SHELBY, N.C. - In the wake of the Charleston church shooting, church leaders all across the country are trying to figure out how to make their congregations safer.
One pastor in Cleveland County believes he has the answer.
“We want to arm the people from the congregation,” Rev. Melvin Clark said.
The church already monitors visitors with a security camera and requires strangers to buzz in if they want to enter, but Clark says that's no longer enough.
His plan is to arm and train 10 church members, who would take turns working as plainclothes security guards, carrying concealed guns during all church services and events.
"We want to have people licensed, like if they were the bodyguard of a movie star -- that kind of license, we want to have them bonded, and we want to have them insured,” Clark said.
He’s now scheduling meetings with Shelby police and other pastors to talk logistics and plans to have his security force in place in about a year.