It’s one of the most common questions I get from pastors, church leadership and volunteers. This short article will cover the basics on how to get started and how to use God’s resources effectively. Where are some basic questions you need to answer:
Your biggest asset is your church body. If you decide to use an asset-based approach, you will need to determine when and where your people gather.
Active shooters, accidents, medical emergencies, and criminal activity. All of these incidents fall into specific threat categories (what you are protecting the church against). Take a historical look at what’s happened at your church in the past 3- 5 years to determine which threat categories to be concerned with.
If you attend an aging church where the average age of the congregation is 60+, you probably need to know where the AEDs are located, as well as what to do if there’s a medical emergency. Do you have plan for calling 911? Who makes contact with EMS once they arrive? If you don’t have a plan, get one.
How many volunteers are needed to get the job done every Sunday? What equipment do you need? What training should the volunteers be required to complete? Sit down with other volunteers and talk through this process. You may have internal resources that can assist with the training and with acquiring equipment. Here’s the basics:
Equipment:
Training
Leadership needs to understand your concerns and what your plan of action will be. Let the church leaders know what you want to do and get their approval before implementing anything. This keeps unity in the church and prevents unexpected things from happening.
Answer these questions, meet with your local church leadership, and you’ll be well on your way to creating a good security team!
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