Church Security Awareness
Why is security so critical to the church?
Imagine a crisis in your church that was caused by an issue that was out of your control. People will not come to a church that they feel is unsafe and certainly will not bring their children to a church in which they call in to question the security effectiveness. A few questions to ask:
- Is my church safe?
- Can I respond to a crisis?
- How do I leverage my volunteers to meet the need of a security team?
- Are the children safe?
- What is the Pastors role during a crisis?
- Are we safeguarding our tithes and offerings?
Understanding the inner workings of a church is key to the success of a security program. Strategically placing security in your church and having the proper response is critical to the success and growth of a congregation.
Key Tasks
To Serve:
- To create a safe environment conducive to worshiping and learning
- Responding to various campus incidents and calls for aid
- Safeguarding church property and equipment to prevent and/or minimize physical loss of church assets
Crime Prevention:
- Providing educational programs to select personnel, which cultivates safety and security awareness
- Engaging in proactive anticipation, recognition, and appraisal of crime risks, and taking the action needed to remove or reduce that risk to better serve
Violence Reduction:
- To bring awareness to and provide education and training in De-Escalation, Harassment, Intimidation, and Domestic Violence
- Cultivate a community of responsibility, caring, and willingness to report possible situations that may arise during church events and services both on and off the main campus
Video-Based Training (Online Access)
Mission Statement and Key Tasks for Churches – Understanding the way ahead for your security program and what you are working towards when implementing security mitigation factors in your church.
Active Shooter in places of worship, statistical data and case studies – Preparing yourself mentally to see actual case studies to back up the implementation of security in churches and how they affect your outreach and missions.
Situational Awareness – Mental representation and understanding of objects, events, people, system states, interactions, environmental conditions, and other situation-specific factors affecting human performance in complex and dynamic tasks.
Security Implementation – Addition of layers in a security plan that work together so a person intending to cause a crisis will go through multiple layers of security. This includes strategic locations for security team members throughout the church to provide the best coverage.
Georgia Gun laws in places of worship – How HB60 and OCGA 16-3-21 play a role in a church voting on the right to carry weapons in a church.
Security team selection – Be selective and vet the people who volunteer or are asked to take on the security responsibility within a church and leverage their skills to make the team more effective.
Equipment selection and placement – This includes camera and communications equipment and how to use them to be a critical and effective tool in your security plan.
Operating procedures and Emergency response plan development.
And much more…
Overseas Mission Preparedness
As we prepare to send missionaries into the mission field, they often find themselves in unfamiliar territory and cultures that do not offer a lot of protection. It is critical to put more precision towards the preparation of these missionaries by providing them with information and training that will assist them in the event they find themselves in a crisis. Some of the topics include:
Country briefs –
Where are you going?
What is the cultural environment?
What is the crime rate in the region?
Identify the nearest police stations, fire departments, and hospitals
Country Host/Sponsor role –
What are the questions we need to ask them prior to the trip?
What is the hosts role in your safety?
How will you respond to a crisis?
What is team survivability?
Insurance –
What are the steps in securing insurance?
What do they cover and what is their process for responding to an incident?
Outside agencies –
What is the Department of state (STEP) program
Are there and travel advisories?
DOS Traveler checklist!
We can provide the training and preparation needed to help facilitate a safe missions experience.