Protecting The Flock
Criminal attacks, child predators, active shooters and organized terrorists threaten houses of worship!
There was a time in the recent past when our nation’s church security issues were not given much thought because we didn’t need to. Doors remained unlocked for the most part and parishioners or others in need of prayer, meditative and reflective time in the church sanctuary were welcome. This was particularly true in our rural environments and still may be true in some areas, albeit to a much lesser degree than ever before.
This all began to change with the late 1960s “God is Dead” Vietnam protest movement, the revocation of the right of prayer in the classroom, and a liberal media antipathy towards religion. What we saw next was the regular vandalizing of church and cemeteries (also once believed to be sacred ground), thefts from churches, vandalism and other desecrations to church property. From the ‘70s, to the 21st century, the trend continued and exacerbated.
Criminals now view the church as any other business operation—full of items to steal and helpless people. Recently churches in the US have begun to respond to some of the four major threat areas, although most of the responses, are weak in comparison to what is needed.
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