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And have greeters or ushers open doors for people?If you lock them down, at what time is that? At the beginning? Before?

We are looking into getting a security camera set up where an usher/doorman can see who’s coming, and buzz them in if they appear safe. This would work to keep a guy carrying a rifle (or who otherwise looks suspicious) out. If someone were to visit our church with a concealed weapon or with a bomb hidden on his person, I don’t know exactly how you can prevent that, realistically.

One thing I have been quite surprised at is that some of our oldest members have gotten offended at the very idea of organizing an armed, trained security team from among our congregation. “Why can’t we just trust God? We don’t need guns! Where is our faith?”, they say. One lady even said last Sunday during testimony time, “We don’t need guns! The LORD will take care of us!”The fact is, our state is open carry, people can obtain a concealed carry license, and guns are not forbidden by state law on church campuses. (If a church wants to be a ‘gun free’ zone, they can do that if they want to, but I definitely am opposed to making us into a ‘come shoot us’ zone).

We have several law enforcement officers who carry during our services.Also, there are others who are armed and capable of handling any situation.One of our members is the training officer for the Sherriff's department.We have armed escort for the Children's Church kids.Closed circuit cameras cover all entrances.If I shout lie down my folks know to fall over on the pew. Charles A. HutchinsSenior Pastor SPWCCongregational Church of Godwww.spwc.church

How about Beware of snakes?

How about Beware of snakes?

Homestead has a large military population, and as such there has been a fair amount of discussion on church security since the event in Texas. My message to the people that have asked me questions is that we will do whatever is REASONABLE to insure the safety of the people in the church. I do also remind them that people dying for their faith in Jesus Christ is nothing new. For me, locking the church doors isn't reasonable. We have taken/are taking measures to insure that our congregants are safe, but locking doors to the church sends a very clear message that we are afraid and that we are unsure about anyone that we don't know.

We lock all doors except the front after sunday school is over. We have a separate building for S.S. classes and lock it completely when it's over. Once church starts the only way inside our church is through the front doors where a uniformed police officer can see anyone entering. They are posted at the stairs so they also have to go by them to get to our children's area. The nursery is locked completely with push-bars to exit in an emergency.

I thought it was against the law to lock doors in a public place while it's in use, unless it has the panic release doors. This would be hazardous if there was a fire More of Him...less of me.twitter.com/camiracle77www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name

Our security team has at least four people on duty at each of our two Sunday services. We have 5-7 people who are carrying a gun in every service; they are asked to sign in. We have 16 cameras that are monitoring each classroom, hallway, and entrance. One security guy is monitoring the cameras at all times. One of our armed men stands next to me every Sunday as I shake hands at the main door. This is all for church services.During the week, we have all doors locked and to get in, a person must press an intercom button and when they do a camera comes on and records them and I can see them. Either I or my secretary can buzz them in.For us this is not overkill. We are in a small town of 60,000, but three years ago we had a man park on the lot and sit in his truck for nine minutes (the tape later revealed). I noticed him and watched him. After 9 minutes, he got out of his truck, pulled a hoodie over his head, and came to the door. As he reached for the door handle he saw the camera focused on him. He turned, ran, and got away. We have also had two sex offenders come to our church, but people knew who they were so we monitored them via camera until police could be notified.