T. D. Jakes to Host Conference on “Church Security”
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Mon, January 29, 2007
- Viewed 160
- (3) comments so far
“Churches were once a safe place, filled primarily with warm and loving people,” Bishop Jakes writes. Now, however, churches have to worry about hate crimes, terrorism, arson, corruption, theft, injuries, assaults, insurance claims, legal liability…
TAGS: Church Security, Church Conferences
SOURCE: Dallas News Religion Blog… Read more here.
FOR DISCUSSION: T. D. might be on to something here. Security in churches in this day and age is something that we really need to look at. What has your church done differently in regards to security in the last two years? How do you protect your children, your pastor, your attenders?
Bishop T.D. Jakes and the Potter’s House security department are presenting the third annual S.T.O.P.P.E.D. (Security Training Offering Procedure Protection Education and Direction) Conference, a four-day gathering to teach pastors and others how to deal “with the hidden and open threats the growing megachurches in our country face on a daily basis.”
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I_am_not on Mon, January 29, 2007
To my knowledge, our church has not taken any new measures re: security. We are not a mega-church, but that doesn’t mean risks aren’t there. I believe our Children’s leader implemented some type of child/parent identification system last year, but I’m not sure if it’s being enforced 100%. I know we cannot eliminate all risks, but there are some simple things we can do (yes, that may be inconvenient) to mitigate risk as much as possible.
David S. on Mon, February 05, 2007
I have two comments here - at the church my In-Laws attend in an affluent Illinois suburb of St. Louis the church has people “patrol” the parking lot during services because too many cars were being broken into during church. So, volunteers rotate the weeks that they watch the parking lot during morning, evening and on Wednesday night.
The second comment is a bit “grisly” but it fits right in. My brother recently graduated from the police academy. During the ceremony as the keynote address was being given, the graduates were being addressed about their “new life” as a police officer - meaning that even when they are “off duty” they are really still “on duty.” The story was told of a police officer who wore his gun everywhere he went (concealed). The only place he did not wear it was church, as he did not feel comfortable wearing a gun (concealed or not) in church. Then, one Sunday morning during church, a man walked into the church and during the sermon, he pulled out a semi-automatic weapon, and proceeded to shoot as many people as he could. The officer could have ended this tragedy if he had been armed as he normally was. I don’t recall how many people were killed, but the shooting was in the national newscasts that evening.
I know that this is one of the “horror stories” and an unusual event and some might consider this an extreme example, but it happened - and as we’ve seen with the school shootings, it can happen anywhere. Case in point: Erwin Lutzer of Moody Memorial Church in Chicago receives an average of 2 death threats a week. The church provides him with personal bodyguards. Security is an essential in this day.
Security, even armed security, might not be a comfortable thought - especially in a church - but it can be accomplished discreetly and in some cases even without the entire congregation knowing it’s there. While many on this board sometimes take issue with Jakes theology and practices, I agree with Todd, he’s on to something here.
Insurance reviews on Thu, September 02, 2010
Showing just the quantity would be reckless without discussing the quality of the claims - but I guess that what “document"aries have become now. Find anecdotes and comment on them instead.
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