|
 "If they had security, the assailant would not have been able to
reload," Combs declared. "All of us here are not going to turn the
other cheek while you shoot us."
As he preached, Combs was flanked by a man on each side of the
pulpit, each armed with handguns beneath their suit coats. Other
members of the church's security team were scattered among the
crowd. Congregants did not know who was armed and who was not - an
undercover approach that is part of the security plan.
"We aren't looking to engage people in violence, but we are going to
practice law enforcement," Combs told Reuters before the service.
"And we are going to interdict if someone comes in with a weapon."
The June 17 church shootings in Charleston, South Carolina, have
ignited fierce debates across the country over hate crimes, the
Confederate flag, and gun control.
They also have laid bare an uncomfortable truth for religious
leaders: churches and other houses of worship, among the most open
and welcoming of American institutions, can also be among the most
vulnerable.
 In 2013, a gunman shot Ronald Harris, a pastor in Lake Charles,
Louisiana, while he preached a sermon. A year earlier, a gunman at a
Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, killed six people. In 2009,
another small-town pastor, Fred Winters, was shot in the pulpit
during a morning service in Maryville, Illinois.
Many churches do not take security seriously enough, said John
Ojeisekhoba, who runs a security consulting firm in California that
works with churches, schools, and camps.
"Church is supposed to be a sacred place. Telling your congregation
that we need to have armed security during the service, it's not
something that is easy to do," he said.
Theron Wiggins, a pastor in Flint, Michigan, and a former police
detective, is one of the preachers trying to change the mindset.
"They believe the angels will protect us," Wiggins said about his
congregation. "Well, I'm one of the angels."
ARMED AND UNDERCOVER
Churches in Michigan have ample reason to take the message
seriously. A year ago at the Citadel of Praise church in Detroit, a
man wielding an ax was shot by an off-duty police officer. In 2012,
Pastor Marvin Winans, a member of the famous gospel singing group,
was carjacked and robbed at a Detroit intersection, an event that
some local pastors cite as a reason they have become security
conscious.
"Nobody should have to worship in fear or be looking over their
shoulder," said Charles Ellis, pastor of the Greater Grace Temple, a
Pentecostal megachurch in Detroit with 6,000 members.
Ellis' church has a trained, armed, 25-man security force, nicknamed
"The Ministers of Defense." Many have backgrounds in law
enforcement. Some are stationed conspicuously on the stage, while
others blend in with the crowd.
Not everyone supports the presence of guns in sanctuaries that are
supposed to be devoted to peace and reflection.
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In April, church leaders criticized a Catholic priest in Ann Arbor,
Michigan, after he advised worshipers to arm themselves for
protection and offered a class in obtaining a concealed carry
permit. The priest, Edward Fride, canceled the class after the local
diocese said it had no place on church property.
In North Carolina, the CrossPointe Church in Fayetteville is
reconsidering its use of armed security guards after a news story on
them prompted angry emails from across the country.
"The criticism came from people who thought guns, even concealed by
church security, were a mockery of people who claimed faith in God
to meet all their needs in life," said Franklin Pounders, a minister
at the church.
"My philosophy is a bit different. The Bible says, 'In the same way,
faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.'"
"GOD IS MY GUN"
At Greater Bible Way, security is a particular concern as Combs'
outspoken opposition to same-sex marriage has brought protesters to
his doors. Active in politics, he is part of a Republican National
Committee effort to improve African-American outreach. He is also a
local deputy sheriff.
While Combs preaches, the church's security coordinator, Calvin
Williams, keeps watch. Williams listens to chatter from other
security members on a Secret Service-style earpiece and totes a
Taurus .45 caliber pistol tucked under his jacket.
Eighteen cameras scattered on the grounds of the small church
monitor people as they come and go. The church sits in a
hardscrabble section of Jackson, so the security measures are aimed
also at carjackings, property theft, and attempts to steal the
church's collection box.
"People think churches have money," Williams said. Moments after the
pastor blesses proceeds from the collection, one of the armed ushers
escorts the box into a locked office for the remainder of the
service.
One challenge is to put security into place without alienating
visitors. Since the Charleston shootings, Greater Bible Way has
begun considering installing a magnetometer, though Williams is
hesitant because of the image such a device might project.
Congregants have mixed reactions to the security presence in church.
"In the times we live in today, it's necessary," said Joshua Webb, a
church member from nearby Lansing.
Rose Phillips, of Jackson, said the armed security detail made her
feel no safer. "God is my gun," she said.
(Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by David Greising and Tiffany
Wu)
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reserved.]
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