‘We love each other enough to make sure we’re safe’: Pastor adds bulletproof pulpit, gun mount, trauma bags to church

The mind boggles:

At Fort Des Moines Church of Christ, Pastor Mike Demastus says the staff does everything they can to ensure the safety of their congregation.

“Sometimes it makes for things to be a little awkward and uncomfortable,” said Pastor Demastus. “People don`t understand why there`s people with head pieces, you know, why are you doing that or whatever? But, it`s all about the fact that we love each other. We love each other enough to make sure that we`re gonna be safe.”

Demastus says he’d rather the people who attend his church be safe than sorry, and that some of the steps the church has taken to improve security are simple.

“We stopped advertising where our nursery is…” said Demastus. “…We just want that to be something we can escort people to, instead of advertising where that`s at, because they`re our most vulnerable; the children that are in our nursery.”

Being security minded also means being prepared to stop the bleeding, in a worst case scenario. That means placing medical trauma bags throughout the church facility.

And there are people in place to keep an eye on things.

“Every Sunday, we have five people on our safety team that have different posts and do different things,” said Demastus. “And they have different responsibilities.”

Read more and check out the video below.

Perhaps appropriately, the Fort Des Moines Church of Christ refers to itself online as The Fort.