Robbery In A Church - Really?

Last Sunday morning at St James Church in Montclair, NJ, a man walked into the room where the offering was being counted, grabbed a handful of cash and ran from the building.  The Usher counting the offering chased the suspect but he got away.

Are you protecting your offering?  Do you have robbery prevention procedures in place?  Do your Ushers know what to do if a robbery occurs?  How about transporting the deposit to the bank on Monday? Are you following a pattern that can be figured out by a potential robber? Proper Robbery Prevention and Post Robbery Procedures Training is something that needs to be done even though most churches believe that it won't happen to them.  

A robbery can occur at anytime and your Ushers need to be prepared just in case.  Always ensure that there are a minimum of two people handling the offering at all times.  If a robbery occurs, don't be a hero. Give the robber what he wants and let him go.  Call 911 and let the police deal with it.  Safety and prevention is the key.  Don't make yourself an easy target.

For more information on this and other risk management topics check out my website at www.trinityriskmanagement.com or email me at keith@trinityriskmanagement.com.

Proper Training is a Must

With Summer coming on strong comes opportunities for your childrens and youth workers to take the kids on outings.  Hiking, camping, canoeing, swimming, summer camps and other fun activities.  One of the things that we taught leaders in Royal Rangers was that kids want to have memories of things that are fun, not nightmares of things that can go wrong.  Do you have the right leaders in place?  If so, are they properly trained?  Can they handle emergency situations that may arise on an outing?  Do they know how to properly plan outings?  Do they seek advice and assistance from people who are experts in their field?

I can not express enough the importance of training for volunteers and staff members who work with our kids.  I have seen what can happen when workers are not properly trained and how devastating it can be to a child when something goes wrong or how a life can be taken so quickly and how it affects all who are involved.  I was on the Board of Directors of a church that lost a child in a drowning accident.  It devastating to all who were involved.  It also almost ruined the church itself.  Do not underestimate the damage that can occur when your youth and childrens leaders are not properly trained.  Make sure that all of your youth and childrens volunteers and staff members get the training and guidance that they need to minister to kids and how to have fun safely.  Remember it only takes a few seconds for a fun outing to turn into a nightmare for the kids and the adults involved.

Is It Biblical to Have A Church Security Team?

“But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.”

Nehemiah 4:7–9

The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.

Acts 4:1

If the Israelites saw the need for protecting Jerusalem and even the Temple, why shouldn't we in today's world see the need to protect our churches?  In Acts you read about the Temple Guard.  Even the Jews had a church security team.  

In the last 18 months there have been 12 child abductions from church facilities in the U.S. and there have been 6 pastors killed, not to mention the number of incidents of vandalism and robberies on church property.  As Christians we are not failing by having a Church Security Team, we are protecting what God has given us.  We are literally fighting the enemy who comes to steal, kill and destroy.  If the enemy gets the opportunity, he will strike.  It is better to Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.