COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Calvary Ridge Church held its second annual Second Amendment Sunday on a recent morning, featuring a weapons blessing station in the fellowship hall, a sanctuary decorated with patriotic bunting, and a sermon titled "The God Who Fights: A Biblical Defense of Armed Citizenship."
Attendance was up 22 percent from the previous year. Pastor Dale Hendricks attributed the increase to "cultural hunger for churches that aren't afraid."
"People are looking for a church that will say what other churches won't say," Hendricks told The Pulpit Truth after the service. He said he was available to elaborate but was running to the potluck. He did not elaborate.
The weapons blessing station operated from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., before and between services. Attendees were invited to present their firearms for a brief prayer of dedication. Associate Pastor Mike Sherrill, who ran the station, said he blessed approximately 60 firearms during the morning.
"We're not saying guns are holy," Sherrill said. "We're saying the people who own them responsibly can dedicate them to God like any other tool." He was asked what tool he was comparing firearms to. He said "a plow," and then thought about it. He said he would get back to us.
The potluck featured 34 dishes. One dish, prepared by Calvary Ridge women's ministry co-chair Debra Munroe, was a chicken and rice casserole arranged in the shape of a bald eagle. Munroe said it had taken approximately three hours.
"I wanted it to mean something," she said.
The sermon drew from Psalm 144:1, which reads, "Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle." Hendricks said this verse was "explicitly relevant to the Second Amendment." He said he was aware that the Second Amendment was drafted approximately 2,600 years after the psalm. He said this did not affect his reading of it.
Calvary Ridge has 340 active members. A second Second Amendment Sunday is planned for next year. Hendricks said he hoped to add a rifle range component "if the logistics work out."