A church near the Kansas-Missouri state line is raising eyebrows after "blessing" some of its members with guns for Father's Day and the Fourth of July.
The River Church of Kansas City meets in Lenexa, Kansas just outside of Kansas City. It describes itself as a "spirit-filled church for the hungry, the thirsty and the broken" on its website.
Back in June, the church posted pictures to its Facebook page celebrating a member who won its raffle of an AR-15 rifle for Father's Day — which can cost up to $1,200.
River Church had fewer than 100 members when it gave away the AR-15, but the Facebook post garnered almost 2,500 comments and close to 2,000 shares.
The idea came from the church's young pastor, Christopher Zehner.
"I was thinking about Father's Day because we've got a lot of men in the church, they like to shoot guns," Zehner told Scripps News Kansas City. "I thought, ‘Let's give away a gun to the church and let some of the men get involved, and let's make it a big, fun event.’"
Then, to celebrate the Fourth of July, church leaders gave away three more guns: A shotgun and two handguns.
"A gun is a blessing because here in America, we have what's called the Second Amendment, and we're free Americans,” Zehner said. “We have the right to bear arms."
"Why make it such a focal point of intersection between proud American, Constitution-supporting and teaching Jesus Christ?” Scripps News Kansas City asked.
"We make that connection because Christ gives us freedom, and so, as Christ has given us freedom on the inside, Americans are free as well, so it correlates," Zehner said. “We love this nation because God is the one that authored it."
The reaction on Facebook was overwhelmingly negative.
Comments included:
- "Nothing says faith over fear, like worshipping firearms."
- "A church that upholds the constitution of the USA. Just like Jesus intended.”
- "People are leaving the church like never before, and you all wonder why."
Zehner didn't read all the comments, but he got the gist.
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"A gun in itself is not bad,” said Zehner, who is a gun owner himself. “It's the person behind the gun that has a bad heart is what's bad. I wanted people to know that there's still a young generation like myself that still stands for what this country was founded on."
The strong Facebook reaction was part of the reason Zehner and other church leaders decided to do it again.
"Our attendance doubled after this whole thing happened,” Zehner said. “So I think people were looking at this like, ‘Wow, there's somebody that stood up for our rights and freedoms and actually has a backbone.’"
The church has given away items before — but never guns.
The recipients of the firearms were members of the church and had to complete background checks before taking ownership. All declined to be a part of this story.
Zehner said the church wants to get to a point where they're blessing people with even larger gifts like cars or even a home.
And yes, guns again.
"We probably will do it again,” Zehner said. “I would say maybe Christmas time, to be a blessing again."
Scripps News Kansas City asked Zehner about the usefulness of a gift like this, over other things that have been given away, like groceries.
"I know some people would maybe question, 'Is a gun a blessing?'” Zehner said. “But in the context of protecting your family, standing up for the Second Amendment right, I believe it'd be a great blessing.
"If that was protecting somebody's wife from dying, or a daughter from dying, it would be horrible to see someone's life lost,” he continued when asked what he'd think if one of these four firearms ended up taking a life. “But to see a family protected, that's the American way."
“And all of that comes from Christ?" Scripps News Kansas City asked.
“Yes,” Zehner responded. “Giving, being a blessing; yes."
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After the gun giveaway, River Church and Pastor Zehner received about a dozen threats, some of which implied something might happen to the church building.
The church hired security to stand outside the building during worship services and required members to sign a waiver acknowledging the building had been threatened.
River Church is planning a gun safety course in the future for its members, where they'll learn how to properly load, fire, clean and store a firearm.
Neither the homeowner's association closest to the church’s location, the two Lenexa City Council members (Melanie Arroyo and Chelsea Williamson) who represent the ward in which the church is located nor the Lenexa Police Department returned requests for comment to Scripps News Kansas City.
One nearby business owner said he didn't know about the gun giveaway but didn't have a problem with it. Another, who identified themselves as "very pro-gun," called the decision to give away guns “concerning” and “odd.”
Zehner said the church isn’t part of a denomination but rather is affiliated with Revival Ministries International, which is based in Florida.
Revival Ministries did not reply to Scripps News Kansas City's request for comment on the gun giveaway.
This story was originally published by Taylor Hemness at Scripps News Kansas City.
