This blog is directly oriented towards the prospective church or church members, who would like to start their own “in-house” security plan.
Statistically, violence against churches is at an all-time high. Within the past few years, we have seen some notable attacks such as at the Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas and the attack in White Settlement, Texas. According to the Family Research Council (FRC), there have been 915 acts of hostility since 2018 and 2023, and 436 in 2022 alone. This indicates a serious trend that must be taken seriously. This also poses a problem that exceeds the proactive protection capabilities of law enforcement. Many churches recognize this and have or are developing their own security plan, which includes the use of armed church members.
My first recommendation is that you develop a policy within the church committee allowing for the security team. Many churches may have a general policy, but in my opinion the plan should be specific and oriented to the purpose and procedures, as well as the selection, training and role of the members. Within the policy and procedure, the church should also establish ancillary roles and personnel to assist with issues such as medical, evacuation, re-unification, communication, etc. This should be handled from a “team” concept or model and have a hierarchy of command. It’s also important to speak with an administrator who is familiar with the insurance coverage, covering all personnel in their specific roles.
Since the average church has a service one or two days a week, plans must be made accordingly and we must consider all groups, not just those in the sanctuary. The security group must be able to provide protection for all areas and all sections of the church. Since the typical church service would include, the elderly, the disabled, children in a pre-school, a youth group, a musical group such as a choir organist or band and maybe even a group cooking a meal, all of these must be accounted for and integration into the security plan.
For training purposes, I reference a shooting at West Freeway Church of Christ near White Settlement, Texas that occurred in December 2019. In this incident, a transient man was able to enter the church during a service and after a brief encounter, shot and killed two people. He in turn was shot and killed by an armed “security” parishioner. The incident captures some good things but some not so good things. Two innocent lives taken is two too many. Though the church cited that it did have security personnel in place, some more thought and training should have gone into the security training and plan. The suspect should never have been allowed to enter the building, let alone sit in the sanctuary with other parishioners. There are several videos of the incident available online, and the incident itself only lasts a few moments. This photo demonstrates the incident just after the shooting of the gunman. .
The photo depicts all of the armed security officers who have drawn their handguns, indicated by the circles. The gunman is located on the aisle between the two windows, he had just been shot by an armed church security officer and cannot be seen. This in itself poses a training issue; how do you follow up with a downed adversary? What we see in this photo is a potential for crossfire, and 7 armed parishioners all reacting to the threat, with muzzles in all different directions, with some church parishioners intermingled: not good. The photo is not detailed enough to depict trigger finger location, but it would be interesting to see.
In the actual video you’ll see another problem that could have been worked out through a firearm training session. A “plain-clothes” security officer who tried to outdraw the gunman, was shot and killed by the gunman. The gunman had his shotgun already presented. The church security officer allows “Tombstone Courage” to guide him, and didn’t consider that trying to outdraw an already drawn gun (a pump-action shotgun) could never be won and was a horrible idea. It cost him his life. Live fire training as a group may have made him aware of this concept and prevented this tragedy.
Unfortunately, the church security “team” allowed this gunman to be in the sanctuary, even though he was acting and dressed suspiciously. This failure could have been identified through simple conversation or pre-planning. Any security should plan for and incorporate “rings of security” or borders of security, to include physical security, electronic security, mechanical security and armed security personnel (the last line of defense and the last resort). These can be identified through analysis and training.
Minimally, the church security team should have met for training, on BOTH the range and church facility. Start with basic firearm training and then identify those who are willing to commit to training to a higher level. Identify those who have the ability to think critically. Create plans and then test them. Identify the problems and shortcomings, correct them and then hone your training, skill sets and techniques. If you are a member of a church security team, please bring these issues to light and we’re always willing and ready to help.