In the week after Vice President Mike Pence walked out of an NFL game Oct. 8 in protest of athletes kneeling during the national anthem to challenge racial injustice, Tabor College coaches received an email applicable to all players, coaches and personnel preparing to compete: “All will stand during the National Anthem. This is required in order to participate in the competition.”
About 35 miles from where 26 people were killed in a Nov. 5 shooting during a church service in Sutherland Springs, Texas, members of San Antonio Mennonite Church participated in a vigil mourning the deaths a few days later. The massacre has prompted congregations to ask what security measures might be appropriate, including the use of firearms.