Why Protecting the Church Matters

There is a misconception in the body of Christ today that the implementation and use of security personnel and security systems within the church is unnecessary. The root of that thought seems to be “God can just intervene and save us from theft, assault and abuse,” or “I don’t need a group of GI Joe’s parading around my church making people feel uncomfortable”

These are common and valid responses but ask yourself one question: “Is the church exempt from any kind of attack, physical or spiritual?” I believe your truthful answer would probably be “no”. Unless we recognize the weaknesses and develop an offensive plan we could very well be in for a rude awakening.....

Pastoral Protection

If there was ever a more controversial area in church security this is the one. Some Pastors feel they don’t need personal protection and some feel they do and some don’t have a clue. Where do you draw the line? How and where do you start? Why do you start? Finally, who would want to harm your Pastor?

I believe we have a responsibility to protect the men and women who have been called of God for such a time as this. There needs to be a core group of committed people within the church who will maintain a close watch and eliminate any potential threat or an actual attack on church leaders. In laymen’s terms you become their bodyguard. But it must be done correctly or else you will be the cause of their problems.....

How to Set Up Your Team

In this chapter we will be covering the “who, what, where, when, why and how” of establishing and implementing your security team. Every church, whether it is large or small, will have a different setup according to their needs. The way one church team functions would probably not perfectly suit another situation, which is why this book has more of a foundational content than actual schematics of every type of security procedure known to man. The following suggestions are what we have used in our church. This will at least get you started off on the right foot.....

Emergency Preparations

In any setting, whether it is a special event or in the local church, it is imperative that you have emergency counter measures set in place for the evacuation of the building. These may come in the form of: Bomb Threat, Fire, Gas Leak, Assault, Chemical Threat, Disease Threat, Earthquake or any natural disaster

Not many churches have an established evacuation plan in place. Without it mass confusion occurs, people get hurt and maybe lost lives. As outrageous as some of the above items are it is far better to make preparation and not use it, than it is to never plan and then find out one day you need it.....

See Table of Contents.