Last night as I arrived at church we (a friend was with me) saw a young man carrying an empty half gallon plastic drink bottle. We were going into the church for a scheduled disciple group meeting. The young man turned around as we parked and asked if we would fill his water bottle. I scanned him up and down and I saw a haggard, tired and sweaty young man who had just walked a great distance and that assessment matched his story. We filled his water bottle, gave him a Gatorade and a visitors packet with a Bible and some other small items. Then we prayed for him before he left the church. I am on the security team and we are in a small church on the outskirts of town. Had I considered him a threat I would have kept my vehicle between us and called 911. But, I could see he was not a threat and only wanted water. I hope he comes back on Sunday.
I am enjoying your articles and working on seeing if we can get a paid subscription. Our church,Storyhill is the largest in Davidson NC, usually over 1000 on a Sunday. We have a 30,000 square foot building that is equipped with camera's and our team has radio contact every Sunday. Our Safety and Med team is at 35 with 8 nurses and 3 doctors volunteering and the rest on the safety side. I am one of 3 team leaders who oversee and mostly do safety side.
Our parking lot is typically manned with 5-7 people on radios and we have one detail police officer for traffic. We have not had enough coverage with our safety team to cover the parking lot too, mainly due to not enough people and many other areas in building to cover. I am working on improving that. Camera coverage is not wide enough in front of church but that is another cost issue like anywhere else.
I am retired federal agent and train the concealed carry guys. I do take note of a prior artcile about training with 6 rounds in 2 seconds..LOL. Our team plus many others in law enforcement now are not capable of that but that is another discussion since I am former firearms instructor for 24 years and have to now deal with training volunteers so we do what we can. Anyway- I appreciate your work and try to share as much info as I can to our safety team.
We are a small church next to a large city park. These days security is mainly me and one other guy.
Most days I am the only one carrying. I normally arrive early and do a walkthrough of the building and grounds. We keep all doors locked except for the entrance which is in the rear. The entrance gets locked prior to the sermon. I sit in a spot where I can see the entrance have a view of everyone. I carry all the time even when I preach. there are a couple of men who assist me and as a Sherriff Chaplain I am known to local law
I was going to send you this tonight although you just posted it lol. Our ISP team sent me the official ISP statement shortly after it happened, because of the close proximity to our 2 churches.
Our team has 5 ISP members on it so as the team leader I'm in the loop lol. I can send you the press release if you want. I just am not going to post anything about it.
Our safety team consists of approximately 25 volunteers in our ministry. We employ 3 rings of security at a typical Mass: The parking lots, the narthex, and the sanctuary. The central Tx heat this time of year is somewhat relentless so we depend heavily on our parking lot security cameras manned by trained team members as well as foot patrols whenever possible.
Sadly our "new" security team director just leaned against a table through the whole service. Earlier I had asked him if he had checked out Christian Warrior, after a less than Christian look he informed me he had his own program. Now we're down to one but thankfully he stay's aware and moves around the parking lot and keeps an eye on traffic. I started our security team several years ago with 6 guards and one thing I did on a regular basis was get the guys together for training . A good friend who was head of Swat, now retired, came up and conducted a really strong training session that lasted thro' the day. Hostage situations and how to stop it...sadly some time back when a certain "president" was in charge, many of our officers retired early. I'm 80 but get so frustrated I've considered going back on security. We get hundreds of folks up at our beautiful mountain lake every summer. So far there's been no problems...so far.
There is a lot of gate keeping in the church security industry. It really takes me by surprise each time, since we are all here to serve the Lord and not our own self interests. Keep up the good fight. You did well over the years. Age is never a hindrance to joining the team. There is a spot for everyone. We need watchful eyes. Nehemiah 4:9.
The personnel at the front door that faces the parking lot watches there. The camera person in the command center watches all the parking lots. If we have a full staff , the roamer covers the parking.
Last night as I arrived at church we (a friend was with me) saw a young man carrying an empty half gallon plastic drink bottle. We were going into the church for a scheduled disciple group meeting. The young man turned around as we parked and asked if we would fill his water bottle. I scanned him up and down and I saw a haggard, tired and sweaty young man who had just walked a great distance and that assessment matched his story. We filled his water bottle, gave him a Gatorade and a visitors packet with a Bible and some other small items. Then we prayed for him before he left the church. I am on the security team and we are in a small church on the outskirts of town. Had I considered him a threat I would have kept my vehicle between us and called 911. But, I could see he was not a threat and only wanted water. I hope he comes back on Sunday.
That is a perfect example of our ministry!
Hi Keith,
I am enjoying your articles and working on seeing if we can get a paid subscription. Our church,Storyhill is the largest in Davidson NC, usually over 1000 on a Sunday. We have a 30,000 square foot building that is equipped with camera's and our team has radio contact every Sunday. Our Safety and Med team is at 35 with 8 nurses and 3 doctors volunteering and the rest on the safety side. I am one of 3 team leaders who oversee and mostly do safety side.
Our parking lot is typically manned with 5-7 people on radios and we have one detail police officer for traffic. We have not had enough coverage with our safety team to cover the parking lot too, mainly due to not enough people and many other areas in building to cover. I am working on improving that. Camera coverage is not wide enough in front of church but that is another cost issue like anywhere else.
I am retired federal agent and train the concealed carry guys. I do take note of a prior artcile about training with 6 rounds in 2 seconds..LOL. Our team plus many others in law enforcement now are not capable of that but that is another discussion since I am former firearms instructor for 24 years and have to now deal with training volunteers so we do what we can. Anyway- I appreciate your work and try to share as much info as I can to our safety team.
Dale Callan
We are a small church next to a large city park. These days security is mainly me and one other guy.
Most days I am the only one carrying. I normally arrive early and do a walkthrough of the building and grounds. We keep all doors locked except for the entrance which is in the rear. The entrance gets locked prior to the sermon. I sit in a spot where I can see the entrance have a view of everyone. I carry all the time even when I preach. there are a couple of men who assist me and as a Sherriff Chaplain I am known to local law
thanks for these updates
I was going to send you this tonight although you just posted it lol. Our ISP team sent me the official ISP statement shortly after it happened, because of the close proximity to our 2 churches.
That's great that they sent you something. Most agencies just stay silent.
Our team has 5 ISP members on it so as the team leader I'm in the loop lol. I can send you the press release if you want. I just am not going to post anything about it.
Our safety team consists of approximately 25 volunteers in our ministry. We employ 3 rings of security at a typical Mass: The parking lots, the narthex, and the sanctuary. The central Tx heat this time of year is somewhat relentless so we depend heavily on our parking lot security cameras manned by trained team members as well as foot patrols whenever possible.
Of course you can do ministry and safety! Ministry is who we are when we become Christians. Safety is what we do to protect our fellow believers.
Sadly our "new" security team director just leaned against a table through the whole service. Earlier I had asked him if he had checked out Christian Warrior, after a less than Christian look he informed me he had his own program. Now we're down to one but thankfully he stay's aware and moves around the parking lot and keeps an eye on traffic. I started our security team several years ago with 6 guards and one thing I did on a regular basis was get the guys together for training . A good friend who was head of Swat, now retired, came up and conducted a really strong training session that lasted thro' the day. Hostage situations and how to stop it...sadly some time back when a certain "president" was in charge, many of our officers retired early. I'm 80 but get so frustrated I've considered going back on security. We get hundreds of folks up at our beautiful mountain lake every summer. So far there's been no problems...so far.
There is a lot of gate keeping in the church security industry. It really takes me by surprise each time, since we are all here to serve the Lord and not our own self interests. Keep up the good fight. You did well over the years. Age is never a hindrance to joining the team. There is a spot for everyone. We need watchful eyes. Nehemiah 4:9.
Great Job guys, Keep up the good work.
The personnel at the front door that faces the parking lot watches there. The camera person in the command center watches all the parking lots. If we have a full staff , the roamer covers the parking.