Will churches change their policies after Charleston?
carolina church wednesday … say they forgive the accused killer: “to you i forgive you. you took something very precious from me. i will never talk to her ever again. relatives were at the first court hearing for dylann roof today. they offered forgiveness to the 21-year-old who’s accused of going on a shotoing spree inside the church. many questions tonight because of that church shooting. will it affect the way churches operate? and what about keeping church- goers safe? abc-7’s darren hunt is live with lcoal reaction. while some church leaders may increase security… the el paso pastor i spoke with says he’s not sure anything can be done: “if people want to do something they’ll find a way … you can try to get ahead of it but i’m not sure you can.” ben hodge is pastor at bethel family ministries in northeast el paso. ” i heard this one minister say you know we wanna protect our people and we’re spending thousands and thousands of dollars on protection … we have an open door policy, it doesn’t matter what you look like … which makes you vulnerable.” he said he will address the senseless tragedy in charleston with his congregation sunday morning. “i will say lets take a vote .. do we have strict security at the front door? are we still going to be open to anyone that comes in? i know they’ll say we’re going to keep the doors open and love people.” “hodge recalled an incident her at bethel family just a few years ago, where a man got up from the pew, ran down the center aisle of the church and startled the congregation.” “he started screaming, rather incoherently … he wasn’t taken to the ground or anything, but everyone was looking at him, it was hard to ignore the situation, but they just sort of surrounded him and found out he had just been left by his wife.” despit those kind of incidents, hodge said bethel will keep its doors open for all. as will the catholic diocese of el paso, which sent us this statement: “our parishes have always remained open to the faithful as well as the faith seeking. our churches will remain a beacon to all who want to enter.” churches, synagogues and places of worship here in texas, may prohibit handguns — even with a permit or license — if they post a sign required by the state. estela. ok darren, thank you. tropical depression bill is still packing a