Churches are very visible within our cultures and within our communities, and at certain times of the week a lot of our community members are all gathered in one location for our ministries. This adds to the idea that at times churches are easy targets which if attacked could affect a large part of our community. Most ministries also have an open door policy, you allow all people to attend your services and in fact are seeking out people often times who are already in crisis.

Some other things that add to the seriousness are that we live in a violent world, there are violent people out there that will harm you and today there seems to be less and less fear of consequences. As I eluded to earlier people like the notoriety they get from creating danger, damage and hurting people, in fact their goal often times is to hurt large numbers of people.

A lot of negative community emotions can be linked to these incidents the more people they affect. So I would propose even further that the better prepared you are the quicker the incident may be stopped, therefore causing less damage and/or death and destruction.

So what could possibly happen in our ministries or what could cause disruptions to our services that we need to be thinking about and preparing for, hear is just a list of a few items that I think are possibilities in many of our communities and our churches not just people issues but any event that could spell disaster for our ministries:

Intruders, Bomb Threats, Hostage Situations, Sniper Attacks, Assault, Domestic Violence, Sexual Attacks, Weapons possession, Child Abuse, Drug Abuse, Drug Trafficking, Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Floods, Fires, Kidnapping, Utilities Failing, Gang Violence, Accidents which cause injury or death, Illnesses spreading within our congregation, Hurricanes, Accidents in Church Vehicles including vans or buses. Incidents at Camps or Campouts.

Now when we are talking about the people created events, You might be asking yourself as you explore this idea of preparing mentally “why might someone want to harm you or your people or your ministry these days. The typical reasons from my experience and what I see in different criminal reports is

1. To get ahead somehow….whether it is to get something like satisfaction, money or revenge.

2. Some people just want to hurt, upset or cause problems for people.

3. Sometimes they have different believes that you do and want to press those beliefs on you.

4. Some people want notoriety for their actions…..they do not get satisfaction from other means and so they look to get some fame…..maybe as they prepare to leave this life by suicidal means.

So what can we do to prepare? Maybe we can only begin to add to our mental participation in this preparing for Violence or Emergencies in our Ministry. So what do we start with to get prepared or more prepared that when are today?

I believe we just need to begin to look at how would we respond to a crisis in our ministry?

First that is developing a simple plan for people related violence and other emergencies.

Next, I think about trying to put together a team…..that maybe you and another person or a couple of police officers or military people that attend your ministry regularly. What is the best team you can put together.

Next, we need to begin to identify likely incidents or likely threats. In Episode #3 we talked about the top 10 likely incidents which might occur within your ministry. So for this segment you can listen to that episode and think about the likely incidents that might cause you issues.

Next determine how you would like the response to be. As a ministry or security leader you will decide and relay how you want the response to go with each incident and I further reinforce this and say that it is important for you to share with your people whoever they are, how strong or low key you would like the response to each type of incident you perceive might occur.

Next I would recommend thinking about the impact these incidents might have on the ministry if they were to occur. Also the impact on the community. What things can you do to reassure the community or your congregation once something has occurred? This might be a community outreach opportunity as a positive note, if there is one in these situations.

Next what will we do to recover after a major incident. If it is a disaster or emergency what will we do for the short term with our ministry and then long term plans. Secondary meeting facilities might be a preplanning idea for recovery. Maybe identifying counseling resources within our ministry family to support those affected by violence.

Lastly we might consider how we cover the liability for these incidents…….insurance and other items that might come to mind…..such as preplanning, training and other things that help us to prepare in case there is liability that comes back on us.