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tateb24 wrote:I would avoid the Church carry, A bible verse comes to mind when I think of church, I don't think it pertains to today, but just has an eerie message, Jesus tells Peter "Sheath your sword, for those who live by the sword die by the sword.

Two passages come to my mind as well
LK 11:21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:
Luk 12:39 And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through

And too, Jesus made a whip of chords and drove those out of the temple who did not belong, calling them thieves. If we drive those robbers from church buildings today, we are simply doing what Jesus did, thus answeing the question of WWJD?

In many countries today, when churches meet, they have armed guards standing outside to protect them due to the violence against christians.
Wayne

I should have said the church building is next door to an apt complex rather than at one, lol.
Wayne

surprise_i'm_armed wrote:wgoforth:

It's surprising to me that in mostly rural Early (Brown County) that
you would have such a ration of shady characters cross your path.
It's heartening that you are not shy about packing in the pulpit.

There are other threads on the forum where we have discussed our
church carry situations. Some folks have multiple CHL's and all know
about the other CHL's, at their churches.

I carry at church every Sunday, but I have never broached the security/CHL
issue with anyone else. There are no CHL's known to me at church.

My gun is ready for any defensive need at church, but no one needs to know
I'm packing. I don't tell anyone whether I'm wearing boxers or briefs, and
they don't need to know that I've got 31 rounds of JHP on me either. :-)

SIA

Several assumptions here. I preach in Brownwood not Early. Early is where the mall is from another thread. The church building is located at an apt complex that also serves as a half-way-house. I moved here only one month ago from Abilene where we were the first church building off of I-20. Abilene has one of the highest rates of vagrants in the state. You have 3 religious schools who's social work students take them under wing thus envouraging them to stay, so yes, we had them almost weekly there. Too, we had a huge jump in crime in Abilene including home invasions due to a gang called "the brown skins"...illegals doing home invasions. Both Brownwood and Abilene have an enormous meth production problem with Abilene being the meth production capital of Tx. Aside from that, I have preached in Kansas City and Nashville, Tn. So yes, I have run into a lot of this in churches.

Wayne

From the FWIW dept.... as a minister of a church myself, I carry into the pulpit at all times. We tend to get unsavory characters on a regular basis asking for money. You can tell that many of these have drug and alcohol problems. Sometimes they get pretty irate when you tell them you wont help them with money (but I usually offer to help them with what they really need). Who knows what some might do when feeling desperate enough. We have had to call police before with some who would not leave and created a scene. One schizophrenic visitor who came regularly thought my sermons were always about her, and told one member she was going to get me at church. While preaching, I once saw a person walk in the front door and go into the church office (all other heads were forward toward the pulpit or hanging down asleep, lol). I simply stopped preaching and asked one of the men to check it out. Most do not realize how vulnerable church buildings are.

By their very nature, churches attract desperate people. People sometimes go there when they have no where else to turn, and desperate people can do desperate acts. I would advise all churches to have a security plan.

blessings

Wayne