Tag: church shootings

We wrap up our "Religion & Violence" series this week in North Carolina with a decades-old story. Since the bombings that rocked the Free Welcome Holiness Church’s parsonage and sanctuary on Sellerstown Road near Whiteville 35 years ago, pastors hired there often hear something like this: “You mean you’re going to preach at that church that used to get blown up all the time? You’re gonna get shot.” That’s how the Rev. Roger Coffey, the church’s current pastor, remembers the dire warnings he heard in 2001. But for those on Sellerstown Road who experienced the 10 bombings from 1972 to 1978, plus the shootings of a pastor and his wife there, the memories are still close.

Ron Aguiar knows that the ringing of bullets in a house of worship will soon be followed by the sound of his ringing phone.

Aguiar is a church security expert who advises houses of worship on security strategies.

This week Faith & Values news — our five sites nationwide — will unveil a series on congregational violence, burnings and shooting of synagogues, mosques, churches and other houses of worship and how congregations are coping with and preparing for violence where they pray.