Al-Qaeda and ISIS have targeted churches worldwide, often on major Christian holidays. U.S. intelligence warns it could happen here. Learn what history tells us and how churches can prepare.
A heavy topic, but so needed. I love how you pair vigilance with hope — and the reminder that preparation is wisdom, not fear. Thank you for the clarity and courage you bring.
One of the ways that we prepare is by having me subscribe to Keith! We are staying informed. We have armed training twice a year that's mandatory and we have armed training with a SWAT instructor which is required for every member if they want to be a part of the team. That course is called Essential Critical Handgun Training. Many of us have taken that class repeatedly because it is good training to repeat. . We have scenario training where we have brought in our local city police force to help run us through scenarios. We have stop the bleed classes, also a course to retake because you don't have muscle memory for this! We have informed our ushers and greeters that they are an extension of our safety team because they are eyes on everyone also. We have hired a professional organization to help us write up a manual on our disaster plans. We are aware of the judicial aftermath. We applied for and received a grant and the first three things we are buying are new cameras with greater outside coverage, the glazing for the glass windows and the manual. We have been called upon by other churches in the area To help them set up A team, because we are the largest team and we have become known as one of the best trained teams. I think one of the critical issues for any team is to be cognizant that you don't know everything. And then until a situation actually occurs you truly don't know how well you have prepared and how well you will handle that situation. Which means, we continually learn and practice and practice and practice what we learn. CB
"Day of Wrath" by William Forstchen describes a coordinated attack on multiple schools in different cities.
Targets can also be multiple churches.
Sara Adams has spoken about three shipments of suicide vests that have been brought across the border by Cartel smugglers. They cannot be detected by a metal scanner only. These can be used to bring terror to large groups of people or even bring down passenger aircraft.
What one thing is in common? This will be done with an audience of news helicopters and live news reporting.
None of these terrorists plan on surviving the event. There is no successful method to arrest a suicide bomber.
Michael, turning this discussion into a negative political put down of our President is wrong and counterproductive. Car jackers and gang bangers kill people just as dead as terrorists. Taking these criminals off the streets is every bit as important as working to improve church security. Church security and street security are not an “either/or” concern. Both are life and death serious. Safety on our streets is every bit as urgent and important as the safety of our ministries. I would be negligent in my duty to my family if I didn’t consider their safety and our home security. I very strongly believe that Churches (and Church Leaders!) are negligent to their congregation if they are not doing everything they can to consider and promote security. Negligence can result in death, damage, and Legal Liability
If the previous administration had not flung open our borders FOR A POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT AND ILLEGAL MOTIVE and allowed in millions of unvetted aliens from all over the world, the threat level would not be at the insane level it is now. So let’s get that straight from the start. As a result of the actions of the previous administration we have no idea who came here and where they are now. It is not the federal governments job to provide physical security for individual churches. That is the personal responsibility of church leadership and congregation members working with local law enforcement (Michael, I suggest you go back to the article and double the font size and read it again).
The federal government is doing its job of finding and deporting illegal aliens among which the criminal elements and those motivated to carry out the very acts this article warns about hide, move and exist. Also if the political leadership of certain large cities would do their primary responsibility of protecting American citizens rather than their criminal and illegal alien elements roperating within their jurisdictions then the present administration would not have to expend its resources to quell local lawlessness on the street AND in the city halls of those certain cities. *As I write this a mass shooter dressed in all black has attacked a church in Minnesota.*
If readers want to know just how bad the situation created by the previous administration is I suggest Sarah Adams @TPAsarah on x.com.
I didn’t make this political. The Democrat Party politicized this problem in the last administration for political advantage. Nowadays every thing has been politicized from immigration to sexual/gender identity to gay marriage to sexual mutilation of children to academia just to mention a few. Anything the government gets its grubby nose into and/or hands on becomes political. When one party creates a massive problem like we have with immigration, people who were supportive of the creation of said problem don’t get to criticize and obstruct unchallenged those tasked by the voters with cleaning up the mess. That includes this situation with church security. I agree with Keith Graves in his video on the horrific attack on the Catholic Church/school today that it occurred in a city and state with politics and politicians directly responsible for the violence. Chastising someone for stating the truth about a politically motivated mess is IMO akin to telling them to sit down and shut up and not identify the problem’s source so accountability can be fixed for some very dreadful actions by politicians. Every place is more than appropriate for the truth!
Again, this is not the place for political discourse. However, I agree Federal Agencies should not have to be so involved with the duties that state and local governments have ignored for so many years. Admittedly, I know little about politics but I am knowledgeable from decades of security & investigative training, licensing, & experience. It’s important that we stop politicizing Church Security and concentrate on protecting our Churches and Church families.
A heavy topic, but so needed. I love how you pair vigilance with hope — and the reminder that preparation is wisdom, not fear. Thank you for the clarity and courage you bring.
One of the ways that we prepare is by having me subscribe to Keith! We are staying informed. We have armed training twice a year that's mandatory and we have armed training with a SWAT instructor which is required for every member if they want to be a part of the team. That course is called Essential Critical Handgun Training. Many of us have taken that class repeatedly because it is good training to repeat. . We have scenario training where we have brought in our local city police force to help run us through scenarios. We have stop the bleed classes, also a course to retake because you don't have muscle memory for this! We have informed our ushers and greeters that they are an extension of our safety team because they are eyes on everyone also. We have hired a professional organization to help us write up a manual on our disaster plans. We are aware of the judicial aftermath. We applied for and received a grant and the first three things we are buying are new cameras with greater outside coverage, the glazing for the glass windows and the manual. We have been called upon by other churches in the area To help them set up A team, because we are the largest team and we have become known as one of the best trained teams. I think one of the critical issues for any team is to be cognizant that you don't know everything. And then until a situation actually occurs you truly don't know how well you have prepared and how well you will handle that situation. Which means, we continually learn and practice and practice and practice what we learn. CB
"Day of Wrath" by William Forstchen describes a coordinated attack on multiple schools in different cities.
Targets can also be multiple churches.
Sara Adams has spoken about three shipments of suicide vests that have been brought across the border by Cartel smugglers. They cannot be detected by a metal scanner only. These can be used to bring terror to large groups of people or even bring down passenger aircraft.
What one thing is in common? This will be done with an audience of news helicopters and live news reporting.
None of these terrorists plan on surviving the event. There is no successful method to arrest a suicide bomber.
Well written.
Truth is best but not always what we like.
Do the best first with yourself & home.
Perhaps our Our Church will listen.
Michael, turning this discussion into a negative political put down of our President is wrong and counterproductive. Car jackers and gang bangers kill people just as dead as terrorists. Taking these criminals off the streets is every bit as important as working to improve church security. Church security and street security are not an “either/or” concern. Both are life and death serious. Safety on our streets is every bit as urgent and important as the safety of our ministries. I would be negligent in my duty to my family if I didn’t consider their safety and our home security. I very strongly believe that Churches (and Church Leaders!) are negligent to their congregation if they are not doing everything they can to consider and promote security. Negligence can result in death, damage, and Legal Liability
Agree
If the previous administration had not flung open our borders FOR A POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT AND ILLEGAL MOTIVE and allowed in millions of unvetted aliens from all over the world, the threat level would not be at the insane level it is now. So let’s get that straight from the start. As a result of the actions of the previous administration we have no idea who came here and where they are now. It is not the federal governments job to provide physical security for individual churches. That is the personal responsibility of church leadership and congregation members working with local law enforcement (Michael, I suggest you go back to the article and double the font size and read it again).
The federal government is doing its job of finding and deporting illegal aliens among which the criminal elements and those motivated to carry out the very acts this article warns about hide, move and exist. Also if the political leadership of certain large cities would do their primary responsibility of protecting American citizens rather than their criminal and illegal alien elements roperating within their jurisdictions then the present administration would not have to expend its resources to quell local lawlessness on the street AND in the city halls of those certain cities. *As I write this a mass shooter dressed in all black has attacked a church in Minnesota.*
If readers want to know just how bad the situation created by the previous administration is I suggest Sarah Adams @TPAsarah on x.com.
I didn’t make this political. The Democrat Party politicized this problem in the last administration for political advantage. Nowadays every thing has been politicized from immigration to sexual/gender identity to gay marriage to sexual mutilation of children to academia just to mention a few. Anything the government gets its grubby nose into and/or hands on becomes political. When one party creates a massive problem like we have with immigration, people who were supportive of the creation of said problem don’t get to criticize and obstruct unchallenged those tasked by the voters with cleaning up the mess. That includes this situation with church security. I agree with Keith Graves in his video on the horrific attack on the Catholic Church/school today that it occurred in a city and state with politics and politicians directly responsible for the violence. Chastising someone for stating the truth about a politically motivated mess is IMO akin to telling them to sit down and shut up and not identify the problem’s source so accountability can be fixed for some very dreadful actions by politicians. Every place is more than appropriate for the truth!
Again, this is not the place for political discourse. However, I agree Federal Agencies should not have to be so involved with the duties that state and local governments have ignored for so many years. Admittedly, I know little about politics but I am knowledgeable from decades of security & investigative training, licensing, & experience. It’s important that we stop politicizing Church Security and concentrate on protecting our Churches and Church families.