You hear the term "best practices" used a lot in the business world.

There is, in fact, no real definition for "best practice"; it is a term that is very loosely defined and used differently in different contexts, depending what area you are speaking about.

The best definition I could find comes from the website Business Dictionary (www.businessdictionary.com). They define "best practice" as follows:

"Methods and techniques that have consistently shown results superior than those achieved with other means, and which are used as benchmarks to strive for. There is, however, no practice that is best for everyone or in every situation, and no best practice remains best for very long as people keep on finding better ways of doing things."

That said, establishing "best practices" are important in establishing that baseline in which to compare what you and others are doing.

In most industries, there are security, safety, and emergency planning "best practices". Security professionals learned long ago that establishing "best practices" puts your operations in-line with others doing the same thing, reduces liability because you are doing what is recognized by other professionals as "the best", and leaves room to surpass the standard and rise above.

Usually "best practices" come from industry associations or organizations dedicated to a specific industry. Sometimes it is established by the insurance industry, and sometimes government will dictate what is "best practice' by setting laws and regulations. But regardless it is those practices that are widely accepted as simply the best.

Unfortunately in the church security world we don't enjoy a set of "best practices" - yet.

There are many conversations that are taking place within the church security world to establish "best practices". The problem is that there really isn't an "industry representative" for church security. The Christian Security Network is not that organization and neither is any other similar organization, even though some may think they are setting "best practices" for Christian churches and ministries.

Remember, for something to be a "best practice", it has to be widely accepted and shown to have results that are superior.

As I said the good news is there are groups of professionals and organizations that are addressing "best practices" as it relates to security and emergency planning for Christian churches and ministries.

And it really is good news to many of you out there because it will eliminate much of the baseless advice that floats around, adding confusion and steering church leaders in the wrong direction, it will provide guidance as to how and where to proceed with programs and plans, and lastly it will give a bit of a push to those who do nothing because they can no longer state that they just didn't know what to do because there were no "best practices".

Much of the "best practices" will come from knowledge already accepted as "best practices" in other industries. Many principles of security, safety, and emergency planning are transferable from industry to industry. So some practices such as training, security measures, emergency plans, etc. may be exactly as accepted in industries such as education, banking, hospitality, and cultural properties.

Security, safety, and emergency planning for the Christian community is new as a profession, but one that is over due given the incident rates that churches and ministries in the United States experience.

This is not a quick process and one that usually requires much review and debate and further review, but the end result is worth it, and one that will benefit the overall safety of the Christian community.

In Christ,
Jeff Hawkins
Executive Director