One Year After Grand Blanc, Is Your Church Ready?
On September 28, 2025, four people went to church in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, and never came home. Their names were Craig Hayden, John Bond, Thelma Armstrong, and William “Pat” Howard. A man drove a truck into their meetinghouse, opened fire, and deliberately set the building ablaze.
An armed member confronted him before police arrived. The police chief credited that member with buying time for others to escape. Yet one year later, the LDS Church continues to prohibit ordinary members from carrying firearms on church property.
That deserves direct criticism. Leadership has revised its security guidance, but the weapons restriction remains. Families attending an ordinary Sunday service are still denied an option that leadership recognizes as appropriate for meetings involving an increased threat.
I believe that response is inadequate. When four people have been murdered in your building, every part of your protection model should be examined, including policies leadership would prefer to leave alone.
Whether your church is Baptist, Catholic, or nondenominational, you need to study this incident. You may have different policies, but you have the same responsibility to take the protection of your congregation seriously.
A fast police response still left people dead
Thomas Jacob Sanford attacked the Grand Blanc congregation with a vehicle, gunfire, and fire. The FBI later described the attack as targeted violence believed to be motivated by hatred toward the Mormon religious community. This was a deliberate attack on people gathered for worship.
The police response was fast. According to the timeline released by authorities, the first 911 call came from someone who had been shot in the stomach. Police were notified 16 seconds later. A conservation officer arrived in less than two minutes after dispatch, followed by a township officer. They confronted and killed Sanford.
I spent 29 years in law enforcement. I understand what responding officers can accomplish, and I understand the limits imposed by travel time. Officers cannot protect someone inside your sanctuary while they are still driving toward your church.
Call police immediately when an emergency develops. But your church also needs people prepared to act before officers arrive. Grand Blanc demonstrated how much damage an attacker can inflict during even a fast response.
An armed member bought time
Greg Mikat, a hearings investigator with the Michigan Department of Corrections, was carrying a handgun that morning. After the truck struck the building, he went outside and encountered Sanford approaching with a rifle.
Mikat fired five rounds. According to the police investigation, none struck Sanford. Sanford shot Mikat three times in the chest.
Mikat survived. On the anniversary Sunday, he stood before his congregation and conducted the music. Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William “Bill” Renye described him as a hero and credited him with buying time for most of the congregation to escape through the back. The Deseret News anniversary report documents his actions and the chief’s assessment.
Some people will focus on the misses and conclude that his handgun accomplished nothing. That ignores what the police chief said. Mikat confronted a man who was murdering people, and the chief believes that confrontation gave others time to get away.
His courage deserves recognition. His misses also require an honest discussion about training. We can respect what he did while examining what every armed church security volunteer should learn from it.
A carry permit does not establish your ability to stop an attacker. Neither does owning a good handgun or being the person everyone at church considers knowledgeable about firearms. You need to measure your performance.
If you carry, train honestly
I have recommended the Bill Drill for years because it gives you a measurable way to work on your draw, recoil control, and accuracy at speed.
From the holster, draw and fire six rounds into the A zone, the center scoring area of a standard practical shooting target, at seven yards. The performance goal I recommend working toward is under two seconds, with all six rounds in that scoring area.
All six hits count. A fast time with misses does not meet the standard. Build toward that goal at a pace you can safely control, and record both your times and your hits.
The drill does not recreate Grand Blanc or establish that someone is prepared for every emergency. You still need judgment, communication, medical training, and practice with the people who will respond beside you.
But if you carry a handgun to protect a congregation, avoiding meaningful evaluation of your shooting ability is unacceptable. People are depending on you. They deserve demonstrated competence and continued training.
Be honest about what you can do today. Then put in the work to improve it.
The policy needs to be challenged
After Grand Blanc, the church security department sent a letter to leaders of more than 31,000 congregations, asking them to review security and emergency preparations.
The church’s security guidelines updated March 16, 2026 include two greeters at entrances, paired patrols inside and outside, and emergency training that includes Run, Hide, Fight. Those measures have value.
The same guidance calls for four to six current law enforcement officers at high profile meetings or during an increased threat environment. Meanwhile, General Handbook section 35.5.7.2 continues to prohibit firearms and other lethal weapons on church property, including concealed weapons, with an exception for current law enforcement officers.
Leadership recognizes a role for armed protection. It recommends officers under certain circumstances while prohibiting ordinary members from carrying.
Grand Blanc was a Sunday worship meeting. The attacker did not wait for a prominent visitor or a special event. He attacked families gathered for worship.
Leadership should explain why those families cannot have trained, organized armed protection provided by qualified members where applicable law allows it. An ordinary Sunday deserves a serious protection plan.
Hiring police can be part of that plan, but officers are not always available. Leadership still needs an answer for a service when none are present. Who is prepared to protect the congregation during the minutes before responding officers arrive?
My recommendation is to change the policy to permit lawful armed protection by qualified members and establish trained, supported teams at the local level. Set standards, appoint accountable leaders, and provide the resources those teams need.
After Grand Blanc, a letter and revised procedures should not end the discussion. The weapons restriction deserves direct examination.
More fatal shootings followed
On January 7, 2026, a shooting outside a funeral at an LDS meetinghouse in Salt Lake City killed two people and injured six others. Police described a dispute among people attending the funeral. Federal prosecutors later charged two alleged Tongan Crip gang members with firearms offenses related to the investigation. The initial reporting and Justice Department announcement describe those circumstances.
On August 17, a funeral at an LDS meetinghouse in Kearns, Utah, ended with one man dead and two others critically injured. Attendees had warned police that trouble might develop. According to KSL’s reporting, officers were already at the location when they heard gunfire.
Those two shootings and Grand Blanc left seven people dead in less than 11 months. The circumstances differed. The funeral shootings should not be presented as the same kind of targeted religious attack as Grand Blanc, but they demonstrate other threats that can reach church property.
Your team needs to prepare for conflicts brought into funerals, threats against the congregation, and an attacker arriving during worship. Known disputes or gang connections belong in the security assessment before the service begins.
Informal arrangements leave unanswered questions
I have heard from LDS members who tell me they carry despite the policy. Others say they have formed informal teams. That tells me members are concerned enough to act without institutional support, and it raises questions leadership should resolve.
Who knows who is armed? Who has been trained? Who is coordinating the response? Have those people ever trained together?
A church should answer those questions through an organized program. Leaving members to private arrangements creates uncertainty during the emergency when clear responsibilities are essential.
Give the team defined leadership and train together at least monthly. Brief other lawful carriers on expectations so they understand how to avoid interfering with the team or confusing responding officers.
The church’s guidance includes fighting as a last resort. Leadership should examine what its weapons restriction leaves a member facing someone with a rifle. A folding chair may be what is available, but telling someone to improvise does not settle the question of whether qualified armed protection should have been permitted.
Preparation starts outside
Grand Blanc began with a vehicle reaching an occupied building. Every church should examine where a vehicle could drive directly into its sanctuary, classrooms, or gathering areas. Bring those vulnerabilities to leadership and discuss appropriate barriers with qualified professionals.
I teach threat recognition through atmospherics. Know what normal looks like on your property so you can identify behavior that needs attention.
Reckless driving, repeated circling, unusual parking, or an approach that does not fit normal activity should prompt observation and communication. Those behaviors do not automatically establish that someone is an attacker, but your team cannot assess what nobody is watching.
Put a team member outside during services with a radio and a defined responsibility. Make sure that person can communicate a concern to someone with the authority to act.
A vehicle striking a building may be an accident. It may also be the beginning of an attack. Your team needs to assess the situation, move people away from the impact area, and watch for additional danger.
Your congregation needs a plan too
Eyewitness reporting from Grand Blanc describes members helping people evacuate after the crash and facing gunfire as they escaped. The attacker also used gasoline to set the building ablaze.
Your congregation should understand emergency procedures before something happens. Decide who can order an evacuation from the pulpit. Teach classroom leaders their exits and alternatives. Establish a rally point and a system for accounting for children.
Work with your fire department on fire and smoke emergencies. A room used to shelter from gunfire can become dangerous when smoke enters or fire cuts off the exit. Your plan has to account for changing conditions.
A security team cannot personally guide every family and every classroom at once. Members need enough preparation to make informed decisions when they are separated from the team.
Review what your church publishes online as well. Post assignments, patrol schedules, camera locations, and detailed response procedures can expose information useful to someone planning violence. Teach members how to report concerns and respond to emergencies while keeping sensitive deployment details controlled.
Faith does not excuse inaction
In 2 Chronicles 32, Hezekiah learned that an enemy was approaching. He consulted his leaders, repaired defenses, prepared weapons and shields, and appointed commanders. He also encouraged the people to trust the Lord.
Trusting God did not relieve him of the responsibility to repair a broken wall. He took practical steps to prepare the people under his care.
Jeremiah 6:14 rebukes leaders who offered assurances of peace while treating a serious wound lightly. Jeremiah was addressing Judah in a particular historical setting, but that warning should cause us to examine our own leadership.
Are we addressing demonstrated vulnerabilities? Are we taking responsibility for correcting them, or reassuring people while the same weaknesses remain?
Four people were murdered at Grand Blanc. An armed member confronted the attacker, members helped one another escape, and responding officers stopped the killer. One year later, the weapons restriction remains.
I believe leadership should reconsider it and establish trained, supported protection at the congregation level. The families attending an ordinary Sunday service deserve a plan that takes the demonstrated threats seriously.
If you lead a church, bring this discussion to your leadership. If you lead a security team, examine your preparation. If you carry, be honest about your ability to deliver accurate hits and your willingness to train.
Tell me in the comments whether your church has an organized team and whether leadership supports it. Keep operational details private, but share how your church is addressing these responsibilities.
Pray for the families of Craig Hayden, John Bond, Thelma Armstrong, and William Howard. Pray for Greg Mikat and everyone still recovering from that morning. Pray also that people harboring hatred will turn to Christ before they hurt anyone.
Remember the instruction in 1 Corinthians 16:13, ESV: “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” And remember your ABCs. Always Be Carrying.
