Welcome to the family brother @James1042 , it’s a blessing to have you
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that’s my brother in laws brother.
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NICE 
I been watching him for a while now. He’s probably the one who opened doors for more pastors to start carrying.
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I am an armed security member of my church. I just wear business casual type clothes. I either carry my m&p compact or now my shield plus. No one has ever noticed. With the shield I can even tuck my shirt in with the holster I have. But I usually leave it untucked, it’s a pretty laid back church
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My Grandkids other grandfather is a Pastor and has a Mark in the center isle from the bullet of an intruder who barged in during the morning Sermon. No one was hurt and he was restrained and arrested. The Pastor was carrying as was a team in the congregation who restrained him and did not have to pull their weapons. This IS a real concern for any religious organization.
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That’s the same way our church operates. I know several of those that carry (besides me) and considering that there have been pastors in Illinois that have been killed during the service, it seems to be a good thing to do. We never know when a nutcase will show up…
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@MrBagworm , I have heard of a few of them cases when I lived there. Even remember the time out south when gang members sold drugs on the church steps and dared the pastor to try to stop them.
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That doesn’t surprise me. I’m not sure where you were talking about, but that sounds like something that could almost be a regular occurrence in Chicago although there are some other areas of the state that could also “qualify”. The instance that is most prevalent in my mind is a pastor in Southern Illinois where the killer walked down the aisle during the service and shot the pastor. I had to look it up, but it was in 2015.
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I visit many churches on the south and west side of the city, if it comes back to mind the location I will hit you back on it. I remember when they was robbing some of the churches out west.
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@John-David,
I pastor a small church. I do conceal and carry on Sundays. The members are aware and we have a few other people who occasionally carry. There are some situations when I don’t carry. I am very slender. I wear a suit with a suit jacket, sometimes a large sweater in the winter. I carry appendix carry (https://hiddenhybridholsters.com/) with a very thick leather belt for support but leather belts can only do so much when you are skinny so I do deal with belt sag. I sometimes wear a tie which conceals a little more. The reason for appendix is because other positions when you hug someone, they will inevitably swipe their hand on your firearm. With appendix carry your gun is in your personal space. I carry a 365XL with red - dot.
One thing I think is very important is to theologically make sure your church understands firearms in general. Understand biblical use of weapons in Scripture. Even more importantly is great to make sure that those who have firearms are well aware of firearm safety. I have even taken members who already own guns, but were uncomfortable to the range and helped them. Also help people understand that firearms need to be secured from the possibility of children or negligent users getting a hold of it. You would be surprised what some people think is “secure.”
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Retired Deacon and current Lead Usher I carry concealed OWB with cover. Small town, small church, but you never know. It can happen anywhere. Thanks for the post and be blessed in all you do.
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I’m sorry to hear that. Some people have no respect for anything decent.
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Welcome to the community and thank you for your input. My Sunday carry is (most often) an M&P Bodyguard in a Stickey Holster in my suit pocket. So far even people that know that I carry haven’t found it… At most other times I use a Sneaky Pete with a Shield and I have only occasionally had anyone even ask about it.
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