| Galatians 6:10 |
| "... doing good for all believers... " |
| 06/22/09 - Church Security: lifting the “veil” |
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I spoke at a Pastor’s conference last week in Chicago at the Fundamentalist Baptist Fellowship International annual meeting (besides conducting two seminars in different parts of the country – a hectic week!). The FBFI was a great conference where I was privileged enough to do two workshops on the “Three Levels of Risks Christian Organizations Face”. In between my talks and during the rest of the day I had many opportunities to speak with Pastors from all over the country and those serving in different parts of the world. One Pastor in particular told me how much he appreciated what the Christian Security Network was doing and how my talk was like “lifting a veil that is in front of them” that shields them from the topics of risks and threats that face the Christian church. I thought that was a great analogy because it shows what we have found through people from churches who feel there is a need for their church to be better prepared, yet it doesn’t seem like their Pastor “gets it”. In fact last week we received another typical e-mail from a Christian man in the Midwest who, in part, stated “My current church refuses to acknowledge the need for a security plan. It's in a higher income suburb of (city name withheld) and has the mindset that bad things just don't happen there. Because this mindset is rather frustrating, how could I find churches in the (city name withheld) area that take security seriously?” But as this Pastor stated, there is so much that they try to do in leading their churches and ministries, that they are often so far removed from all the other things they don’t even understand or have never had to address before, like security and emergency planning. He also stated (quite accurately) that the other half of this issue and that is that this is “new territory” for law enforcement and security people who may have worked in other industries before, but the “church world” is new to them and many don’t seem to understand the challenges the church leader faces. And he is correct; I experienced this myself. Even after almost 25 years in law enforcement and security, when I became Chief Security Officer for a Christian Ministry and I began travelling around the country and even different parts of the world, I had to quickly learn this whole new arena of risks and threats. In line with this, I also received a telephone call last week from a current veteran police officer that stated that it wasn’t until he worked on a violent crime, which recently occurred in a church that he realized there was much that he did not understand. He is taking it upon himself to become better educated on the topic, so he contacted the Christian Security Network. All of this takes time and will develop slowly but I do believe the Christian community and its leaders will begin to address security and emergency planning as a regular part of church operations. Someone who was in one of our seminars in Charlotte last week told me that it has taken him 8 years to develop and implement security and emergency plans for his church, but he has accomplished what he set out to do, despite the pretty long time frame. The key is that we all have to continue to work together: Christian leaders, congregation, and security and law enforcement personnel. One day we may all be able to state the great words of Paul the Apostle “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” 2 Timothy 4:7 Hang in there and spread the word! In Christ, Jeff Hawkins Executive Director |
