With the recent tragedy at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, many area churches are reevaluating — and in some cases increasing — security measures to protect citizens as they worship.
While attacks are generally geographically isolated, they have occurred in almost every state in recent years.
Churches simply are not “sacred” to those who commit crimes at churches or at off-site, church-sponsored activities. Crimes ranging from car burglaries and auto theft during services to arson and facility break-ins after regular church hours are becoming common. Apart from larcenies and arsons, armed assailants are now what churches are most concerned with, particularly in light of recent church shootings.
“We are willing to go to individual churches and look at the church and tell them where security needs to be as far as how many points of entry and how many locked doors a church may have during the service,” said Attala County Sheriff Tim Nail.
“You don’t want an individual (with bad intent) to have access into that church from 10 different directions.”
Nail said reducing points of entry is key to security.
“During services, there should be only one way into the church. Changing locking systems on the doors where someone can go out but not come in would make a big difference in security,” he said. “He said the Sheriff’s office can also help with training of church leaders.
“We will also offer and recommend firearms training from certified instructors to those who will be in charge of church security, as well,” he said.
Leaders of most local churches say they are keeping security as discreet as possible to avoid affecting the worship experience of their congregations. Visible and/or armed security guards are not what the churches want. Several said they have church members who are legally armed, but keep their weapons out of sight.
“It is sad that we are having this discussion,” said one local pastor. “The church shooting in Texas has again pushed church security to the forefront. This church has so many similarities to our local churches because they were Southern Baptist and small in number. They were good, rural people who only wanted to worship and grow closer to Jesus Christ.”
According to the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, there are several crime prevention basics that all citizens need to know.
First is to stop denying there is a crime threat.
Other measures recommended by the board are to form a security committee, plan to prevent incidents, deter and avoid crime and to establish a guardian program.
A guardian program is designed around the features of individual churches and those charged with protecting them, training leaders in how to deal with different, real-world scenarios.
The late Charles L. Quarles, professor emeritus of criminal justice and homeland security at the University of Mississippi and co-author of the book “Crime Prevention for Houses of Worship,” said that a warm, welcoming environment can actually help deter crimes against congregations. “A cold-hearted church that does not recognize nor greet visitors (indeed, the members don’t even speak to their visitors) is like a magnet to a criminal,” he wrote. “Warm-hearted, caring churches are crime-resistant by their very nature, but even a warm-hearted church needs a viable security and safety plan.”
Nail said it is up to each individual church to decide whether or not to take up any security measures recommended by his department.
“We will not train a whole church, and I believe they (churches) need to appoint only two or three people for their security detail,” said Nail. “No one really needs to know who the security team is and no weapons need to be visible.”
Local pastors are keenly aware violence can occur at any church in Attala County and that no people nor places are immune to the type of tragedies that can be perpetrated by individuals intent on inflicting harm on the innocent.
“This is just another reminder of Satan and the evil that is all around us. It is sad, but our church has been implementing security measures for months and we continue to make changes on an ongoing basis,” said the pastor. “Doing all we know from a human perspective at times seems so little, but we have got to get back to seeking God and sharing he Gospel of Jesus Christ. A relationship with Jesus is the only thing that can change a heart.”
