And have greeters or ushers open doors for people?If you lock them down, at what time is that? At the beginning? Before?
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And have greeters or ushers open doors for people?If you lock them down, at what time is that? At the beginning? Before?
We are looking into getting a security camera set up where an usher/doorman can see who’s coming, and buzz them in if they appear safe. This would work to keep a guy carrying a rifle (or who otherwise looks suspicious) out. If someone were to visit our church with a concealed weapon or with a bomb hidden on his person, I don’t know exactly how you can prevent that, realistically.
One thing I have been quite surprised at is that some of our oldest members have gotten offended at the very idea of organizing an armed, trained security team from among our congregation. “Why can’t we just trust God? We don’t need guns! Where is our faith?â€, they say. One lady even said last Sunday during testimony time, “We don’t need guns! The LORD will take care of us!â€The fact is, our state is open carry, people can obtain a concealed carry license, and guns are not forbidden by state law on church campuses. (If a church wants to be a ‘gun free’ zone, they can do that if they want to, but I definitely am opposed to making us into a ‘come shoot us’ zone).
We have several law enforcement officers who carry during our services.Also, there are others who are armed and capable of handling any situation.One of our members is the training officer for the Sherriff’s department.We have armed escort for the Children’s Church kids.Closed circuit cameras cover all entrances.If I shout lie down my folks know to fall over on the pew.________________Charles A. HutchinsSenior Pastor SPWCCongregational Church of Godwww.spwc.church
How about Beware of snakes? ________________
How about Beware of snakes?
Homestead has a large military population, and as such there has been a fair amount of discussion on church security since the event in Texas. My message to the people that have asked me questions is that we will do whatever is REASONABLE to insure the safety of the people in the church. I do also remind them that people dying for their faith in Jesus Christ is nothing new. For me, locking the church doors isn’t reasonable. We have taken/are taking measures to insure that our congregants are safe, but locking doors to the church sends a very clear message that we are afraid and that we are unsure about anyone that we don’t know.
We lock all doors except the front after sunday school is over. We have a separate building for S.S. classes and lock it completely when it’s over. Once church starts the only way inside our church is through the front doors where a uniformed police officer can see anyone entering. They are posted at the stairs so they also have to go by them to get to our children’s area. The nursery is locked completely with push-bars to exit in an emergency.
I thought it was against the law to lock doors in a public place while it’s in use, unless it has the panic release doors. This would be hazardous if there was a fire________________More of Him…less of me.twitter.com/camiracle77www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name
Our security team has at least four people on duty at each of our two Sunday services. We have 5-7 people who are carrying a gun in every service; they are asked to sign in. We have 16 cameras that are monitoring each classroom, hallway, and entrance. One security guy is monitoring the cameras at all times. One of our armed men stands next to me every Sunday as I shake hands at the main door. This is all for church services.During the week, we have all doors locked and to get in, a person must press an intercom button and when they do a camera comes on and records them and I can see them. Either I or my secretary can buzz them in.For us this is not overkill. We are in a small town of 60,000, but three years ago we had a man park on the lot and sit in his truck for nine minutes (the tape later revealed). I noticed him and watched him. After 9 minutes, he got out of his truck, pulled a hoodie over his head, and came to the door. As he reached for the door handle he saw the camera focused on him. He turned, ran, and got away. We have also had two sex offenders come to our church, but people knew who they were so we monitored them via camera until police could be notified.
Did you see the interview of the pastor and his wife (not sure of the network) of the church in Texas?He said, they had an active shooter plan and several of the members had concealed carry permits, including himself.He said, the Sunday of the shooting, none of the members with concealed carry permits were in church, including himself.I feel there is a rush to make churches armed-camps in which members (and pastors) know more about concealed carry laws and guns then they do about living as a child of the King.We will become what we focus on, and if we are not careful we will think it is God’s will to amass an arsenal equal to the Branch Davidian. Marksmanship is no substitute for the Holy Spirit. Should you carry and have an accidental discharge at church, hitting and perhaps killing someone (a child), you will destroy you church, your ministry and the lives of the family effected. You become what you feared.When I was 13 years old, I was accidentally shot in the leg by a friend. He carries a .22 rifle and as the adult with us was setting targets, my friend loaded a .22 short and put the rifle under his arm. He turn to talk to me and as he did the rifle discharged (he did not think he had his finger on the trigger). The bullet passed through the calf of my right leg and did not hit bone or artery (Praise the Lord). They had to take turns carrying me out of the woods. They took me to Bradley County Hospital there in Cleveland. It just so happened our family doctor (Dr. Proffit) was there and he took me into the ER exam room. First he cleaned the wound (both sides) with a probe, you have to get out the cloth carried in by the bullet. He check the flow of blood (they had put a tourniquet on my leg – belts) and bleeding was light. He then sterilized the wounds by pouring alcohol in both sides – entrance and exit wounds (by this time I was crying for my mother and thought I was going to pass out or throw-up). After he bandage me up and had some x-rays taken, he told me to get up and walk – which, due the pain, I could not.Now, in retrospective that was not much of a gunshot wound, but when young adults show off their tattoos I show them my gunshot wounds and tell them to go get something their grandmother does not already have. But if you pastor shoot a child accidentally in church, I’m not sure you will ever be redeemable.
Since our state (NM) is an open carry state, and since churches are not ‘gun free zones’ here, either, we are in the process of organizing those who do wish to carry concealed in our services. Firearm safety is definitely of utmost importance. Better to be as well prepared as possible. I do not have the money or interest in becoming an armed camp like the Branch Davidians definitely were. If I recall correctly, they had an incredible number of firearms, including something like 300 assault rifles and even had machine guns.
Locked doors?
Because we are people of faith, does that mean we are to disengage our brains and throw out common sense? Just wondering. If we follow this line of thinking (have faith – don’t lock doors, don’t have security teams, don’t have cameras), then we should continue with that philosophy. Don’t wear seat belts, don’t obey speed limits, don’t take medicine, don’t duck when the bullets start flying etc.
believe God will provide one when you are flat…or do you speak to your tires before driving?
If security is the goal at church than the drive to and from church, along with the dangers of your children being in the proximity of sex offenders is a much higher risk than a active shooter event.Yes, we should take precautions – background checks, policy regarding the interactions of men and women (now-a-days maybe men with men, etc), adults and children, handling money – and yes, a security plan. The issue to me is the willingness to introduce pistols into a crowded church in the hands of people who have no more training than a Concealed Carry Permit.Even trained police officers have been know to expend every round in the magazine (upwards of 15) at close range and not hit the suspect with all of them (sometimes the suspect does not even have a gun). Are we really wanting to have untrained people in the church ready to fire on someone with a gun who is firing at them? I will make this point, what did Jesus say about those who harm children? If in the process of defending the church, one of my rounds was to find its way to a child, I’m not sure there would be redemption for me. Much like drinking and driving, when you carry a pistol you choose to carry deadly force. There is no accidental death when a drunk driver kills someone, and their is no accidental death when you fire your weapon in a crowd. I feel you better hit your target and only your target, lest you wear the millstone.
It is obviously impossible to totally prevent all possible evil (not even God himself can do that). But for what it’s worth, we do keep up with who the sex offenders are that live in our little town.
If just ONE such person had been in the church in Texas, Charleston, etc., think a the lives that coulda been saved. Even the US Army has collateral damage when engaging the enemy. Given the above and the alternative of a shooter masacerin folk, bring the CCP’s in.