What’s next in your church security?

Posted by Charles "Chuck" Chadwick, Jr. on April 01, 2018

What’s next in your church security?

Depend on where you are in the process. Are you looking at Church Security as a Project or a Program?

Let’s look at the difference between the two.

In short, a Project is something you undertake, accomplish and are ready to move to another Project. A Program is what happens to the Project when it is put in place and operational. The Program is an evolving series of processes.
 
Strand One – Polices and Procedures:
In the case of Church Security, the Project of developing Polices and Procedures (P&P) should be the first step. This document will be modified as time passes and changes become necessary. Thus the Program element that keeps evolving. It dozen’t have to be perfect or makes plans for every conceivable emergency, just the basics. But don’t over promise and under deliver. Make the basics first , then you can expand.
 
Strand Two – Human Resources:
After setting up the Policies and Procedures (P&P) you move onto selecting selecting the Human Resources (HR) you need to implement the P&P.  Among those HR are Parkers, Greeters, Ushers, Children’s workers and Security Team. Initial team selection takes place, initial training and then implementation completes the process. As time passes families move in and out of the church and the Program element maintains the required HR to staff the P&P.
 
This strand has the most demand for Program elements, especially for the Security Team. Not to be-little any ministry, we have to admit that there is more need for regular training in the security ministry than the typical ministry. The Gatekeeper ministry is not just a “get trained, certified and licensed” once in a lifetime like the License To Carry in most states. The Project elements such as types of training, i.e. Defensive Tactics, Firearms, Force-on-force, etc. are the standards you set that should remain somewhat constant so that you can benchmark your performance to track performance. Not to say you should do anything different in training.
 
Strand Three- System and Tools:
The Project phase of setting up a security ministry is the equipment buying phase. Priorities must be set. Is is better to get several cheap things that will do for now or get one big dependable thing?
A list might be: 2-way Radios, Video Surveillance, Access Control. The Program phase with equipment is the maintenance of the systems.
 
Like I said at first ……. What’s next in your church security?

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We want to call your attention to our regional seminars and national conference dates and locations. These educational opportunities are an excellent opportunity to hear from some of the greatest minds in the world of church security.
 
Our next One Day “Three Strands of Church Security™” seminar is June 9, 2018 – New Life Church, Colorado Springs, CO.
This one day seminar doesn’t spend the day trying to convince you of the need; it defines the threat and gives you the “How To” of a Church Security program methodology we have developed for over a decade and implemented in hundreds of churches.
 
Our next national conference will be our 14^th Annual National Church Security Conference, August 3-4, 2018 at Grace Church, Frisco, TX.
This two day conference brings our attendees training from professional in diverse areas of Church Security.
 
I hope to see you there!
 

Highest Regards and God Bless,

Chuck Chadwick
President
NOCSSM

Tags: human resources, policy, procedures, systems, tools, three strands of church security