On June 17th, 2015, a group of 15 men, woman, and children met at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina for a Bible study class. When they met, they found that a newcomer had dropped in. For about an hour the young man sat and participated in the class, before eventually pulling out a weapon, began to shout racial slurs, and eventually opened fire on the group. 9 were killed, and 5 others were injured.
I thought about this and the Community of St. James that I serve at. As someone who works in law enforcement, I have the privilege of carrying a firearm off duty. For a brief moment, I though that I would be able to stop such a thing. But soon I gave some thoughts to the fact that I carry my firearms in an inside-the-pant holster in my waistband. Over which is my cassock. Over that is my alb. Around that is a cincture. And over that is a stole. By the time I got my fairly ridiculous fancy dresses off to even reach my gun, I and everyone around me would likely be dead.
This is not, unfortunately, the first attack on a church. In fact, they're more common than one would think. Shootings, bombings, and other attacks on churches and other religious buildings are on the rise.
Its easy to think that churches in the ISM community would be immune to this, either for reasons of small congregations or just being obscure, but frankly it would be foolish to truly think that this sort of thing could never happen to our community. Ours, much like any other community, is just as likely to attract someone who happens to be disturbed and in need of help. Most ISM churches are very small, but the Charleston attack happened during a very small class. In fact, it may have been chosen specifically for its size where he would likely face fewer people who could try and intervene (rather than during the church's Sunday service with far more people).
The ISM community, just like mainstream churches, need to give some thought to emergency planning. Take into account that some ISM churches actually meet in private homes, where strangers may enter to a place where our families are, and this is even more apparent.
I'm certainly not about to advocate that everyone start packing and turn your average mass into a scene from the Boondock Saints, but some common sense security protocols are easy to implement.
Have a safety and security meeting. Discuss plans for certain members to be the ones to call 911 immediately when someone starts to act in a manner in which you feel they may become a danger to themselves and others. Have a drill to practice evacuations, not only for security reasons, but safety as well. Candles, incense, flowing robes, and altar linens are a recipe for greater risk of fires. Make sure you have a fire extinguisher for obvious reasons, and that people know where it is and that its accessible.
Make sure exits are marked, accessible, and easy to find. You never want to put something in front of the door for convenient storage only to find out later that you now have a mother and baby who can't get around your giant stack of hymnal books that you were going to find a place for some other time.
Know your congregants. Anyone who has ever gone to a bar that has newly opened will discover that after the doors first open all the people who have acted up and been banned from other taverns will flock to the new one. People who are difficult, stalkerish, and/or just plain nuts may look for new church communities after being tossed out of their previous environments. If your church happens to meet in a private home, try to have new potential members meet for a church "Coffee meeting" or brunch or something similar at a more public place before inviting strangers into your home.
Talk to your police and fire officials. Ask them about crimes in the area. Have there been a series of hate crimes, or burglaries to churches in the area? You may be able to have a police officer or firefighter come and give a presentation about what to do in an emergency. Fire departments frequently have first aid classes, or fire prevention presentations (often these are around Christmas time). See if your area has a neighborhood watch, perhaps invite one of them to speak, or better yet, join them at a meeting and see what they're working on.
Secure your stuff. In my job I am surrounded by criminals. One of the charges that I see quite often is Burglary to a Place of Worship. Churches tend to have very fancy candles, monstrances, stuff made of gold (or brass that looks like gold and is just as enticing), and often there is money lying around. At my old church money was just kind of kept lying in a box, which in my security-prone mindset I found maddening. Keep doors and cabinets locked. Have adequate lighting on the exterior. Even if you just go to a hardware store and get some solar powered lights. Having complex security systems is of course expensive, and things that are too expensive are just not very feasible in the ISM or small churches in general, but fortunately cell phone and internet based "local" security systems are available from distributors that are easy to install by yourself and don't cost and arm and a leg. The presence of a few door and window sensors along with a control panel on the wall and warning stickers (which you can get a wireless set with a couple sensors, a panel, and motion detector for roughly $200 if you shop around) may make a would-be burglar pick another place to target.
If you have a physical building, take a moment to think about who has keys. When was the last time you changed the locks? Have they ever been changed? How many copies of those keys have you passed out over the years to people who have quit, died, or moved away? Who had copies before you moved in? Do you have renters? Are you a renter, and wonder how many people can let themselves in while you're in the middle of a service without you knowing?
Are you in the city? If so you've probably got a good chance that if you call 911 police, fire, or paramedics will show up fairly promptly. What about if you're rural? If you've got a volunteer fire dept. in your town, how long will it take for them to get there if there is in fact a shooting, or just a member with a heart attack. Does anyone in the clergy know CPR? Do you have an AED machine and/or know how to use one? First aid kit? Flashlights for power outages? If for some reason the EMTs can't get to you in time, do you know how to get to the hospital? Does your deacon? How about your subdeacon? (Subdeacons are fairly clueless aren't they?)
I'm giving consideration to writing a book about some basic security and safety procedures for small churches. If you have any questions anything else related to this subject, please let me know. I have 15 years of law enforcement and security experience, but that certainly doesn't mean that I know everything there is to know, so if you have any advice to share I encourage you to do it here, or one of the various ISM forums or groups online. Often we find ourselves squabbling with one another, but when a disaster strikes one of us, it strikes all of us. And when it comes to protecting ourselves we all need to work together in this, regardless of our denominational tendencies.
