Baptist News Global
Sections
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Curated
  • Storytelling
    • Faith & Justice >
      • Charleston: Metanoia with Bill Stanfield
      • Charlotte: QC Family Tree with Greg and Helms Jarrell
      • Little Rock: Judge Wendell Griffen
      • North Carolina: Conetoe
    • Welcoming the Stranger >
      • Lost Boys of Sudan: St. John’s Baptist Charlotte
      • Awakening to Immigrant Justice: Myers Park Baptist Church
      • Hospitality on the corner: Gaston Christian Center
    • Signature Ministries >
      • Jake Hall: Gospel Gothic, Music and Radio
    • Singing Our Faith >
      • Hymns for a Lifetime: Ken Wilson and Knollwood Baptist Church
      • Norfolk Street Choir
    • Resilient Rural America >
      • Alabama: Perry County
      • Texas: Hidalgo County
      • Arkansas Delta
      • Southeast Kentucky
  • More
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donate
    • Planned Giving
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Advertising
    • Ministry Jobs and More
    • Transitions
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions and Permissions
Support independent, faith-based journalism. Donate
Search Search this site

Another church shooting: Have we become ‘morally anesthetized’ to the horrors of gun violence?

OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist  |  January 8, 2020

Bill LeonardOn the last Sunday in the year, Christian gospel, social media and firearm violence collided at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, on the edge of the Fort Worth-Dallas Metroplex and the Kingdom of God. Like many 21st-century congregations, West Freeway livestreams its services online, a ministry to Tarrant County, Texas, and beyond. As a result, Americans got a horrific glimpse of that moment when an “active shooter” bolted up from a pew, gun in hand. He made his move amid the observance of Holy Communion, that ancient Christian rite celebrated each Sunday in churches linked by the Christian Restorationist tradition.

In that sacred space, as the Body of Christ collectively recalled Jesus’ words of body and blood, life and death, the shooting began. It happened quickly, with two church members gunned down in a scene now replayed across the internet. Within six seconds it was over, and the shooter dead, his life ended by the church’s volunteer chief of security, who fired a single shot to the head.

Jack Wilson, 71, is a retired firearms trainer who received additional instruction for his security role at the church. The day after the shooting Wilson reflected on the difficulty of defending a congregation, commenting: “The only clear shot I had was his head because I still had people in the pews that were not all the way down as low as they could. That was my one shot.”

“We must resist becoming ‘morally anesthetized,’ accepting violence as an inescapable or even essential presence in American life.”

Wilson wasn’t the only armed congregant; the video reveals at least five individuals who immediately drew their concealed weapons.

Wilson explained that he had to “take out” the shooter because “evil exists.” He then added: “You have to be prepared at all times, at all places. And that’s what I strive, that’s the way I teach, that’s the way I want people to understand if they are going to wear a firearm for personal protection for themselves, or family, or anyone else they need to be aware that it can happen anytime, anywhere.”

He is quite correct.

The West Freeway Church of Christ had security plans and preparations that clearly saved lives, but not before two members died – a livestreamed, now digitized witness to the violent ways of 21st-century America. That witness visually documents deadly actions that “can happen anytime, anywhere,” even during one of the most sacred and communal moments of Christian congregational life.

As if to make a broader interfaith point, the Texas church shooting occurred the same weekend that a machete-wielding anti-Semite attacked the home of a New York rabbi as the ultra-orthodox group lit Hanukah candles. The unarmed celebrants threw furniture at the perpetrator in an attempt to thwart his deadly efforts. Five people were wounded but so far all have survived. Synagogues across the country have long been forced to put security plans into place. Mosques, too, no doubt. Now churches confront the congregational concealed weapon dilemma.

It’s the kind of country we’ve become.

The largest mass shooting in Texas history (so far) and the fifth largest in the United States occurred at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs in 2017 when 26 people were gunned down by a long-documented violent offender whose firearm background checks apparently fell through multiple cracks in the system. His actions were apparently prompted by family-related anger.

Prompted, at least in part, by that massacre, the Texas legislature passed laws extending concealed carry options for individuals in schools and churches in the state, two events that surely became a teachable moment for the West Freeway Church of Christ and other Texas faith communities that developed inhouse security preparations including the arming of certain members.

“All people of faith must reject any idea that such horror is normative.”

West Freeway Church lacks the neo-gothic architecture of downtown Fort Worth’s First United Methodist Church with its stately twin towers or Broadway Baptist Church with its soaring spire and great vaulted ceiling. Yet its rather nondescript “church plant” is no less sacred space to the several hundred worshippers who gather there each Sunday, proclaiming the word, calling persons to faith and baptism in Christ’s name and offering care to those in need. The church’s pastor reported that “on several occasions” they had helped the shooter with food and that “he gets mad when we won’t give him cash.”

The man acted on that anger, the security officer responded, and no doubt lives were saved. Now the congregation faces the challenge of restoring a sense of sacred, safe space where three human beings – two innocent, one demonic – bled “profusely” as the security officer commented. Is West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas – like Mother Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs, Texas – not only a sign of gospel hope but also a warning that even a six-second horror can create emotional and spiritual PTSD for any congregation “anytime, anywhere?”

Is your church prepared?

Sadly, we know in our hearts that there is little or no chance that West Freeway will be the last American faith community to endure this kind of violent trauma. Yes, shootings will continue. Yes, in the land of the free and the home of the vulnerable, religious communities must develop security strategies for protecting worshippers. Yet amid those realities of American culture, all people of faith must reject any idea that such horror is normative.

We must resist becoming “morally anesthetized,” as the Spanish novelist Manuel Moyano calls it, accepting violence, especially firearm violence, as an inescapable or even essential presence in American life. We must hope for and work for a time when troubled hearts are transformed, all concealed weapons are beaten into pruning hooks and no one, saint or sinner, carries a gun in church.

To actualize that hope, we must confront the spiritual crisis present in almost every facet of our national and ecclesiastical life, working as diligently as possible to provide a redemptive counter-vision to the violence that so easily besets us.

Every Friday and every first Sunday of the month our church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, celebrates Holy Communion. Together, we hear and repeat Jesus’ words: “This is my body. This is my blood.” In America 2020, we are compelled to respond, “It’s our bodies and blood too, Sweet Jesus; ours too.”


OPINION: Views expressed in Baptist News Global columns and commentaries are solely those of the authors.
Tags:GunsChurch SecurityViolenceMother Emmanuel ChurchshootingsWest Freeway Church of Christ
Bill Leonard, Senior Columnist
More by
Bill Leonard, Senior Columnist
  • Get BNG headlines in your inbox

  • Featured

    • How I learned to care about social justice growing up Southern Baptist in Oklahoma

      Opinion

    • Coronavirus challenging denominational summer conventions yet again

      News

    • One year later: Some musings on post-COVID culture and social ethics

      Opinion

    • What I learned by listening to women pastors during the pandemic

      Analysis


    Curated

    • Texas church helps mosque damaged after snowstorm

      Texas church helps mosque damaged after snowstorm

      February 26, 2021
    • Vaccinated for virus, Jimmy Carter and wife back in church

      Vaccinated for virus, Jimmy Carter and wife back in church

      February 26, 2021
    • Black Church Group Offers Its Best Shot at Closing Vaccine Gap

      Black Church Group Offers Its Best Shot at Closing Vaccine Gap

      February 26, 2021
    • Man who played Duke Chapel bells for 50 years dies

      Man who played Duke Chapel bells for 50 years dies

      February 26, 2021
    Read Next:

    Free Lenten daily devotionals offered

    NewsBNG staff

    More Articles

    • All
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Curated
    • U.S. agency calls for more religious freedom in Nigeria

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • Repressing my sexual orientation cost me my health — permanently

      OpinionAmber Cantorna

    • World religious leaders remember Shahbaz Bhatti as martyr 10 years later

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • How I learned to care about social justice growing up Southern Baptist in Oklahoma

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • The charismatic story is part of the Baptist story, historian contends

      NewsPat Cole

    • Finding charity amidst the chaos one year into the coronavirus pandemic

      OpinionCurtis Ramsey-Lucas

    • Son’s legacy lives on through Kansas City ministry for children with special needs

      NewsHelen Jerman

    • Maybe your church needs a minister of loneliness

      OpinionErich Bridges

    • Rural churches need to understand the cultural capital of their communities

      AnalysisBrian Foreman and Justin Nelson

    • How slavery still shapes the world of white evangelical Christians

      OpinionRichard T. Hughes

    • New study finds affirmation of Black church experience even as attendance declines

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Faith leaders call for an end to racial bullying in the Indiana legislature

      OpinionIvan Douglas Hicks

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Christian nationalism deeply embedded into American life, Tyler warns

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • One year later: Some musings on post-COVID culture and social ethics

      OpinionDavid Gushee, Senior Columnist

    • Faith community nurses ‘carry the hope’ during COVID-19 pandemic

      NewsLiam Adams

    • What I learned by listening to women pastors during the pandemic

      AnalysisSusan M. Shaw, Senior Columnist

    • Coronavirus challenging denominational summer conventions yet again

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Why vote to fund something you won’t ever use?

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • Matter-of-fact statements about Scripture aren’t always the gospel truth

      OpinionJordan Conley

    • Some Methodist churches finding greater mission results with simplified governance

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Black History Month: Remembering, waiting, watching

      OpinionWendell Griffen

    • Diverse religious coalition urges Congress to finalize the Equal Rights Amendment

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Canada labels Uyghur repression ‘genocide,’ but that’s not as exemplary as you might think

      OpinionRay Mwareya

    • She’s Gen-Z, became leery of the church but practices faith with fitness

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • U.S. agency calls for more religious freedom in Nigeria

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • World religious leaders remember Shahbaz Bhatti as martyr 10 years later

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • The charismatic story is part of the Baptist story, historian contends

      NewsPat Cole

    • Son’s legacy lives on through Kansas City ministry for children with special needs

      NewsHelen Jerman

    • New study finds affirmation of Black church experience even as attendance declines

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Christian nationalism deeply embedded into American life, Tyler warns

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Faith community nurses ‘carry the hope’ during COVID-19 pandemic

      NewsLiam Adams

    • Coronavirus challenging denominational summer conventions yet again

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Some Methodist churches finding greater mission results with simplified governance

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Diverse religious coalition urges Congress to finalize the Equal Rights Amendment

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • She’s Gen-Z, became leery of the church but practices faith with fitness

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • LGBTQ inclusion and clergy sexual abuse treated equally in SBC expulsions

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • As people walk away from the church in droves, Russ Dean hopes to tell the old story in a new way

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • The strange saga of the Riley Foundation lawsuit now forces SBC to figure out who has the right to remove a seminary trustee

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • In-person worship dropped in January as more churches were directly affected by COVID

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Caldwell succeeds Anderson as chair of BNG board

      NewsBNG staff

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Final vote sounds the death knell for capital punishment in Virginia

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Reeves to lead Fellowship Southwest

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Three years later, Leah Sharibu is still held captive, reportedly for refusing to renounce her faith

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • Wake Forest Divinity gets $5 million grant to help combat HIV/AIDS

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Making the case for why Black History Month is necessary

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Baylor regents ‘accept’ racial history report, will release findings by end of March

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Pay attention to what’s happening in Myanmar, Baptist pastors plead

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Repressing my sexual orientation cost me my health — permanently

      OpinionAmber Cantorna

    • How I learned to care about social justice growing up Southern Baptist in Oklahoma

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • Finding charity amidst the chaos one year into the coronavirus pandemic

      OpinionCurtis Ramsey-Lucas

    • Maybe your church needs a minister of loneliness

      OpinionErich Bridges

    • How slavery still shapes the world of white evangelical Christians

      OpinionRichard T. Hughes

    • Faith leaders call for an end to racial bullying in the Indiana legislature

      OpinionIvan Douglas Hicks

    • One year later: Some musings on post-COVID culture and social ethics

      OpinionDavid Gushee, Senior Columnist

    • Why vote to fund something you won’t ever use?

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • Matter-of-fact statements about Scripture aren’t always the gospel truth

      OpinionJordan Conley

    • Black History Month: Remembering, waiting, watching

      OpinionWendell Griffen

    • Canada labels Uyghur repression ‘genocide,’ but that’s not as exemplary as you might think

      OpinionRay Mwareya

    • About disfellowshipping churches based on the ‘clear’ teaching of Scripture

      OpinionDalen Jackson

    • What the SBC should learn from the Ravi Zacharias tragedy

      OpinionChrista Brown

    • The Black church and the salvation of the world

      OpinionPaul Robeson Ford

    • St. Benedict and a two-fold path for the church In America

      OpinionH. Stephen Shoemaker

    • What if we cared about Black History Month as much as Lent?

      OpinionRick Pidcock

    • Prophecy is obedient imagination

      OpinionAlan Bean

    • How much wealth does America need before we’ll address homelessness?

      OpinionMichael Chancellor

    • Why we need to talk about abortion

      OpinionRuss Dean

    • How travel and food break through barriers that divide us

      OpinionPhawnda Moore

    • Is the church only for ‘good Christians’?

      OpinionTerry Austin

    • Raging at God after my 67-year-old father died of COVID

      OpinionCarol McEntyre

    • Why I wrote about hope in disarray

      OpinionGrace Ji-Sun Kim

    • ‘For fear of the Jews’: Confronting Christian anti-Semitism

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • What do we do now? The blessing and curse of COVID to the church

      OpinionKeli Rugenstein

    • Texas church helps mosque damaged after snowstorm

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Vaccinated for virus, Jimmy Carter and wife back in church

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Black Church Group Offers Its Best Shot at Closing Vaccine Gap

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Man who played Duke Chapel bells for 50 years dies

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Ravi Zacharias’s Denomination Revokes Ordination

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Disinformation Fuels A White Evangelical Movement. It Led 1 Virginia Pastor To Quit

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Southern Baptists divided over politics, race, LGBTQ policy

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Rush Limbaugh, who shaped conservative Christian politics on the radio, has died

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Dallas faith groups help shelter homeless Texans during deep freeze

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • SBU Trustees Reverse Some Tenure/Promotion Denials

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • U.S. Supreme Court sides with Alabama death row inmate, declines to lift stay of execution over state’s refusal to allow clergy in chamber

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Survey: Black Americans attend church and pray more often

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • How Christian Bookstores Survived 2020

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Celebrating Ash Wednesday in a pandemic? There’s an app for that

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • From ‘Lent-in-a-box’ to ‘ash n dash’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • No execution: Courts side with inmate wanting pastor present

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • New Arkansas Law Exempts Churches from Pandemic Restrictions

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Survey: More than a quarter of white evangelicals believe core QAnon conspiracy theory

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Evangelical Colleges Consider the Future of Online Education After COVID-19

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Law firm details sexual misconduct by global ministry leader

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Nation’s first human-composting funeral home is now open in the state of Washington

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Texas gambling opponents ready for battle

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Leonardo’s ‘Last Supper’ reopens to public with short wait

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Faith and the COVID-19 vaccine: ‘I’m a member of a community with duties’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Safety Net Programs Have Reduced U.S. Poverty, Disparities Remain

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    Conversations that Matter.

    © 2021 Baptist News Global. All rights reserved.

    Want to share a story? We hope you will! Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS