God, Firearms and America Come Together at a Church in Kentucky

A man with a firearm listened to Ken Pagano, the pastor of the Assembly of God church, who held a gun celebration Saturday.

Some of those seated in the pews of New Bethel Church here Saturday night, their firearms tucked to their sides, saw themselves as modern-day pioneers.

“This country started by people gathering together in churches and complaining about taxation and about their current government, King George III, taking armaments that they had,” said Chesley Kemp, 61, a family doctor with his Kimber .45 Auto at his side.

Dr. Kemp said he had driven two hours from Bowling Green to attend a gun celebration at the church, which event organizers said appeared to be the first of its kind, at least in modern times.

The pioneer spirit suffused a 90-minute program staged by Ken Pagano, the pastor of the Assembly of God church, for whom God, guns and America are a package deal.

“But for a deep-seated belief in God and firearms, this country would not be here today,” Mr. Pagano declared from the church’s pulpit.

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