Up Your Arsenal?

This weekend there was another church shooting, this one was at the Unitarian Church in Knoxville, TN. (read about it here). There was another church shooting in Colorado last December that made major headlines and others that maybe didn't get as much press in 2007.

Is it just me or is this happening more and more and should churches now have armed guards protecting their members? I don't think there is an easy answer to that one but I do believe every church needs to have some kind of a plan. If your church doesn’t have a security plan that addresses threats of violence, it’s time to get one. No church is immune from being a target. Yours could be chosen simply because it’s a large place where people gather.

In many ways, the process is identical to creating a disaster response plan for weather-related events. You assess your situation, determine how to respond, and practice what to do if it happens. Brotherhood Mutual is an insurance company we used when I was senior pastor in Kansas. They've got some info here on how to form a plan to protect your church, I'd highly recommend reading it and passing it on to other church leaders.

The truth is we need to be concerned about the upswing of violence taking place in churches.
Any creative suggestions on how we can make our church a safer place?