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Christianity Today, October, 2009 |

Spotlight: Church Violence

The surge in church shootings is real.

posted 10/01/2009 09:59AM

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Related Elsewhere:

The Washington Post recently covered a string of church shootings.

Previous Christianity Today articles on church shootings and church life include:

Securing the Faithful | What New Life Church did right when a gunman showed up in its parking lot. (February 1, 2008)

Arming in the Aftermath | Shooting spree at two churches prompts pastors to rethink security plans. (January 21, 2008)

YWAM Director Describes Shooting, Forgiveness | Peter Warren discusses response of families and future impact on the program. (December 19, 2007)

Church Shooting Creates New Martyrs (October 25, 1999)

October 2009, Vol. 53, No. 10

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Chuck Chadwick

Posted: October 06, 2009 10:06 AM

Churches in American still have a long way to go as far as being proactive. It is people like Carl Chinn that give us a real perceptive of what is going on in churches across the nation. As the nation's leader in Church Security education The National Organization of Church Security and Safety Management (www.NOCSSM.org) still faces the challenges of instilling the sense of proactive urgency in many churches. The current economy has led many churches to even cut back their security efforts because of dwindling contributions as unemployment rises.

Ben	Posted: October 03, 2009 11:58 AM

Good article. I started a security team at our church in 2003 utilizing fellow police officers who attend weekly services. We all wear undercover communications/radios so we can keep updated in case of an emergency. 95% of our "calls" for service are for medical assistance (falls, chest pain dizziness etc..) but in the event of a wolf getting into our church, we rely first on God's protection, and our trainging second. We all know each other so there's no confusion as to who's who if the shooting starts. Be careful when well intentioned people pull out guns to "help". They may become victims of friendly-fire and their lack of combat training may lead to loss of innocent lives. May God protect us, give us the eyes to see evil and the wisdom to properly respond to this dangerous trend in our churches.

Original Anna

Posted: October 02, 2009 11:50 PM

I have been in many churches and have never seen a sign saying no guns posted on the entrance door. Maybe because we assume that people attending church have no weapons on them. Where do you people live. These creeps shooting up churches aren't even members of the church they attack 99% of the time. They don't even have a motive other than getting their moment in the media. Racial setting churches on fire and writing racial slurs on buildings occur more often than shoot-ups. We've had three such racial happenings in my city in the last ten years done by teenagers. Teenagers seem to love cemetary tombstones more than church buildings. In this country churches can concentrate on sinners and spreading the word as the law is darn good at catching those shooting up and damaging churches, it's not like in other countries where the law is incompetant about solving crimes against churches and even encourages the crime. As I sit in the back of Church, I'll remember the safety suggestions.

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