What is a Church Safety Team?

A Church Safety Team is a group of church members called to minister to the flock. They are a vital asset. Members of this ministry are members and regular attendees of the church, are able to perform the functions of the team without physical limitation and be people of good character, honesty and integrity. They improve the church daily by streamlining processes, improving visitor experiences and increasing overall safety for everyone on the property.

The name Church Safety Team is two teams under one umbrella: a safety team and a medical team.

Ideally, fill these teams with people with experience in related fields. Look for congregants with backgrounds in law enforcement, armed forces experience or professional security. Their training and experience in access control, patrol techniques, emergency response and perimeter control is invaluable. The medical team, on the other hand, is best served by those with medical, first aid and similar training. Team members will be trained in CPR, use of automated external defibrillators and basic first aid.

Volunteers are not required to have these professional backgrounds but those with it are often given preference when seating the team.

Why Do We Need Church Safety Teams?

Carl Chin, a security consultant and Christian, has tracked church-related violence across the US in great detail. His work is more comprehensive than the oft-cited National Church Shooting Database, which only contains information from 1980-2005. Chinn has found:

From 2000-2017 there were more than 1500 “deadly force incidents” within churches across the US.

Chinn looked deeply at the data to figure out the causes. These triggers show the need for greater safety mechanisms in churches as the root of many of the problems are personal and stem from congregants.

• Over 200 were domestic violence situations.
• Over 150 were personal conflicts between two or more people not from the same household.

Nearly:

• 400 of these incidents were related to area crime: robbery, drugs, gangs.
• 100 stemmed from bias against a specific religion.
• 150 were related to mental illness.
• 200 were labeled as random.

No community is free from domestic violence, drugs, or mental illness. A safety team is the first line of defense of mitigating these risks.