I mean these mega churches and even medium size churches in TX always have a cop there--even on weeknights. Why? It never used to be like this. Anybody have any thoughts about that? And TX is a right to carry a firearm state.
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I mean these mega churches and even medium size churches in TX always have a cop there--even on weeknights. Why? It never used to be like this. Anybody have any thoughts about that? And TX is a right to carry a firearm state.
I assume that you mean there is a cop in or near the sanctuary, in addition to the one or two out in the street directing traffic.
We've got the same situation here in Florida. There's usually more than one if there is a pitch for a bond issue, building program or simply a request for pledges.
Do the leaders anticipate that a riot will break out when they ask for money? There certainly isn't any present at the time of asking.
In this day and age it is a must to have police or security guards, I remember Pastor John Hagee telling of a time a man came into Cornerstone Church , during the sermon , walked up to the pulpit and pointed a gun at Pastor Hagee and fired, but thank God he missed, also a package at the Post Office meant for Pastor Hagee turned out to be a bomb. Remember the shooting in a church, which killed the Pastor and a couple of congregates, was stopped from further injuries or deaths by a security guard.. John Hagee now has body guards that stand on each side of the pulpit. This is due to the demeaning of Christianity by Hollywood, and the main stream media. Pastor are seen as nuts, thieves, and / or moilesters. Specially those who preach the Gospel, truthfully, who refuse to tickle ears. Billy Graham tells of a time when he was staying at a hotel, during one of his crusades, a liberal reporter (female) asked Billy for an interview. Billy agreed, the reporter suggested they go to his room to do the interview, Billy sensed something wrong and insisted they do the interview in the hotel lobby or a resturant. Imagine how the interview would have turned out if Billy had agreed to the reporter's suggested? Billy did remind the reporter that he was happily married. Many pastors have wised up to how Satan works. A pastor friend of mind told me of a time a woman who attended his church , called the pastor to ask to speak to him, if he would come over to her house. Good thing he brought his wife with him, as she was barely dressed when she answered the door. In these cases I have a couple of christian women meet along with me, so no image of sin is available. If the woman is married I arrange the meeting when the husband is available. So it is not just guards and police today, it is also the wisdom that can only come from the Lord, to be safe, in this time and day.
It is a shame that churches have always been targets as they usually had plenty of silverwhere and of course lead on the roof. We have a real problem in England with lead thieves. In our church we had a matching pair of chairs that were positioned in the sancuary for visits from the Bishop and Archedeacan and one of them has been stolen and we even had a altar cross go missing. Traditionally the church of England hs kept its churches open 24/7 in case anyone might want to go in a nd pray, but now they are all locked up at night and many; mine included are only open when there is a service.
With regards to the church cops; I don't really think armed gaurds in a church conveys a good Christian message but will act as a deterrant.
Security is an illusion...
But mostly it is for harassment issues and an illusion for those that would break into cars while everyone is in class or listening to the sermon.
Also as an example:
We have had transvestites come into Sunday School classes and try to be the "teacher/preacher for the day" and all sorts of wackos come into services.
There are more situations such as this...But we also have those that might wish to break in during the week to steal flat screen monitors...sound equipment...computers...any number of things. It isn't that our church is in a bad part of town but that it is a very large building and relatively few people inside of it. Mostly though our security/policeman is there for the comfort of the secretaries and any others that breathe easier due to his presence.
I know and like our security guard. He is a really nice guy. He does a very proficient and difficult job of dealing with many of the issues that can arise at our church both during the week and on weekends.
Yeah...so our church can afford his salary...IMHO he is one of the few that really deserve both the job and the money he earns. Now if we can get the pastoral staff to do the same quality job he does...we would have it made.