A Foiled Church Shooting Demonstrates the Need for Churches to Have

We support our Publishers and Content Creators. You can view this story on their website by CLICKING HERE.

On Sunday mornings, millions of faithful Christians gather in churches across the country to worship and serve. Many churches even call their worship areas sanctuaries, so it’s easy to believe that if anyone should feel safe and secure in public, it’s at church.

Unfortunately, we know that evil is rampant in this world, which makes pastors and congregations vulnerable. A recent story out of the Pittsburgh area demonstrates this sad reality.

“A man is facing charges after Pennsylvania State Police say he tried to shoot a pastor who was giving a sermon at a church in North Braddock,” reports WPXI. “Video taken at the church shows Pastor Glenn Germany preaching at the Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church on Lobinger Avenue at 1:09 p.m. on Sunday.”

The man, 26-year-old Bernard Junior Polite, strode up the aisle with his gun pointed at Germany. But then a miracle happened.

“Police say the man tried to fire the gun, but it did not go off,” WPXI reports. Germany phrases it a little differently: “God jammed the gun, so the bullet didn’t come out.”

As Polite lurched toward the altar, Germany dove behind the pulpit for safety. Deacon Clarence McCallister tackled Polite, and he and Germany grabbed the gun from the would-be shooter’s hand.

Not surprisingly, there’s a mental health component in this case. Polite told Germany that voices, or “spirits,” as he referred to them, drove him to try to shoot the pastor.

On Sunday night, police responded to a call at Polite’s home, where they found a dead body. The victim has the same last name, but it’s not clear from WPXI’s report what relationship the two had.

Even though Polite faces charges of attempted murder for the would-be church shooting, Germany has forgiven the man.

“He actually apologized to me,” Germany told WPXI. “I told him that ‘I forgive you and want you to know I love you,’ but yes, I definitely forgave him.”

This story resonated with me because our church recently launched a security team to keep our people safe. We’ve hired off-duty deputies for years, and we still pay them on both campuses on Sundays and at our midweek recovery ministry service. But the volunteer security team is another layer of protection for the congregation.

Our team includes current and former law enforcement, current and soon-to-be-retired military, nurses, a retired firefighter, and a former staff member who knows every inch of the church building inside and out (yours truly). Our responsibility as a team is to be vigilant and prepared to identify threats and assist the deputies in neutralizing them. We also have an extensive medical bag that medically trained team members can use to assist injured people.

It’s not just shooters our security team looks out for; we also make sure that the building is secure on all fronts. We’re always ensuring that doors are closed and locked and that there’s only one way into the building. We check to make sure that people aren’t in areas where they don’t need to be. A couple of Sundays ago, I caught a teenager roaming our preschool ministry hallway. He had caught the locked door when somebody walked out of it and just wandered in. I don’t think he meant any harm, but I had to usher him out.

I’m a firm believer in churches taking measures to keep congregations secure. I encourage you to speak with your church leadership to ask what measures they have in place to keep you and your family safe. If you’re so inclined, offer to get some training and start a security team. In a place where everyone should feel spiritually safe, it’s important for everybody to feel physically secure as well.