Right Rev. Rowland
columnist: Right Rev. Rowland

Topic: Gun Control
God, Guns, & Church

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gun rights, church shooting, self defense, gunman, pastor shot, second amendment

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by Right Rev. Rowland
(conservative libertarian)
Wednesday, March 11, 2009

This past Sunday, Baptist Minister Rev. Fred Winters was shot during his sermon at First Baptist Church of Marysville, Il. The congregation and the minister were caught completely off-guard.

I remember years ago speaking with the ushers and leaders of our church about the possibility of an armed person entering one of our services. Wedgewood Baptist Church had just been shot up in Texas, and the gunman had reloaded three times to continue shooting. All the people could do was hide under the pews.....there were no armed congregants to respond to the lunatic.

Fortunately at our church most of my wife's family had concealed carry permits and were pretty regular attenders. Nevertheless, I wanted to have a plan B in case they were not around on any given Sunday. I gathered the men and explained my strategy. I told them that I was facing the rear doors for most of the service, so if I saw someone come in who was armed, I was going to rush them.

This would only work if they reacted when they saw me move and were right behind me. That way if I were incapacitated, there would be several other men right on the intruder. No questions, no negotiations, just tackle and knock the turkey out. Then one gentleman spoke out who was an assistant bank manager. He said they trained them at the banks NOT to resist, and to comply with all demands of a gunman. He felt we should follow the same procedure at the church.

Looking him squarely in the eye, I told him that was the most assenine course of action we could adopt. Gunmen in the church are not there for the money, they want to kill, kidnap & rape, or terrorize. To passively comply with an insane terrorist is to invite attack. People with malicious intentions look for the weakest places to attack. To not have a prepared response or plan of action is to plan on disaster.

I have taught each of my children to resist an evil person, even when they were very small. I coached them to scream, kick, bite, and raise holy hell if anyone ever tried to take them. I grow weary of reading the headlines and hearing the outcomes of scores of children and now, even adults who were abducted and brutalized after being intimidated into going quietly with their assailant.

When somone with malicious intent knows there are a group of weak victims just waiting to be taken advantage of, it attracts them. Churches are not places of violence, but of worship, and prayer, and community. Yet churches and Christians need to be prepared to defend themselves if the unthinkable happens.

When Matthew Murray stormed into New Life Church in Colorado Springs in December of 2007, he was only stopped when he met armed resistance. Jeanne Assam, a church security guard with a 9mm pistol confronted the gunman and wounded him when he would not comply. Realizing that his shooting spree was over, Murray took his own life. Many lives were saved when Assam risked hers to protect others. In the words of Jesus, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."

Fast forward to this week's shooting of the Rev. Fred Winters in Illinois. During the sermon, a crazed gunman walked in and shot the good Rev. FOUR TIMES! Then several men in the church tackled him, and the gunman and two others were stabbed during the scuffle. All three required surgery. Rev. Winters was pronounced dead on the scene.

What would the outcome have been if there were responsible members of the congregation there that morning who were trained and licensed to carry concealed weapons? I predict that Rev. Fred would only have been wounded, and that the gunman would have died after his first or second shot. Oh, and two others would not have been stabbed, requiring surgery.

God is not against guns. God is not even against violence when it is used in the defense of others. The sooner churches, Christians, and our community leaders figure this out, the safer we will be.

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©2009 Right Rev. Rowland, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Last modified: Saturday, March 14, 2009

The views expressed in this article are those of Right Rev. Rowland only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Right Rev. Rowland is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

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