When a church teaches violence to children | Opinion
A video went viral last week showing children at a vacation Bible school in Lexington watching men in military uniforms stage a shooting inside a church sanctuary. As gun-fire sound effects played, a man writhed on the chancel steps while the pastor led adults and children in a chant: “Take him out! Blow him up!”
I am an ordained Lutheran minister. I live in this city. And what I saw shook me to my core.
The skit occurred at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church’s 32nd annual VBS, themed “S’More About Jesus,” in June. Pastor Dewayne Walker later explained in a video statement that the scene depicted “killing the devil” — part of what he called “Commandos for Christ,” wielding what he termed “the gospel gun.” He expressed no regret. “If I could kill the devil every day and raise him up and kill him again, I’d do it,” he said.
Aside from the Christian Nationalist heresy in his statement, I understand that he meant the scene to be understood metaphorically for spiritual warfare. But children do not.
That is the problem Pastor Walker has failed to reckon with. Elementary-age children are still developing the capacity for abstract and metaphorical thought. When adults in uniform stage a shooting and lead children in chanting “Take him out,” they are not conveying a nuanced theological metaphor about resisting temptation. They are teaching something concrete: that violence is exciting, that violence belongs in church, and that violence is an acceptable way to defeat what we call evil.
We live in a country where children practice active-shooter drills at school. They have heard about mass shootings in classrooms, grocery stores, movie theaters — and yes, in churches. The sanctuary should be one of the few places where children can feel safe from that terror. Instead, this church staged gun violence and celebrated it.
The pastor says the video spread “without proper context.” But no context changes the reality of what those children experienced. He may have been painting a picture, as he said, of an invisible spiritual battle. But young children do not live in the invisible. They live in the concrete, the sensory, the seen. What they saw was men with guns shooting a man in church while everyone cheered.
The gospel Jesus actually taught looks nothing like this. Jesus did not defeat evil with violence. He refused the sword. He forgave the people who crucified him and overcame sin through self-giving love. Teaching children that the devil is defeated by staged gunfire replaces the cross with a weapon and Christian formation with combat training. This is not the faith Jesus commended to his followers. It is a dangerous distortion of it.
In his public statement, Pastor Walker offered a conditional apology: “If it offended you, I’m sorry that it did.” That is not repentance. The problem is not that people were offended. The problem is that these children were harmed — spiritually, emotionally, developmentally — and their pastor does not yet see it.
I urge parents whose children attended this VBS to talk with them about what they saw. Watch for warning signs: nightmares, fear of church, repeated play involving shooting, new anxiety around loud sounds, regression, or withdrawal. If a child shows any of these signs, please seek help from a licensed therapist, pediatrician, or trauma-informed counselor. If a child talks about wanting to hurt themselves or someone else, seek immediate help.
And to the congregation of Mt. Olivet Baptist Church: you deserve a pastor who can be trusted with the full counsel of the gospel — a gospel of mercy, repentance, transformation, and peace. A pastor who leads children in chanting for violence, no matter his intention, has demonstrated he is not fit to hold that trust.
True repentance begins with accountability. That accountability must start now.
Rev. Leah D. Schade is a seminary professor and ordained minister.