Leadership

  

We are at the beginning of a new training year. The churches we work with will be making decisions that will impact the success or failure of that training and the effectiveness of their planned security program. For over a decade now, the OCSA has been working with churches to improve the safety of their flocks. There are two key factors that usually predict the success or failure of a church security team. The first is executive leadership. The second is the choice of a volunteer security team leader.

In every church we have worked with the ultimate success or failure of the church security team begins and ends with the attitude of senior church leadership, the pastors and elders. If the pastors and elders would prefer no security or a program without teeth, that is what the program will evolve into regardless of what else is said. As the pressures of time commitments, other church priorities and motivation take their toll, the team will eventually reflect almost precisely the attitude of senior church leadership.

The fact that their security team development effort has failed and often produced a program totally incapable of protecting the flock will never even be considered because the program has evolved into something leadership is comfortable with. And if leadership is comfortable most of the flock will be as well. The fact that this comfort is based upon deceptive factors like normalcy bias, overestimation of civilian skills and just plain complacency will never be seriously considered.

The key concept that churches and their leaders must assimilate is that in every security situation be it a simple bio hazard, a medical emergency, a scuffle in the youth department, a toxic domestic, a person with mental issues or even an active shooter, THE STANDARD THE CHURCH AND THEIR LEADERSHIP IS “COMFORTABLE WITH” IS MEANINGLESS. THE ONLY STANDARD THAT MATTERS IS WHETHER OR NOT YOUR SECURITY PEOPLE PERFORMED PROFESSIONALLY. THE STANDARD IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS FOR SWORN POLICE OFFICERS AND LICENSED SECURITY PROFESSIONALS. If the matter ever gets to court, as these things sometimes do, the court will apply exactly the same standards of negligence in training, preparation and performance.

Choosing a volunteer church security team leader is a task most pastors and staff are not equipped to handle. Having never performed the duties themselves they have no idea what is required and will apply typical church standards. This often leads to problems.

In a perfect world you would have a veteran military or law enforcement senior sergeant that knows how to lead and has martial skills. Unfortunately, even if you are lucky enough to have this person, they often simply will not deal with civilians in this area because they know what is required and how difficult it is to get serving military and sworn police officers to train adequately much less civilians.

Beware of people who want the job as security team leader. It is one thing to have a solid, dependable man of the church who steps up and says he wants to help. It is quite another for the church to announce the position and then have to sort through the church politicians and egos who see the position as an other popularity contest to be won.

Avoid the man who is already singing in the choir, teaching a Sunday School class and serving on other committees. Aside from serving as a deacon or in some churches an elder, church security is pretty well a full time church duty.

Look for the man who already sits on the aisle so that he can respond quickly if needed. Look for the man who does not bow his head and close his eyes during prayer but instead scans the room. Look for the man who quietly gets up a time or two during services and scans the crowd from the back of the room.

If you already have some sort of team, look for the man who always has time or makes time for training. Look for the man who knows his church’s and individual team member’s weak points and works diligently to strengthen them.

Look for a servant leader who always arrives early to check the facility and leaves late to make sure that most of the flock are safely on their way. Look for the man who always takes up the slack when other people don’t show up or perform as required. Look for the man who quietly does whatever needs to be done when no one else does it.

Your church security team is created first in the mind of senior church leadership and then in the mind of your volunteer team leader. Whatever they decide is adequate is what your team will become. Whether nor not what they decide is adequate actually is by real world performance standards is almost always another question altogether. If you settle for a program that is “comfortable” you will achieve complacency. If you strive to be “average” or “good enough” you will achieve mediocrity. If you strive for excellence you may achieve competence.