New ISIS propaganda targets Christians and Western nations, highlighting renewed threats including vehicle attacks, sleeper cells, and anti-church rhetoric—critical intel for church security teams.
I am relatively new to our church Security Team (ST). I immediately began asking some "hard questions" of the Team and its leader... important things like training performed and planned, policies, protocols, and insurance/defense coverage (both for individual ministry volunteers in the church and for the church itself through the church's liability insurance policy), etc.
My concerns were many, as the ST was very disjointed and shockingly untrained. I finally asked our church's insurance broker for clarification on whether our ST members and our church had insurance coverage for defense and indemnification. Although not surprised, I was aghast to discover that neither our church nor the individual ST members would be "covered" if an event were to occur and ST members and/or the church were named in a lawsuit.
Commercial liability insurance policies are typically not allowed (by law) to defend criminal acts or omissions. Alleged negligence is "covered" for most activities that are church-related, BUT NOT FOR ACTS OR OMISSIONS RELATED TO A SECURITY TEAM.
THIS IS NOT A SALES PITCH... AS I HAVE NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN AOR, but I personally purchase defense legal representation through an attorney network called Attorneys on Retainer (AOR). They will defend me in BOTH criminal and civil cases. There is no indemnification through AOR. Indemnification is defined as compensation for losses, damages, or liabilities which may include legal fees (there are none with AOR), settlements, or direct damages.
If you are part of an official church Security Team, please be aware of this situation regarding insurance coverage. As an official ST member, if you decide to act (or not act) in a church-related situation, you are doing so at your own financial peril, particularly if you do not have "pre-paid" personal legal defense counsel arranged beforehand. You risk losing your personal assets in a bad civil judgment or in the case of huge legal bills in either a criminal or civil action against you. Your church also risks liability insurance cancellation and dire financial risk.
I am officially resigning from the Security Team now that this discovery has been revealed. Will I still carry concealed and act as a "Good Samaritan", if necessary? Absolutely!
In my live training sessions, I do addresses. Never rely on the church’s insurance plan to cover you. I have covered extensively, here, about the need for every security team member to have their own self defense protection coverage. You can look on here and see the research I’ve done on all of the companies.
In New York State, Governor H. (seemingly working for the "Dark side") fought the Federal SCOTUS NY Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen decision. The outcome of subsequent lower court actions were mixed. NYS won some points and lost some in the case. There continues to be a bit of understandable confusion regarding abilities and legal liabilities of church security teams right now. Insurance coverage is just one aspect. Tort liability exposure for the church and the individual members is palpable, as some insurance carriers do not specifically include nor exclude this coverage. Personally, my wife and I purchase attorney civil and criminal defense (only) through AOR. But again, there is no indemnification available through AOR to satisfy court civil judgments!
Have fun in Chino at the end of this month. We lived in the Inland Empire and High Desert out there for 35 years. Calvary Chino Hills is a great church, although we attended others further away. We do NOT miss Cali! It is overrun with many problems, all exacerbated and prolonged by extremely evil leadership at the State level.
May this blessing also be upon you Brother Keith!:
Most do not look down the road and at very real Liabilities, even when actions are justified. People and Churches Need to expect the Unexpected, especially in this new world of litigation we're living in.
If we had to use our weapon in self-defense or in defense of a third-party (at church or out in public), two things could happen to us personally... we are arrested and charged criminally AND we are sued in a civil matter. Defense costs alone in either case would bankrupt most of us!
Thank you. I really hope our people will start to Understand how Truly dangerous these times are for Churches, Our Families and especially Our children.
Thank you for giving us extremely good information and guidelines as to how We should proceed, I'm very appreciative.
My biggest concern is Outdoor Events that are in open areas. Most "Nice" Americans have never been out of Country and and understand these very real Dangers, and don't think it could happen here, or to Their Churches. It's that Lack of knowledge, or naivety that Our enemy is counting on!
I Pray more people will wake up and understand They Must take some responsibility to not Only protect themselves, but our most vulnerable.
I am relatively new to our church Security Team (ST). I immediately began asking some "hard questions" of the Team and its leader... important things like training performed and planned, policies, protocols, and insurance/defense coverage (both for individual ministry volunteers in the church and for the church itself through the church's liability insurance policy), etc.
My concerns were many, as the ST was very disjointed and shockingly untrained. I finally asked our church's insurance broker for clarification on whether our ST members and our church had insurance coverage for defense and indemnification. Although not surprised, I was aghast to discover that neither our church nor the individual ST members would be "covered" if an event were to occur and ST members and/or the church were named in a lawsuit.
Commercial liability insurance policies are typically not allowed (by law) to defend criminal acts or omissions. Alleged negligence is "covered" for most activities that are church-related, BUT NOT FOR ACTS OR OMISSIONS RELATED TO A SECURITY TEAM.
THIS IS NOT A SALES PITCH... AS I HAVE NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN AOR, but I personally purchase defense legal representation through an attorney network called Attorneys on Retainer (AOR). They will defend me in BOTH criminal and civil cases. There is no indemnification through AOR. Indemnification is defined as compensation for losses, damages, or liabilities which may include legal fees (there are none with AOR), settlements, or direct damages.
If you are part of an official church Security Team, please be aware of this situation regarding insurance coverage. As an official ST member, if you decide to act (or not act) in a church-related situation, you are doing so at your own financial peril, particularly if you do not have "pre-paid" personal legal defense counsel arranged beforehand. You risk losing your personal assets in a bad civil judgment or in the case of huge legal bills in either a criminal or civil action against you. Your church also risks liability insurance cancellation and dire financial risk.
I am officially resigning from the Security Team now that this discovery has been revealed. Will I still carry concealed and act as a "Good Samaritan", if necessary? Absolutely!
Keith Graves,
You have a great ministry. How do you incorporate and address this matter of insurance coverage in your training?
In my live training sessions, I do addresses. Never rely on the church’s insurance plan to cover you. I have covered extensively, here, about the need for every security team member to have their own self defense protection coverage. You can look on here and see the research I’ve done on all of the companies.
Keith,
Thank you for the reply!
In New York State, Governor H. (seemingly working for the "Dark side") fought the Federal SCOTUS NY Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen decision. The outcome of subsequent lower court actions were mixed. NYS won some points and lost some in the case. There continues to be a bit of understandable confusion regarding abilities and legal liabilities of church security teams right now. Insurance coverage is just one aspect. Tort liability exposure for the church and the individual members is palpable, as some insurance carriers do not specifically include nor exclude this coverage. Personally, my wife and I purchase attorney civil and criminal defense (only) through AOR. But again, there is no indemnification available through AOR to satisfy court civil judgments!
Have fun in Chino at the end of this month. We lived in the Inland Empire and High Desert out there for 35 years. Calvary Chino Hills is a great church, although we attended others further away. We do NOT miss Cali! It is overrun with many problems, all exacerbated and prolonged by extremely evil leadership at the State level.
May this blessing also be upon you Brother Keith!:
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” - Numbers 6
Andy
It sounds like you missed a great opportunity to actually help, three shade and quit.
Well Stated!
My goal is to make everyone aware of this potential "exposure" we might have a part of a "security team".
You Are correct.💯
Most do not look down the road and at very real Liabilities, even when actions are justified. People and Churches Need to expect the Unexpected, especially in this new world of litigation we're living in.
If we had to use our weapon in self-defense or in defense of a third-party (at church or out in public), two things could happen to us personally... we are arrested and charged criminally AND we are sued in a civil matter. Defense costs alone in either case would bankrupt most of us!
Thank you. I really hope our people will start to Understand how Truly dangerous these times are for Churches, Our Families and especially Our children.
Thank you for giving us extremely good information and guidelines as to how We should proceed, I'm very appreciative.
My biggest concern is Outdoor Events that are in open areas. Most "Nice" Americans have never been out of Country and and understand these very real Dangers, and don't think it could happen here, or to Their Churches. It's that Lack of knowledge, or naivety that Our enemy is counting on!
I Pray more people will wake up and understand They Must take some responsibility to not Only protect themselves, but our most vulnerable.
Thank you again for your Real World advice.
I just looked at info published on Secondcalldefense.org. They offer civil damages coverage up to $1,000,000!
I'm now going to do more research on them. My wife and I may be switching from AOR to Second Call Defense.