| Zechariah 9:8 |
"But I will defend my house against marauding forces. Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch." |
| 09/21/09 - Church Security: learning new things in California |
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This week several CSN Advisory Board Members and I will be attending the ASIS International annual security conference in Anaheim California. For those of you that are not familiar with ASIS, it is the single largest trade group for security professionals and has been around for over 50 years and 22.000 security, law enforcement, and military professionals attend the annual conference. I have had the privilege of being a member for over 20 years and for the past 6 years have served in a voluntary leadership position. This week will be exciting for several reasons. First, for all of you, it is a great opportunity for us to see some of the emerging trends in security and emergency planning. We will spend hours listening and speaking with other professionals in the industry that will broaden our knowledge and let us see what is out there that may benefit the Christian community. It keeps us on top of our game so you know we are bringing what is new and valuable to you and your organization. Risks and threats are forever changing and security needs to be very dynamic in its approach to eliminate them - it is a continual learning process, no matter how long you have been in the field. Second, I will be speaking at the conference this year on security for faith based organizations. I have spoken for several years at this conference, and this will be only the second time addressing security for religious organizations. So this is a good chance to spread the word even more the need for security resources for the Christian community. And the last reason this will be a great conference is that ASIS International has allowed a group to form, under their Council structure, dedicated specifically to Faith Based Organizations. This group will be comprised of cultural and security professionals from various religions including Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Mormon. The goal of this Committee will be multi-faceted, but among the initiatives will be to share information, experiences, and best practices so that we are all aware of what others in this country and abroad are facing. I have the honor of heading this group this year and next and several of the CSN Advisory Board Members will be serving on this Committee also, including Mr. Don Knox and Mr. Scott Watson, both highly regarded security professionals in their own right. I am sure we will all learn from each other in years to come for the benefit of all people who wish to worship in peace. Hopefully next week I can bring you some exciting insights and discoveries from what we are doing this week. In Christ, Jeff Hawkins Executive Director |
