Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Should churches have security teams?
American Thinker ^ | 17 Mar, 2026 | Mike McDaniel

Posted on 03/17/2026 5:33:56 AM PDT by MtnClimber

mong the many things I do in a retirement no less busy than the decades of work I finished in law-enforcement and teaching, is serving as head of security for my local church. The ministers of that non-mega church understand the very real danger Christians—all Americans—face these days simply for being Christian and a place where Americans regularly gather.

The recent Michigan Synagogue attack has encouraged many Jews to take seriously terrorist attacks as I recently wrote in Jihadists and the media bomb. We are now facing an elevated threat of jihadist attacks in America, not only from terrorist nation-sponsored and run sleeper cells of multiple well-armed Jihadists, but from self-radicalized domestic terrorists in ones and twos.

At City Journal, Jesse Arm has noticed:

What happened at Temple Israel was truly a miracle. The security guard’s shot was true; the bomb did not detonate; 140 people lived. Whether you attribute that to training, luck, or providence, the obligation it creates is the same: we must not waste it.

American Jewry now has a choice. It can respond the way it always has—with grief, statements, Holocaust museum donations, and the reflexive search for dialogue and understanding of “both sides.” Or it can take a lesson from the only sovereign Jewish society that has learned, through painful experience, how survival works. Israel follows a simple rule: when your neighbors begin ratcheting up threats to destroy you, take them seriously—and respond in ways that ensure they fear you more than you fear them.

Arm is apparently incorrect on one point. It appears the terrorist killed himself, but early reports are always confusing at best.

There are three recent trends that bear watching:

(1) Many recent attacks have begun in church parking lots.

(2) The increased incidence of trans attacks.

(3) The increased incidence

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: banglist; yes
Message from Jim Robinson:

Dear FRiends,

We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.

If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you,

Jim


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-46 next last

1 posted on 03/17/2026 5:33:56 AM PDT by MtnClimber
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

There have been numerous attacks on churches that were stopped by armed security.


2 posted on 03/17/2026 5:34:07 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Did not the early colonists take their guns to church?

Sheep without sheepdogs are vulnerable to wolves.


3 posted on 03/17/2026 5:40:27 AM PDT by hoosierham (Freedom isnt free)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

I was on the security team at my church in Southfield, Michigan. They called it the Ministry of Defense. Mostly active and retired police and military.


4 posted on 03/17/2026 5:40:43 AM PDT by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

At our church there are more that carry than don’t.
We’re good.


5 posted on 03/17/2026 5:41:29 AM PDT by bk1000 (Banned from Breitbart)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Our relatively small Church I attend has armed security. And, the better part of the congregation is armed. We use cameras and have folks walking the parking lot. Really sad it has come to that.


6 posted on 03/17/2026 5:41:54 AM PDT by animal172 (I can't, but I know who can.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

My church has an unarmed (supposedly) in-house security team and there is also an off duty police presence at all services.

No telling how many armed congregants.

A staff member remarked to me just last Sunday that I wouldn’t believe how many men he hugs at church that have a large lump somewhere around their waist. Lol!


7 posted on 03/17/2026 5:42:11 AM PDT by V_TWIN (America....so great even the people that hate it won't leave)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Absolutely


8 posted on 03/17/2026 5:45:56 AM PDT by The Louiswu (USA FIRST...USA FOREVER)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

My co-worker is armed security at the West Bloomfield synagogue. It was his day off the day of the terrorist attack. It was also his day off yesterday at his other job (where we work together). I just found out about his security job yesterday. Have your head on a swivel, consider the places you are frequenting and carry when possible. Yes, churches should have security teams.


9 posted on 03/17/2026 5:47:27 AM PDT by PGalt (Past Peak Civilization?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: V_TWIN

Maybe they are happy to see you. :)


10 posted on 03/17/2026 5:49:26 AM PDT by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Good resource for Church security below. I have been watching his videos for several years.
https://courses.christianwarriortraining.com/all-products/
https://www.youtube.com/@ChristianWarriorTraining


11 posted on 03/17/2026 5:54:45 AM PDT by Perseverando (Antifa, BLM, LGBTQs, RINOs, Islamonazis, Marxists, CommucRats: It's a Godlessness disorder!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Dumbest question ever.


12 posted on 03/17/2026 5:54:54 AM PDT by far sider
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

My neighbor, a policeman, said those ‘greeters’ who meet you in the parking lot and make sure you have a church bulletin usually disappear once services start. They then become armed guards patrolling the parking lots and guarding the sanctuary.


13 posted on 03/17/2026 5:58:26 AM PDT by DugwayDuke (Most pick the expert who says the things they agree with.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Easy answer is yes, although it is a significant expense.

It needs to be a mix of highly visible (for deterrence) and plain clothes (for protection).


14 posted on 03/17/2026 6:01:54 AM PDT by PAR35
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

You would need a tank to get through our church security team. If you did then you would have to fight the more outbound than inbound concealed carries.


15 posted on 03/17/2026 6:03:33 AM PDT by bray (Thank God for Israel)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

We’re in the process of finding a new church, partially because they steadfastly refuse to consider a security team.

A good friend of mine is a retired state trooper who did security evaluations for schools and other government installations. He offered to do a security analysis for free. They turned him down.

They don’t do background checks on volunteers, they allow one-to -one contact with youth, the Sunday School classrooms don’t even have windows or peepholes in the doors. Every door is wide open on Sundays. Anyone can come in.

Their excuse is that there’s one member who is a cop and he probably carries. Probably?

Several members do carry. The cop told me he appreciates the backup. Of course there’s no such thing as scenario training. (That was offered by another friend and declined)

One church we attended had a guy standing in the lobby with a small nametag that read SECURITY. Wow, I was so scared I almost pulled my gun to protect myself. (Sarcasm)

There’s another and much bigger reason that we’re leaving this church but their willful ignorance is absolutely stunning.


16 posted on 03/17/2026 6:03:39 AM PDT by cyclotic (Don’t be part of the problem. Be the entire problem)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber
Free to do so. Free to not. Free to be a target also, for those who abhor the notion of an ability to fight back when necessary.

Years ago at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, I chatted with a fully armed policeman about "security." Clip in his auto. In German, with an accent good enough to be mistaken as a European with German as a second language. As the chat progressed, he smiled and said, "you're American." I chuckled, and asked how he concluded that. He said it was my stance on guns that gave me away. And he congratulated me on it. Guns are not the issue. Bad people with guns when you cannot use yours against them is the issue. Ask any LEO.

17 posted on 03/17/2026 6:19:35 AM PDT by Worldtraveler once upon a time (Degrow government)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Thanks to the coddling and Importation of “the religion of peace” and insane trannies, armed security in churches and synagogues are needed.


18 posted on 03/17/2026 6:24:51 AM PDT by Organic Panic ('Was I molested. I think so' - Ashley Biden in response to her father joining her in the show)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Woke white churches will say “no,” imagining that they have sins deserving the wrath of attackers or that Jesus is against self defense from thugs.


19 posted on 03/17/2026 6:25:28 AM PDT by Socon-Econ (adi)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber
There have been numerous attacks on churches that were stopped by armed security.

My Concealed Handgun instructor was one of them in a Fort Worth church several years ago. One man was killed, but only one.

20 posted on 03/17/2026 6:31:26 AM PDT by fwdude (Why is there a "far/radical right," but damned if they'll admit that there is a far/radical left)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-46 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson