In this episode we are going to discuss different options for armed security for your church.

Those 4 options include; Off-duty or previously employed and trained law enforcement personnel. Your own personnel or Internal Security Staff, Contracted outside security officers, and the concealed carrying members of the congregation.

The first option for discuss is a great option. The people with the best training and most current knowledge for armed security options would be any of the already attending law enforcement officers to your services.

The next option for discussion is having your own security staff or volunteers internally. This option is certainly one that you can track and control more, especially with maintaining a balance between the ministry and the security operation. When you take on this option however keep in mind you take on the regulations, the screening, supervision, training and all of the liability.

The next option for you to consider is hiring an outside security officer or guard. Using an outside professional security guard company provides several benefits. First, you certainly would want to do your homework in looking for a reputable security officer company. After that it takes some of the liability off of you or certainly provides a layer of protection for you, the church leadership and the church.

The last option I want to briefly discuss is relying on those people in your congregation who might be lawfully carrying concealed weapons. I have heard ministry leaders talk about this option and consider it to be a valid option. Not knowing who you have in your congregation, I certainly do not want to immediately write this option off but I do want to make sure and discuss a couple of items. The first is the biggest issue for me. Most people who get concealed weapons permits or are allowed to carry firearms at church by law, certainly like to talk about taking action and stopping violent offenders, but my concern is their actual ability to take this action safely. Most of these folks, use their firearms in the course of getting their carrying permit or at some point they have practiced. However, how long has it been since they have actually fired that gun? I propose to you that many to most people who carry a firearm within the guidelines of the law have not shot the firearm in many many months to many years. That is frightening to me.

Training Topic for this episode

For our training discussion in this episode I just want to share a brief thought with you about tracking the training you do with your staff, security persons, ushers or anyone else. Documenting by filing training paperwork or using a sign up roster during the training session or documenting it in an excel file is something you need to think about soon, if you have not already. You will see at different times I will put briefing training papers or resources out on the website at churchsecurityanswerman.com, for example in the show notes attached to episode 3 of this podcast on churchsecurityanswerman.com I attached a sheet which you can download to discuss with your people. The discussion is about a factual situation that occurred at one church, it was a man playing his guitar, during service and refusing to stop. The training sheet has a discussion question after you read the incident, it is designed to challenge discussion for you and your people.