The Church Safety Team

Welcome to a new subject for this blog - Church Safety.

Before getting deep into the subject, here is a brief summary of the author's qualifications for writing on this topic:

* Parking ministry team lead - 2 years.
* Safety Team ministry team lead - 5 years.
* Safety Team ministry assistant team lead - 2 years.
* 8+ years employed as a management level supervisor by various major corporations.
* Certified Tennessee Handgun Carry Permit Instructor.
* NRA Certified Instructor - Rifle, Pistol. 
* Professional Firearms Instructor - 5+ years.
* Black Belt Instructor - Jiu-jitsu & Karate
* Thousands of hours of professional training in armed and unarmed defense. 

This author was head of the Safety Team for Global Vision Bible Church and one of the inaugural members of said team.  Pastor Greg Locke (a personal friend) has one of the widest reaching online ministries on social media. 

One of the primary things a church safety team needs is a purpose. Keep the purpose simple and pertinent. The purpose of the church safety team needs to incorporate all of the following principles and add extra only as needed on a situation - dependent basis:
1. The church safety team is a ministry - to the members of the team, as well as to the church. 
2. The safety of the pastoral staff, VIP guests, children's ministry, and general congregation are of utmost importance. 
3. The safety team is not a security team.  There is a difference and every member of the team must be crystal clear on that difference. 

The foundation upon which the team is built is the team members.  Member selection is of the utmost priority.  Safety Team members must first be servants - those who wish to serve. Second, they must have the gift of protection - wanting to protect. Some church teams make the perilous mistake of thinking only military or law enforcement should be on a safety team.  Nothing could be further from the truth!

Here is a video by  Michael Mann Security detailing the myth that Safety Team members must be former military or law enforcement. On the video, Mr. Mann details his opinion that former law enforcement, in fact, make for terrible security and safety team members.  This author's experience is identical.  In the rare instance I ever had a Safety Team member who was former law enforcement,  it never ended well - there were always negative consequences.

So much was the case that if this author was helping a church set up a Safety team right now, it would be a strike against a prospective team member if they were former law enforcement. As a rule, they just do not have the right temperament for the job.

Certainly more coming soon on this topic.