Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition. That’s the unofficial motto at some Albuquerque-area churches, where fear of a possible violent incident has prompted pastors to arm themselves while preaching from the pulpit. “Most churches, the pastors – and I was that way one time – we depended on the Lord,” said Pastor Larry Allen, who leads the New Life Baptist Church on the city’s westside. “The Lord has given us the wisdom and said, ‘Hey, I make guns.’ You never go to a gun fight with a knife. You answer power with power.” Allen said his church has been disrupted by gang members, fights and even a bomb threat in the past. He said he and his armed security team are more than ready to deal with any threat that comes their way. A decade ago, armed pastors might have been a rarity. But today, it’s a different world. A man stabbed another man at The Church Christian Academy in Albuquerque two years ago, according to Albuquerque police. And a year and a half ago, St. Bernadette’s Catholic Church was locked down after a man threatened parishioners with a gun, police have said. But the most visible church violence occurred in December 2007 in Colorado Springs when a man opened fire, killing four and wounding five. A security guard shot and killed the shooter. That shooting made officials at Legacy Church in northwest Albuquerque to take a closer look at their security set-up. Today, the church retains about 50 mostly armed, retired police officers on its security team...more
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