This is how I understand the guy's behavior: visitor comes in as the service is starting, sits in the back, gets up (leaving the sanctuary?) during the collection, returns to his seat, then leaves as the service is over.UpTheIrons wrote:The guy came in just as the service started, sat in the back, and only got up and left his seat during the offering. As soon as the service was over, the guy left. He mentioned how this was a tad unsettling "with the day and age we are in" and wondered aloud about possible security measures.
That describes the behavior of a great percentage of church visitors in my experience. It's obvious that the visitor's behavior disturbed the pastor and was out of the ordinary for his experience, but I'm not understanding what the unusual behavior was that unsettled him. Did he think the guy might be robbing the church during the offering while everyone else was in the sanctuary? (I was once followed by ushers when I left the sanctuary of a church I was visiting mid-service to use the restroom in the social hall.) Was it a single, dark-skinned stranger who didn't interact with them, leaving the pastor to worry about all the news reports he's seen? Or is it something else he's worried about?