A man dressed in black walked into a Utah sacrament meeting carrying a revolver, sat down in the lobby with his hand on the gun, and waited while the entire building evacuated around him.
I am the security team. It's a small church in Mission Viejo. After one of our longtime members was murdered while visiting a nearby church with his mother, the pastor asked me if, as former law enforcement (not retired and it was 40 years ago before I went to law school) I had a carry permit and asked me to carry at church and keep an eye on things. I've carried ever since. Once I was driving our pastor to do a podcast way up in Modesto, we stopped at a Starbucks and I bought him coffee. He said he felt like the president because he had armed security and didn't have to pay for anything! LOL
Some on our safety team are armed, indicated via a subtle difference in garb. Non-team members with a CCW (of which we have several) are welcome, but asked to self-identify so they aren't mistaken in an emergency. The team carries radios, and there's also a radio and a way to block the door in each classroom.
This article provides sound advice and a warning to every church/ synagogue. I will do my best to send it on. I certainly do not know the leadership or security teams of any church since I am confined to home. What I will do is send it on to friends who are members of various churches/synagogues and urgently ask them to please pass the email newsletter along to their respective leadership. One Canadian friend did pass it along to her pastor and they took moderate action. Hopefully this warning (and I am thankful that no one was hurt) will convince others of the valid threats we are facing. I tell people..".this is not a Netflix movie one can sit back and watch. This is reality". I am always reminded of the conditions and mindsets that preceded the genocide of the Jewish community in Nazi Germany. Warnings did reach the Jewish community, while there was still time to escape. Many Jewish and Christian individuals correctly read the mood of the country, took heed and escaped in time. I read that Germany was considered "THE most civilized nation on earth!" consequently very few suspected that such barbarity and cruelty could occur. Once the Holocaust "officially" took hold, millions were trapped and escape was impossible. I dont think that many in America are correctly "reading" the signs of the times or taking heed to the developing mood of the nation. God bless your ministry.
I am the security team. It's a small church in Mission Viejo. After one of our longtime members was murdered while visiting a nearby church with his mother, the pastor asked me if, as former law enforcement (not retired and it was 40 years ago before I went to law school) I had a carry permit and asked me to carry at church and keep an eye on things. I've carried ever since. Once I was driving our pastor to do a podcast way up in Modesto, we stopped at a Starbucks and I bought him coffee. He said he felt like the president because he had armed security and didn't have to pay for anything! LOL
Some on our safety team are armed, indicated via a subtle difference in garb. Non-team members with a CCW (of which we have several) are welcome, but asked to self-identify so they aren't mistaken in an emergency. The team carries radios, and there's also a radio and a way to block the door in each classroom.
This article provides sound advice and a warning to every church/ synagogue. I will do my best to send it on. I certainly do not know the leadership or security teams of any church since I am confined to home. What I will do is send it on to friends who are members of various churches/synagogues and urgently ask them to please pass the email newsletter along to their respective leadership. One Canadian friend did pass it along to her pastor and they took moderate action. Hopefully this warning (and I am thankful that no one was hurt) will convince others of the valid threats we are facing. I tell people..".this is not a Netflix movie one can sit back and watch. This is reality". I am always reminded of the conditions and mindsets that preceded the genocide of the Jewish community in Nazi Germany. Warnings did reach the Jewish community, while there was still time to escape. Many Jewish and Christian individuals correctly read the mood of the country, took heed and escaped in time. I read that Germany was considered "THE most civilized nation on earth!" consequently very few suspected that such barbarity and cruelty could occur. Once the Holocaust "officially" took hold, millions were trapped and escape was impossible. I dont think that many in America are correctly "reading" the signs of the times or taking heed to the developing mood of the nation. God bless your ministry.