My church (UU) does not have a guard. I’ve been to one of the two synagogues in town and they have an off-duty deputy.
The large mosque in town also has armed security. I know there are a couple of smaller mosques–not sure about them.
There is no safe place.
We attend an outdoor church, if it’s cold or raining we meet in a tent. No security guards but I’m sure some members have guns, I’ve never seen anyone open carry at church.
@fractalmstr do you really think Sutherland Springs, TX was a hotbed of political activism??
Violence knows no geographic boundaries, unfortunately 
Notable mass shootings in my state within the last five years include the following: six killed in a Sikh temple in a quiet suburb (gunman was a white supremacist; didn’t know any of the victims); three killed in a day spa (gunman was the estranged husband of one of the victims, who worked at the day spa); four killed in various locations (a bank, a law firm, outside an apartment) in two small towns (gunman was a man going through a divorce; he killed two of his wife’s coworkers, his wife’s lawyer, and a police officer). Really, no place is safe; no one is safe.
To date, there have been 307 mass shootings in the US in 2017, with “mass shooting” defined as four or more individuals shot or killed at the same location, not including the shooter.
True, you never know. 
No guard, but our large suburban church did have training on what to do it this situation last month. It wasn’t duck and cover, it was RUN. We may be lucky in that we have a door mid-sanctuary and another behind the altar.
On a somewhat humorous note, a few years ago there was an armed robbery and the suspects were fleeing through our area. A church custodian was locking all the doors when a man ran up. “Hurry and get in here. There are armed robbers in the area.” The man came in and went to a restroom, where they later found a gun hidden in the ceiling.
I do not attend church, but yes several churches in my area have security guards and traffic control off duty officers.
I attend a small church in mid-coast Maine. We don’t have a guard, but I’d be willing to bet than some of the parishioners are armed, since we also have no gun laws to speak of here. I’d really rather not know.
A couple of months ago, someone burst into the sanctuary yelling in the middle of the service. My first assumption was that it was a terrorist, but it turned out that a baby had stopped breathing in the nursery and the person was calling for medical aid. (The baby survived.)
I don’t assume I’ll be safe anywhere. When I enter a venue, whether it’s for a concert, a worship service, a fair, or any other public gathering place, I look for escape routes. But I know there are no guarantees.
Texas wasn’t caused by activism or political grievances. It was a domestic violence situation and that potential is in every community.
Way back in the late 90s, when we briefly lived in Texas, there was a church shooting in Fort Worth. My church responded by replacing every single window with Lexan. Of course, this wouldn’t help if the shooter was in the building, but I guess it would be a deterrent if someone were on the outside trying to shoot their way in. and the doors were locked.
My downtown church has a security guard on site whenever the doors are unlocked. We have multiple ministries that cater to needy populations, but I have less fear of those individuals than some of our actual congregants. One prominent retired physician who has mental illness issues and who constantly carried a weapon threatened our minister last year and a restraining order was taken out. Not sure if he still carries a weapon, but he and his wife switched to another denomination’s largest congregation where our city police chief attends. I hear they watch him like a hawk.
Unfortunately, synagogues have had to deal with this type of threat for far longer than churches. I imagine churches could learn a thing or two from them.
We have various members of our church who are police or military serve as volunteer law enforcement on a rotation basis. They help direct traffic (we’re a very large church - almost mega size) and will stand at the doors during the services or when there is something special involving the children or youth. The active members carry, but the retired/Guard/Reserve members don’t. During the rest of the week when the doors are open, they are frequently there for other reasons. We also have video surveillance. (Of note, we once had a governor who was a member who came with even more security.)
We used to have guards in our parking lot after cars were broken into. Our congregation moved to another church in a safer area. (After we moved, the elderly pastor at our old church was badly beaten–his car was stolen and he was left for dead on the sidewalk).
We don’t need guards for our parking lot at the new location. However, we do have armed (licensed concealed carry) volunteers inside the church. And security cameras.
Last Sunday our small church was very crowded. I was a little claustrophobic, and before mass (about 11:20) I started thinking, how would I get out of here if there were a shooter? Or a fire? Dive under a pew and crawl to the side door? Open/break a window and climb out? (This is not at all what I usually think about at church). Later during mass, the fire alarm went off and I nearly jumped out of my skin! (No fire–too much incense). When I got home and turned on the news, I felt nauseated. You just don’t know what crazy person could have something against someone in your congregation. Or the congregation in general --our church is involved in a lawsuit about use of its property. I’d convinced myself that “church is safe.” And H was just recently saying how unnecessary or “paranoid” it is to have armed volunteers. Now I’m kinda glad they are there.
I live in a small New England town (pop 5K) with three churches–Unitarian, Congregational, and Catholic. I go to the UU Church–we don’t have any guards. I have lived in this town for 32 years and while I’ve not been to Sunday services at the other two churches, I have gone there for memorial services and weddings. I don’t think there are guards. It would seem that nothing could happen in our small town, but I know better, especially when I think about the most recent shooting in TX. There are deranged people everywhere.
No security guards at our church. I have over the past years paid more attention during services to my surroundings, I also pretty much scan any room/building I am in for escape routes when I first enter. I always teach my kids the importance of situational awareness no matter where you are.
I’m not certain if we have any police officers as members, numbers would suggest we do but I don’t know for certain. I do have my cc permit but I haven’t ever carried into the church, although I have considered doing so before even Vegas or the recent Texas incident. I am a believer of the run, hide, fight method but if I am reduced to the only option being fight, I would like something to fight with.
My church is UU also. Periodically we hang banners that have a social justice message that is strongly aligned with current politics.
I would think that that might make us a target, as in the Knoxville church shooting, but the mentally-ill guy who defaced our steps obviously knew nothing at all about us other than that the building was a prominently placed stone church, and he had a gripe with churches that had significant buildings.
Perhaps a factor in favor of our safety is that we don’t have a parking lot, and parking can be tough, even on Sunday. I never viewed that in a positive light before. 
Ever since Knoxville I’ve felt as if we are living on borrowed time.
My church (mainline Protestant…Frozen Chosen) does not have security guards and I seriously doubt that anyone in the pews on Sunday is carrying.
I am currently serving on Session at my church, and we talked about this topic at last month’s meeting. Our minister mentioned that she did not know of any churches in our immediate area who had security guards on-staff; however, several of the local mosques have hired guards and installed security cameras since the beginning of the year.