New Life pastor supports armed guards at all churches

The senior pastor of the Colorado Springs megachurch where a gunman killed two teenage girls in December said Thursday that all places of worship should have armed guards.

Speaking before a forum on church security hosted by New Life Church, the Rev. Brady Boyd said he recommends that "every church to have armed security in place."

Representatives of 118 churches, from Colorado Springs to Denver, registered for the free event, which was hosted by police and New Life security staff and was not open to the media.

"We've had contemporary experience that can help others," Boyd said, referring to the Dec. 9 shootings at the church. "We just don't want this to happen anywhere else."

New Life security staff were scheduled to talk about the December shootings, in which Matthew Murray killed two and wounded three after Sunday service. He was shot by a volunteer guard soon after he entered the church, then killed himself.

Topics to be discussed at the forum were emergency planning, assessing potential dangerous situations, the role of church greeters and ushers, and how to recruit security staff, said Colorado Springs police officer Dave Husted.

Other topics covered the necessity of taking threats seriously, reporting suspicious individuals to police and having a staff member designated to monitor church gatherings for trouble.

Plans are for police to have quarterly meetings on church security for interested worship centers, Husted said.

Frank Hunter, chief of security at Radiant Church in Colorado Springs, said he attended because it's "better to be safe than sorry."

A retired pastor, Hunter said he hopes he never has to use the skills he's learned in his second career.

Harlan Else, a pastor at Fellowship of the Rockies in Colorado Springs, came to the forum to gauge the adequacy of security at his church, which averages 500 parishioners on a Sunday.

"I'm all for doing anything to make the church a more secure place," he said.

Else, however, drew the line at having an armed guard on the premises. "I don't think we're ready for that yet," he said.

Since the shootings, Boyd said New Life has stepped up security by having uniformed police officers patrol the premises during Sunday services. He would not reveal other security measures taken.

"I really believe this is the safest place on a Sunday in Colorado Springs," Boyd said.