The National Organization of Church Security & Safety Management (NOCSSM™) will present its 17th Annual National Church Security Conference to be held at Watermark Community Church in Dallas, Texas on August 13th, 2022.

Every church has gone to a Church Security Seminar. The NOCSSM annual conference is more of a technical conference than a conference to recant old cases, try to convince the church to take up arms or to teach the newest choke hold. Each year we have new speakers and new subject matter to add to our attendee's security skill set.

FEATURED CONFERENCE SPEAKER:

DR. SEAN LAWLER | CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR | TACTICS/FIREARMS INSTRUCTOR AND TACTICAL MEDIC

Among this year’s advanced studies speakers is Dr. Sean Lawler. An overview of his presentation follows:

Increasingly, America's churches are being faced with threats never before experienced in our nation. These threats include deadly and indiscriminate violence against church members, threats to the lives of pastors, activist's protests against Biblical preaching on the sanctity of life and the unborn’ s right to their God-given natural right to life, the spread of viral disease, censorship of preaching and threats of branding certain Biblical messages as "hate speech," and the threats of civil fines and government-enforced closing of church doors. The responsibility for dealing with these threats falls upon the shoulders of pastoral staff members and their designated safety/security teams.

The idea of determining which elements may be controlled when most people feel like everything is out-of-control has been shown to be a crucial factor in both surviving acute violence as well as developing long-term resiliency for the survival of the Church Body. When we are faced with a life-threatening event, our brains operate on an "autopilot" behavioral mode and we experience numerous cognitive perceptual distortions as a result. These distortions will be discussed, as well as methods for training to overcome them. The body's internal stress response will be discussed, as well as methods to train to calm this response in order to react effectively during an emergency.

Additionally, Dr. Lawler believes that the current standard "Run, Hide, Fight" methodology for dealing with an active shooter attack is not the most effective model. Dr. Lawler has developed an alternative model based upon decades of research, one which he believes is more effective based upon the evidence and lessons learned from real case studies. Dr. Lawler bases this belief not only on research of case studies, but also on his personal conversations with numerous survivors and responders who were involved in nationally-known attacks, including Sandy Hook, Columbine, Virginia Tech, Wedgewood Baptist Church, and Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Dr. Lawler also bases his evidence on instruction received from his professor and doctoral committee member who is possibly the world's leading expert on the 2004 massacre at School Number 1 in Beslan, Russia, which is the world's deadliest school shooting attack. Training exercises must be realistic and scenario-based, and they should operate on this new model. We will discuss how to train and properly develop scenarios, as well as how to transition from an internal threat response to a more effective "challenge" response.

Equally important to preparing to disrupt and defeat an attack is the development of organizational resilience. Physically surviving a life-threatening event is not enough--one must also possess resilience for long-term psychological survival. The scientific literature has identified patterns and traits in the most resilient individuals--those who have survived war, sexual assault, and prisoner of war confinement. Currently, levels of clinical anxiety and depression are at epidemic levels--and our church pastors and security teams are not immune from this. Scientific evidence will be presented to show audience members how they can effectively combat anxiety and depression at every level. The spread of this knowledge is crucial, as it may prevent the next would-be active shooter from developing the depression which precedes a deadly attack.

Scott Stewart | Vice President of Intelligence | “Protective Intelligence”

This year we are privileged to have Scott Stewart – Vice President of Intelligence, TorchStone Global, LLC. TorchStone is the global leader in protective risk management in the secular world. I believe that the same principles can be applied to the “Church World” and be a valuable resource for preventing criminal incidents.

To that end we have reached out to our friend Scott Stewart to present at this years national conference. This type of “Protective Intelligence” program is an advanced subject and skill set. If you are serious about prevention his presentation is certainly worth your time.

Scott’s presentation will be on how a protective intelligence program can help church security become proactive and avoid or mitigate incidents, instead of just reacting to a crisis. Helping us understanding what “Protective Intelligence” is and then lay out step-by step how to set up a protective intelligence program for a church. Recourses such as social media monitoring, baseline threat assessments for facilities and high-profile pastors or visiting speakers, detecting hostile surveillance, assessing the threat posed by persons of interest, etc.

DATE: August 13, 2022 ONE DAY ONLY

LOCATION: WATERMARK CHURCH, 7540 LBJ Frwy., Dallas, Texas 75251

COST: $99 per person thru August 1, 2022 | At door registration $199 per person

EVENT: Registration begins at 7:30 am | Event starts at 8:30 - 5:00 pm

DOWNLOAD CONFERENCE FLYER HERE

Speakers this year will include:

• Chuck Chadwick - President and Founder of NOCSSM, Former Mega-church security director with over 4 decades of experience in Private Security and 2 decades in Church Security. Chuck heads the largest state licensed volunteer multi-church security force in America.

• Scott Stewart – VP of Tactical Analysis - Torchstone Global

• Dr. Sean Lawler – Tactical Firearms Instructor/Medic for a Federal Law Enforcement Agency.

• Matt McCarthy – Stop the Bleed

• Nate McDougall - Watermark Community Church Dallas

GOLD SPONSOR -

CHURCH SAFETY GUYS

We believe church safety and security begins with the church mission. Safety and security with your church or place of worship can be integrated ministry that complements the mission and vision of the church in your community. Our motto is "Ministry First, Engaged Leadership, Always Training". By emphasizing ministry mindset, church mission, discipleship, community and training, we can coach and guide your team through having a successful safety and security ministry. Through onsite training, Biblical resources and practical coaching sessions, we can help you problem solve, disciple, and engage your team to be a successful church ministry. CONTACT: Dr. James McGarvey, 

BRONZE SPONSOR -

EXHIBITORS -

• Custom Earpiece | Black Diamond Radio | Hosting Saturday morning coffee bar

EDUCATE

National Organization of Church Security & Safety Management (NOCSSM™) is a national non-profit organization of churches across the United States. We provide our members with educational resources to help them in their security efforts. Resources include our web site which includes written policy and procedure templates, best practices for church security and training videos from some of our national conference sessions of special interest to church security teams.

TRAIN

Christian Security Institute™ (CSI) is a security training company that provides church security teams with formal security training. Training classes are held at our facilities in the DFW, TX area.

SERVE

Gatekeepers Security Services™ is not your ordinary security guard company. We primarily offer our client churches the Gatekeeper Program™. On exception we undertake special projects for churches and other ministries.

The “Gatekeeper Program™” - Since 2006 Gatekeepers has helped churches put ARMED volunteers in their churches. Our

“Gatekeeper Program™” lays the liability at our doorstep. We train, certify, and license your volunteers to be Personal Protection Officers commissioned by the Texas Department of Public Safety – Private Security Bureau.

Assessments – We also do security program assessments. Our “Three Strands of Church Security” ™ methodology is a great tool to understand where your church is as far as security policies and procedures, security team and security systems standards.

Highest Regards and God Bless,

Chuck Chadwick
President, NOCSSM | Gatekeepers Security Services | Christian Security Institute
cchadwick@nocssm.org | (214) 305-5616 Office