Gideon Protective Services, Inc.

Continuing on the topic of Church Security, one might ask why we need Church Security Ministry Teams.  Churches are recognizing that the present days are evil.  There is an increasing and alarming trend of violence towards all peoples of faith and church backgrounds.  To meet this challenge, churches are organizing and implementing church security ministry teams.  The member of their churches sacrifice their time and talents to provide a safe and peaceful worship atmosphere for all members at their particular Church.  There are numerous national church security organizations that have formed over the last ten years.  Some of these organizations are NACS, ICSARM, 212 Gatekeepers, and Congregational Security.  Listed below are some of the latest trends that occur in the worst possible scenarios.

• In 2009 there were 29 church shootings
• Increase in societal pressures due to the economy (Domestic Violence, loss of income, alcohol and drug abuse, lack of God in people’s lives, etc.)
• Mostly Single Shooters
• Typically several firearms
• Large amounts of ammunition (co 1,000+)‏
• Specific Grudge or general hatred of Christians
• Shooting lasts for 3 to 10 minutes
• Most commit suicide
• Police are largely irrelevant to the outcome (this is because the avg. response time is 5-10 minutes)

OK, so there is some church violence. But the Bible surely doesn’t advocate defending yourself, does it? Lets examine one of several passages that support self defense.

• Nehemiah 4:17-19.  ¹⁷Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other hand held a weapon.  ¹⁸Everyone of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built.  And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.

What does the security ministry team do when there isn’t any violent crime occurring? 

• Mitigate emergency and non-emergency situations (if and when they arise until the professionals arrive)
• Patrolling the facility inside and outside
• Assisting visitors with directions or questions
• Securing the preschool and nursery areas, lost parent/children issues
• Requesting and co-ordination of medical emergencies
• Clearing the parking lot, doors, and crowd for approaching EMS Units
• Escorting the offering from pickup to deposit into the safe or other safe location
• Special escorts
• Coordinate building evacuation

It all comes down to being the eyes and ears for the church reference security of all church members.  There will be rare instances, but sometimes there will be, a call to action.  Security Ministry Team members must serve with grace, a humble heart, and be mindful, not fearful.  Besides the church security ministry team be integrated into the church operations and providing a valuable service to its members, there is another huge administration/ financial benefit to having a security ministry team.  Insurance companies that know and see the value of having trained, on site church security ministry teams, offer a break/ discount to the churches insurance premiums for the churches active roll in lowering their overall liability exposure.

Follow along on next week’s church security blog to learn more about church security training.

If you have any questions about Bodyguards, Executive Protection, Dignitary Protection, Security Consulting, Armored Vehicle, Safe Rooms, Church Security, or Firearms Training for you, your superiors, your company, or someone you know, feel free to call 888.305.6513 or email Gideon Protective Services for a free, confidential consultation.  See what Gideon can do for you.  Check us out at http://www.executive-protection-services.com or our blog at http://www.executive-protection-services.net.

KOMO News 4.

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — A woman has died following a shooting at a local church late Wednesday afternoon.  Police spokesman Ray Bunk said the woman and her husband were attending a counseling session at the Calvary Lutheran Church at 2415 S. 320th St. when the man pulled out a gun and shot her several times just before 6 p.m.  Bunk said it wasn’t immediately clear whether the shooting took place during or just after the counseling session, but the suspected shooter called 911 afterward and waited for police and medics to arrive.  “We’re unsure how many witnesses we have,” Bunk said. “Right now, (we don’t know) how many were in the room or even in the area. We’re identifying and interviewing all those witnesses.  “The 38-year-old Lakewood woman was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she died. Her name has not been released.  The 42-year-old Lakewood man has been taken into custody.

Members of the congregation gathering for a scheduled soup supper, a Lenten tradition on Wednesdays, learned of the tragedy as they arrived at the church.  Many grew teary-eyed over the incident at their place of worship.  “It was really scary to drive up and not know…we knew everybody was getting ready for the soup supper,” said Sandra Cook.  Church members said a daycare inside the church was operating at the time of the shooting, sending parents on a frantic search for their little ones.  “The church is a place of hope, and to someone driven to this degree, this extreme…we just pray for everybody that was inside the building that was connected with this thing,” said Stan Stenersen.

Yet another church shooting has taken place, this time during a counseling session.  Church security isn’t just for church on Saturdays and Sundays.  Church security is needed for all events that may take place at the church or an off site event.  As violence continues to escalate in churches of all faiths, a complete and comprehensive church security plan must be implemented to train church administrators, counselors, and staff on warning signs of imminent violence and to have some kind of a response plan in place should any amount of violence unfold right in front of you or your church members, and to mitigate other church emergencies that arise.

Church security ministry teams are not just for the physical security of the church and its members.  They are an integral part of the day to day operations of any size church gathering.  Church security team ministry members are part of the parking lot crews, door greeters, children’s wing, ushers, and building maintenance personnel to name a few.  Whatever the incident, large or small, the security ministry team facilitates the mitigation of the emergency, protects the children’s wing and congregation, provides crowd control and emergency medical services (etc) until the professionals arrive.

If you have any questions about how to implement a church security team ministry, need refresher training for an existing church security team, or you want to learn more about church security training, feel free to call or email Gideon Protective Services for a free, confidential consultation.  See what Gideon can do for you.  Check us out at http://www.executive-protection-services.com or our blog at http://www.executive-protection-services.net.  Find out the many benefits to having a church security ministry team that benefit the church, church administrators, staff, and the congregation.

The following was a story taken from KBIA in MO.

Bill Proposes Allowing Weapons In Church  Garrett Bergquist (2010-02-22)

COLUMBIA, MO (KBIA) – A bill has been introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives that would allow concealed-carry permit holders to bring their weapons into churches. Current state law prohibits firearms inside churches.  Representative Cynthia Davis sponsored the bill. She says it addresses the problem of church shootings.

“We need a way, if people feel like they need to have like an usher protect the congregation, there’s no reason that we should say they can’t. Under the current law, until we fix it, it would prohibit security guards from being in a church. “Davis says her aim is to remove this regulatory power over churches.  Her bill, House Bill 1232, would allow individual churches to decide whether to permit concealed weapons.  But not everyone agrees. Ladd Everitt is the Director of Communications for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. He says current concealed-carry background checks are too lax.  Everitt says this bill would bring mixed results.

“Do we want to continue to arm individuals and allow them to carry handguns in public, individuals who are clearly deranged, and who we should expect to do violence eventually, and then also arm their potential victims, and hope that at the end of the shootouts that occur, if the victim has a chance to fire back, that the quote-unquote good guy is left standing. “Everitt says it would be better for each state to perform more rigorous background checks on concealed-carry applicants.

The bill has yet to be assigned to a committee. No hearings are scheduled at this point. © Copyright 2010, KBIA

Apparently if you listen to Mr. Everitt he is implying self defense is not allowed in places of worship.  And if you are armed then you are “clearly deranged”.  You have to be kidding me right?  Reference his quote from above the answer is YES!  Of course we want the quote un-quote good guy left standing.  That is the point of self defense.  How can anyone act so cowardly as to want anything else but the good guy left standing.  Maybe he likes being a sheep and hoping the wolf will pass him by, but I for one will not let that happen.  Self defense is a right and it doesn’t matter whether your in church or not, period!  Churches need to protect their people and there is nothing wrong with good, hardworking, decent people arming themselves incase violence visits them at church or any other place for that matter.  I guess you can wait the standard 5-10 minute response time for the overworked Law Enforcement community to respond.  How long does it take a dirtbag to shoot and kill people anyway Mr. Everitt?  Let me tell you the answer-Less time than it takes the Police to get there.  If you want to be a sheepdog and not a lap dog, then get some training and protect yourself and those around you, including Mr. Everitt.

If you have any questions about Bodyguards, Executive Protection, Dignitary Protection, Security Consulting, Armored Vehicle, Safe Rooms, or Firearms Training for you, your superiors, your company, your church, or someone you know, feel free to call or email Gideon Protective Services for a free, confidential consultation.  See what Gideon can do for you.  Check us out at http://www.executive-protection-services.com or our blog at http://www.executive-protection-services.net.