Pastor Organizes Gun Celebration at Church

June 5, 2009 — -- A pastor in Kentucky is redefining the tradition of wearing your Sunday best to services by encouraging his congregation to strap on holsters and bring their weapons to church.

Pastor Ken Pagano of New Bethel Church in Louisville, Ky., says that he organized an "Open Carry Celebration" to promote responsible gun ownership.

"As a Christian pastor I believe that without a deep-seeded belief in God and firearms that this country would not be here," Pagano told ABCNews.com. "I'm not ashamed of that fact. I'm proud of it."

The celebration scheduled for Sunday, June 27, will feature YouTube videos promoting gun safety and will ask congregants to join in singing patriotic songs, according to Pagano.

A $1 raffle to win a free handgun will also be part of the festivities.

"This will basically be a display," said Pagano, who owns two hand guns, a Walther P99 and a Sig Sauer 225. "Nobody is going to be taking anything out and waving it. We're promoting responsible and safe gun ownership."

Pagano said that the raffle will also be done legally through a local gun range and the gun will only be given to someone who has met "national standards." Money raised from the raffle will go toward the cost of the gun and any extra will be donated to charity.

There will be extra security present during the celebration, said Pagano, and guns will be checked to make sure they are unloaded prior to entering the church.

While Pagano says that the majority of the congregation voted in favor of the celebration -- he said otherwise they would not have planned it -- others are not as happy.

Paul Helmke, the president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said that encouraging people to bring guns to a church is a contradiction in terms.

"Christ tells us to put down the sword and this pastor seems to be encouraging them to take up the sword," said Helmke.

According to national statistics, guns kill 86 people each day in the U.S., 34 of which are homicides. The remaining incidents are either suicides or accidents, according to Helmke, who estimates that two to three people are killed each day by an accident involving a gun and twice that many are injured because of a gun.