With 20 years in law enforcement experience under his belt, Bryan Sewell has always had a nature for protecting people.
Sewell, a Catholic, was looking for ways to give back to his parish in Grapevine in 2020. He didn’t feel like a “Eucharist minister kind of guy.” When he heard about the Guardian Ministry, a volunteer-based safety and security program within the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth, he found a group that coupled his watchman-like personality and experience as a federal field agent.
“It’s not about always enforcing the law, it’s also about protecting people. I’ve always had that nature to do that. This allows me to continue to do the best part of my job when I was working, I get to do it for free for the church,” Sewell said.
The Guardian Ministry is a community-led safety and security ministry, where trained volunteers watch over Mass, Catholic schools and parish events. Mike Short, director of security, and other ministry leaders train volunteers in firearms training, crisis and medical intervention.
Short worked as a SWAT, patrol and field training officer prior to starting his role at the diocese. After a gunman killed more than two dozen worshippers in 2017 in Sutherland Springs, Short remembers asking leaders of his church what their emergency response plan was.
A year later Short began a consulting company that would develop the dioceses’ Guardian Ministry program. One of the goals of the ministry is to have trained volunteers ready to protect parishioners in an emergency during the time it takes for law enforcement to arrive at a scene, Short said.
“We’re not making them into police officers, but certainly capable defenders that can step in for that amount of time to preserve life is the primary reason, but hopefully just prevent things from happening,” Short said.
A guardian minister stands watch during an Our Lady of Fatima service in Fort Worth on June 5, 2025. Some volunteers are placed as greeters and ushers while others guard more visibly in the church parking lot outside the parish. (Courtesy photo | Juan Guajardo, North Texas Catholic)
Walking into the parish, you might not initially notice volunteers are there, Sewell said.
“We blend into the background. That’s kind of what our goal is,” he said, adding that some ministry members serve more covert roles like greeters or ushers.
The ministry addresses a “growing need” for security at churches, said Eric Warden, who serves as a team lead and instructor for the ministry. In August, a shooter opened fire during a Mass marking the first week of school at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, killing two children and leaving several injured. In September, an attack at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel in Michigan left four dead and others wounded.
“Too many people sometimes are reactive: ‘We don’t need it. We don’t need it.’ And then something happens, and it’s like, ‘Well, we should have had something in place.’” Warden said.
Hate crimes with a religion-motivated bias account for 20% of reported incidents from 2015 to 2025, according to the FBI crime data explorer. As perpetrators of such criminal acts have become more overt over the years, the ministry is changing some of its tactics, Short said.
Some members of the ministry may sport vests when outside on the parking lot or walking about the exterior of the church as a more visible way to demonstrate the parish has armed security on duty.
“We’re changing our tactics in a sense of becoming a lot more overt, especially on the outside of the church, so that we can just deter something from ever happening, or if we do, we can pick it up outside in the parking lot, never have anything happen in the church,” Short said.
The Guardian Ministry has over 580 volunteer guardians, Short said. He added that many Catholic parents are reaching out about how to get involved with the program after the Minnesota shooting.
Looking ahead, he hopes to double the number of members to cover the entire diocese.
“Our thing is just not waiting and hoping, but really just identifying those folks and empowering and equipping them,” Short said.
Sewell is professionally retired but still uses his experience as a firearms and basic tactics instructor in preparing the next generation of guardians as a ministry co-leader.
“For me, it’s a calling. I feel like this is what I’m here for,” Sewell said. “And so I pass that skill on to others so that they themselves can hopefully pass it on to someone else.”
Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org.
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