Danger doesn’t rest on Sundays, so it’s important to still carry and stay aware. While you may need to adjust your clothing to attend your house of worship, there are plenty of dressier “Gray Man” options available.
What is your favorite “Gray Man” combination when attending your house of worship? Does it include a polo or button-down?
I’m in charge of our churches security from door security to panic buttons to our EOP. I can’t convince our main door guy, an off duty game warden to conceal when at his station. He says it acts as a deterrent, I tell him he will be the first shot, unless he ALREADY has his firearm drawn and on target, which would mean on target PRIOR to the bad guy exposing his firearm.
He usually wears a Hawaiian type button down, with it pulled up in a bunch over his holstered firearm.
Other folks on the team mostly wear a polo type shirt like me.
If you’re in charge, then you are in charge. What’s this guy’s problem?
It’s complex, he has been going to the church for years, he sits back there and texts the entire service, he specifically says he does not like sitting with his family, he’s grumpy at church and never talks with anyone, and the biggie the pastor says he’s awesome and amazing and protects us all with his gun.
There is a small voice in my head that actually says to watch and keep an eye on the guy. Since know of you know me, him or our church, it’s not gossip to say, I think he and the wife are not on good terms anymore. Whenever the pastor talks about marriage or whatnot, you can almost see her crying everytime.
There was a brother in our security team that because of it he was not fed the word properly and it caused friction in his marriage because his wife wanted him next to her and he could not be. Thank God he mentioned it to us and now we alternate services so all of us take turns being fed the word. You don’t realize if you just concentrate on protecting the flock only you don’t get fed and you drift away from the lord slowly but surely. I do security one service and attend the service next. All church security teams should do this.
As far as my attire goes a sport jacket, polo shirt, jeans or slacks are my Sunday church clothe.
I work on our Safety Team on Sundays. The churches we have attended here in Florida have all been pretty casual - our pastors and the entire worship team at our church all (all) started wearing jeans when we moved into the new building.
Consequently, my 5.11 slacks and fishing shirt over my carry gun land me right in the middle of the attire spectrum around here. Some men are in shorts, some in dressier slacks - it seems to depend on two things: 1. The faith background in which one was raised - if any - and, 2. If not on roughly the same point of the casual/dressy scale as our church, how long one has been away from their background church. I hope that all makes sense. I have too much time to think about this stuff people watching on Sunday mornings during the services I don’t attend…
We have church security polos that we wear on duty if we choose to open carry. If we choose to conceal carry, we wear plain clothes. I usually opt to conceal which means a button down shirt and jeans.
Jeans and polo like most of the rest of the congregation which is odd to me having worn a coat and tie all my days as a youth growing up in the church…but it works out well for concealment.
Brother @JamesR nowadays you can dress how you want because people have realized the lord excepts you for who you are.
Thankfully our church is “come as you are.” I’m an elder and also on our security team. Button down shirt, untucked, is my go-to, with AIWB carry. During the warmer months, a polo or sometimes even a t-shirt. I’m fortunate that both of my EDC’s print very little, so I have lots of flexibility clothing-wise.
I always wear a polyester/spandex base layer regardless, it helps keep the IWB dry.
summer is shorts and a polo, winter is jeans/khakis and a sweater/coat.
When working safety services, it’s a logo’ed polo or t shirt, and in winter a hoodie.
Very casual place. In OH, you’re only allowed to carry in a house of worship with permission, and to get permission at our church means joinging the team (and qualifying on the police course). We look for and spot people carrying all the time, and ask them to 1. please either put the gun back in your vehicle or lock it up in the office here and 2. consider joining the team if you’re a fit.
Then we explain–the last thing we want to see is someone NOT on our team drawing a weapon. They will be fired upon.
We all wear shirts and wristbands that identify us as ‘approved to carry’ at church.