When they chase Kevin and he hides in the nativity scene Marv says "maybe he went in the church" and Harry says "I'm not goin in there" and Marv goes "me neither."
I know the scene was probably to make them seem more like "bad guys" due to the fact they wouldn't go into the church, but logically it's not like the priest in the church would have known they were robbers and called the cops or something. Would it really have been that big of a deal for them to just take a look inside?
While Harry and Marv would not be arrested for the literal act of entering the building, they would have to park their stolen van, which advertises them as plumbers, in the church parking lot in order to do so. That would announce to the clergy that the two men are criminals since the former are never going to call a plumbing company that is not nearby and might not even be from the same state. Also, Harry and Marv would not be able to do anything to Kevin in a church even if they had the desire to, which they do not yet in that scene. They just want to know who the strange boy is and where he lives, and don't get those answers by seeing Kevin run near a church. Another possibility is that because Harry pretends to be a police officer when he works alone, he might appear at Christmas charity functions where priests and nuns are often present and does not want to risk being recognized.
While Harry and Marv would not be arrested for the literal act of entering the building, they would have to park their stolen van, which advertises them as plumbers, in the church parking lot in order to do so. That would announce to the clergy that the two men are criminals since the former are never going to call a plumbing company that is not nearby and might not even be from the same state. Also, Harry and Marv would not be able to do anything to Kevin in a church even if they had the desire to, which they do not yet in that scene. They just want to know who the strange boy is and where he lives, and don't get those answers by seeing Kevin run near a church. Another possibility is that because Harry pretends to be a police officer when he works alone, he might appear at Christmas charity functions where priests and nuns are often present and does not want to risk being recognized.
I don't think a plumbing van in a church lot will draw attention. Plumbers can't stop at a church to pray if they want to after a long day of work? lol
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It's a church at Christmas time. That means a lot of witnesses and their families.
We actually don't know what day that was. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Christmas Eve, yet. Usually churches during the day on a tuesday or wednesday would be empty.
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They are under the assumption Kevin went into the church. As criminals who already noticed Kevin was suspicious of them given his look, I'd think the last thing you'd want to do is go chase a kid into a church with potential people or a crowd and have Kevin scream at them or yell to help him while pointing at Harry/Marv.
At that time during the movie, Kevin was merely a suspicious, possible, witness. They probably figured not the best course of action to literally chase down & capture the kid, esp in a church.