If you follow the training of the Christian Security Network you already know one of things we stress, over and over again, is that statistically someone is more likely to die of a heart attack than a gunshot in a church.

The reason we stress this is because too many churches and ministries put too much emphasis on guns and active shooters; we believe there needs to be a balance struck in security and emergency planning.

However, we also make it very clear that a violence, or "active shooter", plan is one of the top five critical plans that every Christian organization must have in place, because we know from experience that these incidents do happen on a regular basis and will continue in the future.

After the shooting in Maryville Illinois on March 8, 2009, I was interviewed extensively by various media. And since that time I have had an opportunity to speak with people indirectly involved and some law enforcement to gain better insight. But as a general rule the one thing I never do is to second-guess what should or should not have been done or make comments on a tragic incident; I don't play  "Monday morning quarterback".

But it was ironic that this past week I would hear from someone who was not only there that day, but had responsibility for security, and then pick up a Christian magazine and read an account from someone else who was there.

Director of Security for Southeast Christian Church in Louisville Kentucky and CSN Advisory Board Member, Ron Aguiar and I spoke at a church security conference in Louisville this past week. We also had a chance to listen to some of the other speakers, but one in particular that caught our attention was Mr. Tommy Ishmael, who was the Security Program Director for First Baptist Church of Maryville Illinois at the time of the shooting, and present that morning.

I give Mr. Ishmael a lot of credit for coming forward and offering his account of that day; he was very candid about what occurred and some of the mistakes that were made - we all know hindsight is 20/20. But we also know that every incident is a learning experience and Mr. Ishmael gave his account so we all could learn.

I can't go into everything Mr. Ishmael spoke about because it really was a combination of his perception, actual timeline, shock, reaction, and aftermath, immediately and on going - there was a lot of information.

For me, there were several key factors I noted from his talk.

One, they did not have any type of armed team in place. They did have an "active shooter" plan, which puts them ahead of the curve, but it was mostly about locking down areas if something like this should ever occur.

Two, there was no security awareness about who belonged and who did not or how to approach this situation. The gunman came late to an early service. He was young, male, and alone. The church members did not know him and he went up the center isle, towards the Pastor, well into the service. Mr. Ishmael talks about the gunman walking right by him in the lobby and even taking a second look at the young man.

Three, after the shooting the chaos spread to all areas, there was a lack of coordination with first responders (police and EMS), lack of control of the media, and lack of planning for crisis counseling for the Pastor's family and the numerous witnesses. As Mr. Ishmael admitted, there was a lack of someone in charge, which should have probably been him, but he was involved with subduing the offender (who had wounded two others besides killing the Pastor), caring for the Pastor, caring for the wounded, etc.

Four, there was no post-incident plans. Mr. Ishmael said he remembers asking the police, well into the incident, if the church should be searched because there may be a second gunman. Securing the scene and doing this search should have probably been one of the first things done before anyone left the building or locked rooms.

So after the conference, when I got back to the office, I am going through the mail and see a copy of the August publication of Church Executive and on their cover is a story "When Violence Strikes The Church - The Maryville Church Incident".

The article was by Pastor John Harris, who was interviewing to become part of the Maryville church and was actually attending his first service when this incident occurred. His account is not so different than Mr. Ishmael's because he was not in the Sanctuary when the incident happened; he was actually going to the Children's classrooms with another Pastor when the gunshots rang out.

Pastor Harris makes some interesting observations that have not really been made public before.

He states in the article regarding the morning of the shooting,  "There was no security staff on campus" (although Mr. Ishmael's position was "Security Program Director" and he was present). Pastor Harris goes on to state "Security was an issue that the church had recognized as a need to be addressed, but it never made it to the top of the list; there was always too much going on."

This is what I consider a typical statement of many churches; it is always something that can wait, until an incident occurs, then it is too late. As we always say, there is no tomorrow in implementing security and emergency plans.

However there is a very troubling statement that Pastor Harris makes in the article that makes me think he really doesn't understand security in a church setting, even after this tragic incident.

Pastor Harris states (regarding the shooting), "...but the reality is, there simply isn't anything reasonable a church can do that would stop something like this from happening."

What?

This is probably the worst message for a Pastor to give to other churches.

There is always something that could have been done and maybe the Pastor thinks many security measures are not "reasonable".

As I said in the beginning, I don't play "Monday morning quarterback", but when people that were directly involved with an incident go public and start talking about the incident, I feel you can start looking at what happened and learn from them.

Regarding the Maryville incident, here are some things to consider off the top of my head.

Illinois is not a Concealed Carry state and this offender was wearing a .45 caliber handgun in a holster (not a small weapon), two magazines, and a knife on his waist. So just by observation in the parking lot or lobby, maybe someone trained could have noticed the bulges under his coat? Also, people wearing weapons often display certain behaviors and movements giving indication they are armed.

Also, in most churches the very early morning churchgoers are elderly, because younger people with kids usually go to the later service and young people just don't like getting up early most of the time. I am not saying it doesn't happen, but it is a "red flag" - did the shooter "fit in" with what was going on?

We talk over and over again in our training about having staff or volunteers, armed or unarmed, off-duty police or trained personnel, dedicated to the security responsibility of observing people and their behavior, starting in the parking lots, then at the doors, then in the lobby and lastly in the Sanctuary - you create layers.

Maybe if someone in the parking lot or lobby approached the young man, shook his hand and engaged in conversation, they would have noticed behavioral signs that would have indicated he was mentally disturbed and was there to kill people.

So to say there was nothing that could have been done in this instance, I disagree.

And I don't believe anything I stated above, as an active security measure, is unreasonable in any church setting.

Train people, create layers, watch behavior, approach and make contact; sometimes that is all it takes to stop an incident.

Security is never 100%, but stating nothing could be done in an instance like the one in Maryville is a defeatist attitude.

I don't believe God wants people like Pastor Winters to be killed while doing the Lord's work here on earth, any more than He wanted the other 11 victims of homicide in churches last year to be killed.

The Bible tells us to be wise, foresee danger, and plan ahead; not once, but three times in Proverbs.

Every incident is a learning experience, however if we are not learning the correct lessons, than it is truly a tragedy.

In Christ,

Jeff Hawkins

Executive Director