The New Normal for Church Security

We recently experienced a new tipping point for church security.

A tipping point is the critical juncture in evolving developments that leads to a new and, often, irreversible state. We call that new state “the new normal.” Read More

My church's county sheriff’s department hosted church safety training for the churches in the county. The sheriff’s department has a sergeant whose principal responsibility is to help churches develop appropriate church safety measures. He presented an overview of the measures that a church might take to protect itself from an active shooter. These measures included forming church safety team, assembling a church medical trauma bag with hemostatic gauze to stop bleeding from bullet or knife wounds, providing specialized church safety training for greeters, ushers, children’s ministry workers, and others who are most likely to come into contact with a would-be shooter and who formed what might described as the church’s early warning system, providing general church safety training for the congregation -what they should do in the event of an active shooter enters the church, securing the building– locking secondary points of entry to the building and assigning members of the church security team to the main entrance, and monitoring the parking lot and all arrivals in the parking lot with a view to identifying a would-be shooter before he enters the building and preventing him from gaining entrance. It is better to deal with a potential dangerous situation in the parking lot than in the building. This may require providing training to church security team members, greeters, ushers, and others who are most likely to come into contact with a would-be shooter in how to defuse a difficult situation and how to avoid through their own response escalating it.

The sergeant also advised that the pastor and staff, the church security team, the various ministry volunteers, and church members should be trained to identify potential shooters. Statistics show that most shooters are members of the congregation, former members of the congregation, or otherwise have a connection to the congregation. A spouse or in-law or a relative or a significant other may be a member of the congregation. Separation or divorce is often a precipitating factor. While no one should be singled out and ostracized because they are experiencing relationship problems, the pastor and staff, and the church security team should be aware of what is going on not only in the lives of the congregants but the lives of those who are in some way connected to the congregants. Other potential shooters may be troubled youth. The church might wish to offer mental health symposiums to help church members recognize indicators that an individual may be experiencing emotional and psychological difficulties that may lead to that individual attacking and hurting others. These symposiums should be open to the public.  The church might also host seminars on responsible gun ownership and the safe use and storage of firearms.

Pastoral intervention may in some cases, prevent a shooting. On the other hand, it may make a pastor or staff member the focus of a potential shooter’s anger and resentment. Pastors and staff may need training in assessing the state of mind of those whom they counsel and how and when to make the appropriate referrals to mental health professionals, law enforcement, and other appropriate resources.

A second deputy gave a presentation on what a church should expect when the sheriff’s department’s rapid response team arrived at the church in response to the report of an active shooter. Church members should raise their hands to show that they are unarmed and identify themselves. Church members who are hiding in a closet or a locked room should identify themselves. The rapid response team would tag the closet or room. If the team came across any wounded, they would not give them first aid but would alert the emergency medical team. The rapid response team’s primary objective is to neutralize the active shooter. Any member of the church safety team who is armed should immediately holster his gun or put it down and raise his hands and identify himself. Otherwise, the rapid response team might mistake him for the shooter.

The deputy went on to explain what would happen to a pastor, staff member, church safety team member, or church member who shoots and wounds or kills a shooter. He would be arrested, and handcuffed. He would likely be incarcerated pending a preliminary hearing on the shooting. His gun would be confiscated for a period of at least six months. An investigation would be conducted into the shooting and he would be required to appear before a grand jury which would decide whether charges would be filed against him. The laws of your state may be different from that of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and churches should familiarize themselves with their own state laws.

The deputy also pointed out that despite the attention church shootings have received in the media, they are infrequent, so infrequent that the Department of Homeland Security does not even have a separate category for church shootings. It lists them under the category of “Other.” The most frequent shootings occur in businesses, schools, and outdoors, in that order.

I personally believe that every church should develop a workable safety plan to protect churchgoers against premeditated and unpremeditated acts of violence, as well as to protect children from physical and sexual abuse. At the same time I must point out that some churches are over-reacting to the Texas shooting and are locking down the church building on Sundays, including the main entrance. Church members and guests arriving a little late are finding themselves locked out of the church. This certainly does not give the right message to guests. We are seeing a longstanding decline in evangelism in many churches and if we are to reverse this decline, we must help our churches become more outward-looking.

Unfortunately the Texas shooting has made churches that are already inward-looking, even more so. They do not see the world outside their doors as God’s vineyard in which he has called them to labor. Rather they see it as a frightening, hostile place which they must shut out.

The sergeant who gave the first presentation identified himself as a Christian and an active member of his church. He stressed that churches need to balance their safety concerns against their evangelistic mission. They need to take the necessary steps to safeguard themselves but not at the expense of their mission to a fallen, sinful world.

The county sheriff’s department subsequently sent a letter to the churches in the county advising them to examine their church insurance policies to determine whether their policy permitted guns in the church buildings. Some policies do; some don’t. Some churches may have to pay higher insurance rates if they permit guns in their buildings. Others may lose their insurance.