LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct. 8 (UPI) -- A minister who organized an "Open Carry Celebration" with guns at his Pentecostal church in Kentucky says he has resigned to advocate for church security.
Ken Pagano told The Louisville Courier-Journal he found the publicity about the event was overwhelming the New Bethel Church in Valley Station. Pagano, a former Marine, is now working part-time at an indoor shooting range and has joined forces with a New York rabbi in the International Security Coalition of Clergy.
"If we had just had a celebration service and it died down, it might not have been as big a deal," Pagano said. "But it still generated quite a bit of interest, which wasn't bad for me, but as a pastor I was concerned about the congregation."
Pagano, 49, said he was also burned out as a minister and has surrendered his credentials, although he remains a police chaplain in Louisville.
The coalition headed by Rabbi Gary Moskowitz and Pagano advocates bringing guns to religious services. Moskowitz said the group got a boost in May when four men were charged with planning to blow up synagogues in New York.
Pagano and Moskowitz plan a trip to Israel next year to get training from security forces there.
