A topic on everyone's minds after the recent school shooting in Florida, along with the church shooting in Texas, is simply that of safety. While it's not a topic we enjoy or want to think about, with our society devolving into chaos, it's one that must be discussed. My friend, Travis Ludvigsen, a fire marshal from Loudoun County is my guest to discuss safety and training in a church setting. Travis is passionate about ministry and is a disciple maker at our church. He is as genuine as they come. He shares practically some things you need to be thinking through when it comes to keeping your people, families and kids safe at your church.

Highlights |

1. Top priority should be safety for your families and kids.
2. Your team leaders and volunteers need to know the safety plan. 
3. We must plan and train for "What if" situations.
4. Look for someone in your church with public safety experience already to help build a plan and help with training.
5. Deescalation (verbal judo) is one of the first priorities you need in place. Not every situation needs a "hammer."
6. Talk to the school or theater you meet in to ask what current safety procedures are already in place. 
7. Buy high quality, walkie-talkies, so that you can communicate between concrete walls and long hallways.
8. Use of force is the absolute last resort.
9. The ultimate goal in an active shooter situation is simply to save lives.
10. David didn't use other people's armor or equipment to take down Goliath. He used what he knew and had trained with. Your safety plans must be contextualized to your setting!
11. You must know the current laws in your area regarding safety procedures so that you are operating inside the law and are protected in case something does happen.

Travis isn't big into social media, but if you want to follow him on Twitter, you can do that right here. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to him.

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I send a weekly email called "Stan's Field Notes" on Friday mornings full of great content from around the web. I include a ministry leader you should be following on social media. And I throw in some other fun stuff along the way like Starbucks gift cards so you can get a cup of coffee in the morning. You can subscribe at stanrodda.com and I'll throw in my eBook for FREE as my way of saying, "Thanks."