Now , I did not break a sweat , nor did I decide to move to a different pew , but I did decide that I would locate myself and my family in a different part of the church next time we attend.
Would this thought process as described constitute reasonable situational awareness , or overactive imagination? Practical and reasonable , or whacky?
I'd consider it "reasonable," and certainly not "whacky."
It’s purely anecdotal (and you might not even believe me), but 7 or 8 years back, Idaho’s Governor and his wife visited our tiny church (60 people on a
good day) in Pocatello one Sunday morning, and I paid attention to where the two “protection” guys positioned themselves that morning. One of them sat in one of the reserved seats in front, right next to the First Lady, and the other sat in the back corner of the church, off to the right of the main entrance. Furthermore, the guy that was in the back (who was also the driver) didn’t even walk into the church until the rest of the little group was already inside - he stood out by the car in the parking lot, and waited until the rest of the little group got inside before walking in himself. The reason I know that is because I arrived a few minutes late, and I saw that big guy standing beside a
great big car in the parking lot. I also noticed he was keeping an eye on me as I was hurrying to get into the church.
What the deal was, was the Governor’s and First Lady’s daughter and her husband used to be members of our church, and when they decided to have their new baby “dedicated” one Sunday morning, they asked “Dad and Mom” to be there. My wife and I were the official “Greeters” at the time, so our Pastor came to us the Sunday before and told us to expect the Governor and his wife the
following Sunday. He also asked us to “keep it quiet” because nobody wanted the news media there. And he told us the Governor and his wife would have “protection” as well.
At any rate, I watched how those two “protection” guys handled, and positioned themselves. BTW, I
know 8% of the people in our church (including my wife and I) carry, and I
suspect the number of people in our church that carry may be as high as 15%. We don’t have an official “security” team though.