“The allegations illustrate the difficult decisions churches increasingly face when a congregant’s behavior escalates from concerning to threatening — questions about when to bar someone from church property, involve law enforcement, and protect worshippers while maintaining a welcoming environment.” - MinistryWatch
“Under U.S. law, churches are private property, even when open to the public for worship. Property owners—including churches—retain the right to set rules for conduct on their premises and to remove individuals who violate those rules.” - TGC
“While it won’t do us any good to play Chicken Little and recap the struggles experienced the world over since 2017, we have to be prepared for the new (and repeat) emergencies that will inevitably occur.” - C.Leaders
“Houses of worship will need to apply by May 21 to tap into the first round of funds.” - ABC
“The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, an arm of Homeland Security, works with faith groups across the country to help them prepare for and prevent targeted violence against their facilities and their members.” - RNS
“4 in 5 U.S. Protestant pastors say their church has some type of security measure in place, according to a study from Lifeway Research. Yet more than 1 in 6 (17%) say they don’t use any of the seven potential measures included in the study.” - C.Index
Editor’s note: This article is Reposted from FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, November 2022, and is written with law enforcement readers in mind. It is reproduced here because much of the information is also of use to church leaders evaluating their security arrangements.
By Royce Stephens
“The council, consisting of clergy from Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh faiths, will assist the department in evaluating the effectiveness of security-related programs.” - RNS
“In the U.S., FBI hate crime statistics show that incidents in churches, synagogues, temples and mosques increased 34.8% between 2014 and 2018.” - BPNews
“As a former security manager, concealed weapons instructor, and church planter, I’ve found seven principles help me think carefully about these important questions.” - TGC
