March 1, 2026 the Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis released a Critical Incident Note warning that “the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would "almost certainly" lead to retaliatory actions by Iran and its proxies against U.S. interests. At least two influential mullahs IN THE US have called upon their followers to execute revenge attacks on US soil. Why these people were not immediately on the next flight to Guantanamo in restraints is a question for your congressman.
The current state of world affairs, particularly the fact that the US is now at war with Iran and its terrorist clients around the world, tends to cause church security teams to develop tunnel vision concerning a terrorist threat. While there is no doubt that all churches large and small should be on high alert for the signs of terrorist activity they should also not forget that despite the fact that we are at war on multiple fronts around the world daily life continues and so do the common threats associated with it. What follows is a short list of questions to ask yourself concerning these common threats.
Are you prepared for a medical emergency? The most likely security event to occur in your church is a medical emergency. Have your people been through recent CPR-AED-First Aid training including cardiac events, choking events, diabetic emergencies, and other common situations? Have key members of your team and staff been through advanced first on scene trauma training? Do you have an adequate medical kit and equipment and can everyone on the team locate it quickly? Do you know how long ambulance response is to your location and have you prepared to render life saving aid for that amount of time? Are you relying on a single person or two for medical response or have you trained multiple people on your team and staff to handle basic medical events?
Are you prepared for the bio-hazard threat that may accompany a medical event? Bodily fluids outside the body are a biohazard. That includes urine, feces, vomitus and especially blood. Does your church have a biohazard clean up kit? Does everybody both security team and staff know how to find it and how to use it?
Are you prepared for a mental health emergency? Troubled people often turn to the church either for help or retribution. Have key members of your team and the church staff taken mental health response and suicide prevention training?
Are you prepared to handle a domestic dispute/domestic violence event? These events are very common and happen eventually in almost all churches. Does your church have a policy concerning domestic protective orders? Does your staff and team maintain oversight of family situations likely to cause domestic events?
Are you prepared for a severe weather event? During the season, do you have a member of your team or staff constantly monitoring weather information sources to provide advance notice of a possible weather event? Do you have designated safer spaces in the building? Are they sufficiently clear of equipment and clutter to accommodate your congregation? Have you drilled your security team and staff on how to execute your weather shelter plan?
Are you prepared for a political/ideological protest or service interruption? Do you have a plan? Have all key team members and staff been trained to execute that plan? Have you drilled your team and key staff members in execution of your plan?
This list could go on for several pages. But, the fact remains that while churches should be on very high alert for terrorist activity and be training intensely to respond to it, these other events will occur as well and with much more frequency. Consequently, your church’s security team and staff training should be well rounded and constant.
People with a military or law enforcement background understand training. You train constantly. You do the same things over and over constantly seeking improvement. You learn to do complex even life or death tasks almost automatically so that you can concentrate on the situation instead of just the task. People with this background realize that in real life emergencies eighty percent of your training evaporates with the adrenaline and confusion and what you will actually do when the chips are down will come from the remaining twenty percent drilled into you so deeply that it comes naturally.
Church security teams need to train the same way. Handling the routine tasks and situations that are predictable needs to be a matter of near automatic response. You’ve done it so many times that you can execute the plan and its tasks while still keeping your mind on the situation and how to adapt to it if necessary.
Those members of your team selected for armed duties need to master their skills to the point that they are not concentrating on their firearm but rather the situation that requires the use of the firearm. The instantaneous draw, sight picture check, verbal warning if possible and all of the rest of the events in an armed encounter need to be smooth, fast and subconscious so that the team member can concentrate on responding properly to the threat instead of having to think about running his gun. Two security team members at the Freeway Church of Christ in Texas died because they hadn’t trained to this level.
The civilian mindset toward training is the direct opposite of the military/law enforcement mindset. Most civilian students do the minimum to achieve their goals, either passing the course or making an acceptable grade and then move on. When their final goal of graduation or certification is achieved the disciplines of training are forgotten. For many, they believe they’ve been there done that and have the tshirt. In the military/law enforcement world constant training and retraining is the cost of the profession, the price paid to increase your chances of not only accomplishing your mission but also of surviving. Since there are so many commonalities between first responders and the church security ministry, the attitude toward training should be the same.
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