It was just after the horrible 1999 shooting at Wedge-wood Baptist Church in Ft. Worth, Texas, that killed seven and injured seven more. Another pastor, having heard about the tragedy, called me for advice, and almost as an afterthought mentioned, “Something like that couldn’t happen at our church.”
I asked why.
He calmly shared, “Because I told all of our members to start carrying their guns to church.”
I was speechless. I regrouped and said, “As a pastor, I’d be deeply concerned if I were preaching to a congregation that was armed.”
When I began as a church risk manager, I often felt frustrated by what I perceived as a lack of response from many churches. I had gone so far as to be publicly critical of church leaders that I described as “having their heads in the sand.” But now I found myself asking, “How much response is too much?” Now, with years of experience, I think I have a better grasp on the situation. Here’s what I’ve learned.
Getting Started Is the Best Approach
Once church leaders decide to become proactive in protecting ministries and people, often they aren’t sure where to start. I recommend that church leaders first gather information on church safety and security.
After an initial understanding of the topic, church leaders need to assemble a Safety and Security Team that can offer consistency, thoroughness, and good communication between leaders and congregants.
Keep Moving Forward
Only in rare cases have I seen a church go too far when it comes to church safety, security, and risk management—like the pastor who informed his congregation to come to services armed. In reality, the majority of churches have miles to go before they reach even a satisfactory level of security.
Moving forward and making progress is the key. Once you have assembled a team, a great place to start is to adopt a child protection policy. Then, prepare for emerging areas of concern for churches. For example, threats against church property, health scares, or an incident during a worship service. Or consider weather-related catastrophes and their aftermath. Emergency planning and preparation for situations like these and dozens of other hazards should be considered. Ministry protection is a process.
Refuse to Let Fear Prevail
Guard dogs and tough guys at the doors is not what the church is about. As people of faith, we don’t need to be held captive to fear. We should do whatever we can to protect the ministries and people we serve. But fear should not quash ministry.
As a leader, ask yourself the question, “Is there a way to do this ministry safer than we have been?” Then be ready to handle the worst by responding with your best, and trust God completely. If you take that approach, at the end of the day you will be able to say with confidence that you did all that you could to protect people and preserve the ministry.
See Safety as Stewardship
What a privilege it is to be entrusted by God to oversee his flock. But with that great privilege comes great responsibility. Just as the shepherd is concerned about saving the one lost sheep (Luke 15), we also need to protect those people, resources, facilities, and ministries entrusted to our care. To me, that’s good and faithful stewardship. How can we do anything less?
As each generation has discovered since the beginning of Christianity, challenges and threats to the faith have always risen. But we continue to move ahead with trust and confidence despite those. Why? Because we serve an amazing God and we have the body of believers with us.
Adapted from the Your Church Safety Alert training guide “Church Safety 101.”
