Does YOUR place of worship have a ''security guard ministry''?

The Mansfield News Journal is reporting that Mansfield's Greater St. John Church of God in Christ has a "security guard ministry" in case of dangerous incidents, such as Saturday's Milwaukee shooting that left eight dead in a suburban hotel worship service.

Rev. Walter Jordan II told the newspaper Greater St. John formed the security guard ministry after a woman entered the church and tried to hit a pastor over the head. Trained ushers wear badges and are stationed inside the church and in the parking lot during services.

"You have to respond to the day and time in which you live," Jordan said. "People seem to be very callous as to what they do and where they do what they do ... It's just sad, but it's a reality."

Whether it be criminals in search of an easy mark, or terrorists in search of a place to inflict maximum damage, places of worship have a reason for concern. Under current Ohio law, CHL-holders are banned from attending worship services (or even entering the church building) while armed, unless the church authorizes entry.

On July 25, 1788, the first Ohio law to establish and regulate a militia was published in Marietta. It mandated all men between 16 and 50 perform military duty. They were required to arm themselves with a musket and bayonet, a cartridge box, powder horn, one pound of powder and four pounds of lead. They also were ordered to drill every Sunday.

In 1791, the law changed the day of the weekly drills to Saturday. Those who drilled didn't have to go to church on Sunday. But those who attended church services - with their guns - were exempt from drill.

Notice that churches were not legislated as victim zones, but rather that the law gave citizens incentive not only to attend church, but to do so while armed. How far we have sunk in Ohio, from a day when all men were not only allowed, but required by law to own firearms. Back then, Ohio law recognized that an armed society was a safer society.

ACT NOW: Ask the leaders in your place of worship if you and fellow CHL-holders can be a part of a "security guard ministry".

Related Stories: Wisconsin church shooting could easily happen here

Op-ed: The False Hope of Gun-Free Zones

VICTIM ZONE: Butler coroner beaten, robbed leaving church

Sex offender attacks child's mother on way to church

Letter to the editor: Some gun bill provisions deserve to be repealed

Masked gunman terrorizes church

94-year-old Toledoan attacked on way to church: ''We are so helpless''

''Victim Zone'' exclusions are BAD for law-abiding Ohio citizens