EXCLUSIVE: Houses of Worship Under Fire: What Michigan LDS Shooting Reveals About Security, Faith, Gun Violence in America

The September 29 attack at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan, which left at least four people dead and eight injured, is the latest tragic reminder that America’s sacred spaces are not immune from gun violence. For many communities of faith, the incident raises urgent questions about security, vulnerability, and how to balance open worship with the need for safety.

To better understand these challenges, Wyoming Star spoke with Katie Day, PhD, Research Coordinator for Partners for Sacred Places and Charles A. Schieren Professor Emerita of Church and Society at United Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia. Day, along with sociologist David Yamane, conducted a multi-year study (2018–2022) on how congregations across the U.S. are responding to the threat of violence.

Growing vulnerability of sacred spaces

Day says that while shootings in houses of worship remain relatively rare, the rise in violence over the past decade cannot be ignored.

We found that in the last 10 years, violence in our sacred places has been increasing, which is evident in the news but also documented by the FBI. ‘Church shootings’ has joined our lexicon, along with mall shootings, school shootings, night club shootings. No faith group, it seems, is exempt from gun violence: Sikhs, African-American Christians, Jews, white Evangelical Christians, Muslims, AAPI Protestants, Catholics… and the Church of Latter Day Saints. All this has left congregations feeling vulnerable… imagining the unimaginable. Yet it must be said that an active shooter in a house of worship is still very rare.

According to Day, the 2015 Charleston massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church was a turning point, when many congregations began to take security far more seriously. According to the 2020 Faith Communities Today (FACT) study, only 13 percent of congregations had security cameras before Charleston — four years later, nearly 40 percent did.

“I would imagine that is much higher today,” Day adds.

Are current security measures enough?

The Michigan attack, like the recent shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, highlights the limits of traditional security planning.

The last two high profile horrific tragedies at the Catholic school in Minneapolis in August, and the recent shooting at the Church of Latter Day Saints, vividly make two points: First, neither was a sole active shooter entering a congregation at worship, which has been the case in most of the shootings in houses of worship. In Minneapolis, the attackers shot through windows from the outside. In Michigan, the shooter first drove through the front doors. It is hard to imagine how to protect a congregation from such diabolical strategies.

According to Day, congregations have adopted a wide variety of security measures, from cameras and reinforced locks to “hot buttons” and lighting systems. But some communities have taken the opposite approach, introducing armed guards, training church security teams, or even encouraging congregants to bring weapons to worship, a response that she says raises both logistical and theological concerns.

Will lawmakers act?

Asked whether tragedies like Grand Blanc could move the needle on gun legislation, Day is blunt:

It seems, therefore, the most effective strategy is to prevent the shootings in the first place. Common sense gun laws — such as red flag (ERPO) laws, background checks, waiting periods, gun security laws — could keep weapons (usually assault-style rifles) out of the hands of those who should not have them. We know that in the states with the strongest gun regulations, there are lower levels of gun violence. In other words, stronger gun laws work. Most of the perpetrators are disturbed white men and society has to address the prevalence of rage as a public health issue. (This is also the population most at risk of committing suicide by gun).

This reflects what many researchers have argued for years: without federal action, America is left with a patchwork of protections that fail to match the scale of the problem.

Balancing openness and safety

For religious communities, one of the hardest questions is how to reconcile the traditional openness of houses of worship with the reality of violence.

Day’s research shows that while security devices can often be installed discreetly, the deeper challenge is philosophical: how to preserve sacred spaces as places of welcome while acknowledging the risks of modern America.

The Grand Blanc tragedy underscores what many faith leaders already know: safety inside churches, mosques, synagogues, and temples cannot be taken for granted. For Katie Day, the path forward requires both practical steps at the congregational level and a national reckoning with gun laws and cultural attitudes toward violence.

“Keeping congregations — and all of us — safe from gun violence is a complicated issue, needing more discussion among people of faith and society at large. Thoughts and prayers are not enough, unless they lead to real action.