Armor bearers provide security for ministers, churchgoers

ORLANDO, Fla. — On Sunday mornings, while members of the congregation at the Faith & Power Worship Center in Apopka, Fla., close their eyes and bow their heads in prayer, one man keeps his head up, his eyes open.

He is minister David Sepulveda. And he is armed.

“It’s not there for everyone to see,” he said, “but it’s there.”

Sepulveda is the “armor bearer” of senior pastor Matthew Shaw. An armor bearer — a biblical reference to the one who carries the spear and shield of a warrior — is traditionally the person in the church who assists the pastor in everything from adjusting the temperature in the sanctuary to picking up visitors at the airport to running interference for the minister.

But the armor bearer’s duties also have, in recent years, come to include protecting the safety of the pastor. When a gunman burst into the Greater Faith Christian Church in Lakeland, Fla., on a recent Sunday and shot pastor William Boss and associate pastor Carl Stewart, the two men who subdued him were described as armor bearers.

“If it came to that point, then the armor bearer is the last line of defense before they get to the pastor,” Shaw said. “As long as he is on duty, he needs to have his eyes open and seeing what is going on in the house. He keeps his eyes on the pastor.”

Sepulveda’s day job is working as an Orange County, Fla., deputy sheriff.

But on Sundays, for the past 10 years, he has been Shaw’s bodyguard. During the service, Sepulveda is seated behind Shaw, his attention directed at the congregation in the pews.

“I’m looking for new people coming into the sanctuary. I see what clothing they are wearing, if they have their hands in their pockets. I look at their ankles — a bulge could be firearm,” said Sepulveda, 46, who has served as an armor bearer for more than half his life.

In many churches, the armor bearer is not armed and is not responsible for protecting the minister. He is more of an unpaid personal assistant.

“The term ‘armor bearer’ was basically a person who assisted the pastor,” said the Rev. Willie C. Barnes, pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Eatonville, Fla. “What it has evolved into is men and women who are prepared to assist and deter any kind of attack.”

In most small churches, the responsibility for church security falls to the deacons, ushers and greeters.

While larger churches can afford private security and off-duty police officers, small churches rely on the keen eyes and quick responses of a few men trained to intercede.