Pastors at First Baptist Church of Okeechobee is heartbroken over the scene, and the countless lives lost in the Texas tragedy.
Two years ago these pastors made a decision to be proactive, taking action to keep church members as safe as possible.
"We had a retired law enforcement guy that came to us and said I really think we need do this," Senior Pastor Mark McCarter said.
The church formed a security team of those formerly or currently in the military and in law enforcement.
"And they meet on a regular basis and we go through even met a month ago and went through scenarios in this room."
Pastor Mark says times are changing and churches need to do the same.
"Churches are a soft target. And we have tried everything we can to eliminate some of that and try to be as proactive as we can. We know it's not perfect and we know there's nothing we do in a certain situation that helps, but we certainly are trying," he said.