I never talked to the executive pastor (he hadn't been brought on when we moved to our new church), but I can tell you that the senior pastor of the church knew and approved of my CCW. I started carrying there before the law technically allowed it - but my CHL instructors advised us that churches were private property, so if we had the permission of the pastor and/or elders, we were fine. I sought his approval and he gladly gave it.The Annoyed Man wrote:Interestingly, just Sunday night I had a conversation with our new executive pastor, who was already a friend of mine before joining the pastorate. He brought up the subject of guns in church in the context of protection from crazed attackers. He's been a friend of mine long enough that I felt comfortable telling him that I have a CHL, and that every time he's seem me for the past 8 months I've been armed. He was not only not surprised, but he told me that quite a number of members are "packing heat" as he put it. I was fairly surprised. I personally know of only one other guy who carries there, but given the size of the church (about 1200), I expected that there would be around 10-15 CHL holders in the congregation. My friend's implication was that it was decidedly a higher number than that. I know that some of them are LEOs, but not all.
I told him that I didn't expect him to tell me who the others were, but that I would like to find out who the others are as a safety precaution. I would love the chance to network with them. If we all know one another, we're not likely to shoot one another responding to an actual attack event in the church.
I informed the pastor at my new church, and he didn't seem to mind one way or the other. I know I don't have to inform him now that the law has been clarified, but I view submission to my church leadership as important enough to let him know.