centre said: “It’s worrying, but it’s normal.
“If someone gets stabbed, you just have to move on. If no change occurs, then yeah, it’ll get worse; that’s how it is sometimes.”
Curate, Rev Nick Walters told Premier: “We live and breath violence every single day”.
Local religious leaders have been invited to join local MPs and councillors at the Assembly, which is being held in partnership with Citizens UK.
Rev Walters added: “Churches, mosques, synagogues, schools, colleges and political leaders; they’re all invited.
“We’re going to come together to begin conversations on how we can tackle this crisis together.
“We’re going to be planning our grassroots initiatives, which will then form part of a commission on safety where we’ll be reporting our findings to politicians in the coming months.
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