2019 The Year for Training: Beyond the Why and Moving to the How

For many churches in America today, they know why church safety and security is an important ministry for their church.  Churches are realizing that ignoring the facts regarding church security is negligent on their part.  Even as that is true, many churches are not sure how or what to do with the information.  I regularly talk with churches that wisely are asking for help to move them from the WHY to the HOW. 

Throughout the country there are many people that are focused on the armed response for something that is not highly likely to happen.  Yes, you prepare for it, but it should not be the focus.  People with the narrow view that their security focus needs to be on the armed response or that because they have concealed carry persons (I call certificate holders) in their congregation don’t truly understand what church security is about.  These churches are putting their “church” and church security as a whole in a huge liability situation. 

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I called church security a ministry right from the beginning for the specific reason, that we are called to minister to one another.  That the church is here for the hurting and the broken.  I truly believe that serving in the ministry of security is one of the most demanding ministries that the church has.  Someone who has a heart to serve in this capacity, to lay down their life in the protection of those coming to worship is an amazing call.  If done right, this ministry will require not only your time in serving but it will also demand time for continual training.  This is where many churches get hung up on where to go from the WHY and how to get to the HOW.

The odds are pretty good that there will be another Sutherland Springs TX type shooting at another church one day.  We are passionate about doing our best everyday to help ensure that this tragedy never happens.  We are committed to equipping churches to be prepared the best they can be so that the Gospel can continue to go out.  That there are men and women confidently trained to “stand on the wall” while the work of God is getting done. 

I know that not every church is on the same page when it comes to training in your community.  But, why not get these same churches on a much closer page together.  This is our goal this year.  To provide the best foundational training that can be provided for your community of churches.  Even if there are churches in your community that do not have a formal team for a variety of reasons, I have no doubt that there are people in those churches with the heart to serve in this capacity and are just wondering how they get equipped to do serve. 

Let’s look at what we are doing for 2019:

We currently have two new training videos with several more in production. 

We want to come to your community and hold a two day, hands on training and this is what it looks like.

• Free for the host church and their security team.  We just ask that they provide lunch on Saturday.
• We encourage vendor participation so that everyone knows what is offered in your community.
• A training guide will be provided for each attendee
• Friday Evening: A brief lesson on verbal de-escalation making sure to cover the necessary point to be used Saturday.
• Friday Evening:  A brief training on mental health issues and how to deal with them
• Friday Evening:  Additional small training on a variety of subjects or a guest speaker.
• Saturday:  Saturday kicks off with a brief overview of Friday night to get things fresh.
• Saturday:  Defensive Tactics will be taught.  This is a practical application should verbal skills fail, and the situation escalates.  We also teach how to properly remove someone from the service if that is necessary among other useful skills. 
• Saturday:  The remainder of our time will be running through a variety of scenarios so that everyone has an opportunity to practice what they have learned.  
• Saturday:  There will also be time to ask your questions and get answers from people that are passionate about making sure you are equipped to serve well. 
• Optional Saturday:  If there is time and depending on the facilities available to us, we may be able to do some training around an armed response.  This training is carefully coordinated with the host church long before the date of the conference. 

Honestly, times like this in a community of churches has been great fun, lots of laughter at ourselves and each other, and comradery is built as we try new skills.  You should walk away from one of our weekend trainings feeling better equipped to serve at your church.
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So, what are you waiting for?  Let us help you put a great training event together in your community.