An Abundance of Counselors

Worship Security Association

An article in a series on self-defense.

From the Bible

For by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory (Proverbs 24:6).

Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety (Proverbs 11:14).

Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle (Psalm 144:1).

Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge (Proverbs 23:12).

Introduction

A herder cannot just put dogs out there with the sheep, goats, and cattle, no matter the breed of the dogs, and expect them to protect the flock or herd unless they’ve been trained. The same principle applies in a church. Training is essential to promoting the safety and security of a congregation.

Sheepdog Church Security has seven training courses for both classroom instruction and individual online training.[1] However, it requires a lot of time to develop training courses, and Kris Moloney saw the need of broader training for the members of a Church Safety Ministry. SDCS has now partnered with the Worship Security Association™, which has expert resources a Church Safety Ministry can access.

Most of these train the church’s safety & security leaders and planners and can be used by the Safety Director and Safety Committee to not only inform themselves, but to educate the congregation’s leaders and decision makers on church safety & security issues. Some of these may also be used to help the congregation know what the Safety Ministry is doing and why.

In the News

Across the country, many churches have safety and security teams or are starting them. They are also seeking training for their team members in skills ranging from medical response and fire prevention to verbal de-escalation and active shooter response. However, training to face active shooters is what usually makes the news.

Cleveland, Tennessee, May 8, 2021 – A church in Cleveland, Tennessee, hosted a security training session attended by security team members from churches all over the state. In outlining how the security team should handle a troublesome or suspicious person, the founder of Agape Tactical said, “Training is key.” The security director of the hosting church stated, “Churches recognize the need to do this and have teams that are trained, really well trained, not just a couple guys running around with guns,”[2]

Haslet, Texas, August 2016 – A simulated gunfight with an “active shooter” (using laser guns) played out in a Haslet church. This is part of security training by Sheepdog Defense Group, founded by a Texas police officer. Mass killings with firearms including a number in Texas, have many church safety team members learning and practicing how to defend against an active shooter.[3]

Tucson, Arizona, January 2020 – Churches in Arizona are using Arizona Church Security Network, a Tucson company, to train their members in responding to active shooters. Another option is to hire off-duty law enforcement officers.[4]

Ada, Michigan, Summer 2014 – As the congregation of Ada Bible Church was exiting after the Saturday evening service, a man collapsed in the foyer. A member of the Medical Response Team (MRT) saw the fall and immediately responded. The man’s heart had stopped. The MRT member began CPR, then she used an AED. He began breathing and was conscious and alert before the EMTs arrived 10-15 minutes later. Medical response training had saved a life.[5]

Special Downloadable Resource

The “Safety Member Training Record,”[6] an Excel file, is the free downloadable resource for this month. Click *HERE* to get it, and you will subscribe to receive The Church Guardian (our monthly newsletter) and the weekly emailed update (that is if you’re not already signed up).

The first sheet is instructions on how to use it.
The second sheet is information about training.
The third sheet is a template for individual training records.

Also Featured

Also featured for June is the Onsite Instructors program on Sheepdog Church Security.[7] These Certified Sheepdog Instructors are available to conduct in-person training at churches in their geographical areas. They will train safety team members for Sheepdog Church Security certification. There are some available now, and more are expected in the future, so if your area is not covered now, keep checking.

Designed to Meet a Need

The Worship Security Association was designed to meet the need of security training resources for churches, and other faith-based organizations. This is the vision of Simon Osamoh, a Black British subject who is now a U.S. citizen. He is a member of Westwood Community Church in Minnesota, where he is also their security advisor.

The Simon Osamoh Story

Simon Osamoh is the originator and CEO of Kingswood Security Consulting and Worship Security Association. According to his bio on Kingswood:

“Simon spent 14 years as a Detective in England working on serious and organized crime cases. He is the former Head of Counter-Terrorism at Mall of America, Minnesota where he oversaw the internationally-recognized behavior detection program.

[He] is the author of the books Securing Church Operations: A Seven Step Plan For Ministry & Safety Leaders and Responding To Suspicious Behavior.” [8]

After 2½ years at Mall of America, Osamoh has worked with other firms and organizations on security issues, including upper-level financial security positions for US Bank and Wells Fargo Bank. The areas of security he works in are protecting people and companies from violence, physical theft, fraud, cybercrime, financial crime, identity theft, etc.

While working for Mall of America, the Bloomington Police Department asked him to make a presentation on suspicious behavior (a subject relevant to his work) at a large urban church. This is when he felt the call to keep churches safe through expert security training.

In 2014, he started his own business, Kingswood™ Security Consulting. According to his LinkedIn profile, it “is a security risk management company that specializes in protecting faith based organizations and non-profits through innovative proactive security solutions and safety awareness training.”[9] From this work he developed the Worship Security Association.

Worship Security Association

The Worship Security Association is a resource organization. It has an “Ultimate Video Collection” of over 150 videos with 50 hours of Video Learning for Safety and Security in Worship.” These videos share the expertise of 23 experts in areas such as safety awareness, strategy, threat mitigation, child safety, suspicious activity, physical security, etc.

Among presenters and interviewees on the videos are the well-known church security experts Carl Chinn and Tina Lewis Rowe.

A few of the free video titles are:

Strategies to Improve Prevention,
Worship Attack Cycle,
Shaping Culture through Safety and Environment, and
7 Steps for Protecting Your Faith Community.

The Complete Video Library, available by subscription, has 29 series ranging in size from two to eight videos. Among the subjects are:

Verbal De-Escalation (5 videos),
Child Sexual Exploitation (2 videos),
Responding to Suspicious Activity (4 videos),
Managing Church Volunteers (3 videos), and
Security at a Large Church (4 videos).

Besides security issues as such, Church Litigation - Attorney at Law (9 videos) also has expert views and advice on legal issues, such as lawsuits.

Affiliate Membership

Sheepdog Church Security has an affiliate relationship with Worship Security Association (WSA) where a Church Safety Ministry may subscribe to WSA membership as an affiliate of SDCS. Videos may also be purchased individually.[10] There is a Trailer explaining the WSA programs.

Conclusion

Even if all members of your Church Safety Team are trained and certified in all the Sheepdog Church Security training courses, do you sense the need to go deeper? Many experts are available through the Worship Security Association.

There Is More

There are three other articles for June: “On the Radar” (Situational Awareness), “The Third Level” (Empty-Hand Control), and “The 2005 World Changers Church Shooting” (A Lesson Learned).

References

Kris Moloney, “All Courses,” Training Courses, Sheepdog Church Security [https://sheepdog-church-security.thinkific.com/].
Meredith Aldis, “Church security teams from across Tennessee learn latest safety training at Cleveland church,” WRCBtv, May 10, 2021 [https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/43857928/church-security-teams-from-across-tennessee-learn-latest-safety-training-at-cleveland-church].
Jake Bleiberg (Associated Press), “Churches arm, train congregants in wake of mass shootings,” ABC News, August 16, 2019 [https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/churches-arm-train-congregants-wake-mass-shootings-65013504].
Allie Potter, “Local company helps train church security teams,” KVOA, News4Tucson, January 2, 2020 [https://kvoa.com/news/local-news/2020/01/02/local-company-helps-train-church-security-teams/].
Deacon’s Bench Staff, “Medical Response: Follow a Plan to Give Quick, Competent Care,” The Deacon's Bench, Brotherhood Mutual, [https://mittensynod.org/docs/MedicalResponsePlanning.pdf].
“Certified Onsite Instructors,” Sheepdog Church Security [https://sheepdogchurchsecurity.net/onsite-instructors/].
Samuel Osamoh, “About: Simon Osamoh, Founder & President” [https://www.kingswoodsc.com/about].
Samuel Osamoh, “Profile,” LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonosamoh/].
Sheepdog Church Security affiliate link to Worship Security Association [https://worshipsecurity.vhx.tv/?code=sheepdog].