Direction for the Director

Introducing the Safety Director Toolkit

From the Bible

The ESV's alternate wording of KJV's underlined text is in [brackets].

For thou hast girded [equipped] me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me (2 Samuel 22:40 and Psalm 18:39).

It is God that girdeth [who equipped] me with strength, and maketh my way perfect (Psalm 18:32).

For the perfecting of [to equip] the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12).

Now the God of peace ... Make you perfect [equip you] in every good work to do his will ... (Hebrews 13:20-22).

Introduction

Everyone with a job needs the right tools for the job, such as saws, hammers, nail guns, measuring tapes, levels, and many other items for carpenters. Members of Church Safety Team need two-way radios, good shoes, flashlights, first aid kits, incident report forms, etc. for their job of keeping the flock safe.

The Church Safety Director also needs tools for the job of leading the Church Safety Ministry. Not all of these are physical tools. The Director needs resources for administration. Just as safety team members need training, so do directors. They also need support from their peers in other congregations and advice from experts.

Outside sources have been available, especially from affiliates such as Worship Safety Academy. There has always been support and help from Kris at Sheepdog Church Security. Then too, Safety Directors have been able to get Safety Member Certification.[1]

Now Sheepdog Church Security has a package of what the directors need - the Safety Director Toolkit. To find it, first click on Training, then on the training page click on the Toolkit tab.[2]

On the Web

Risk Strategy Group - In an undated article, Cody Martin, founder of Risk Strategy Group, presented a guide to policies, procedures, and team training for church safety and security. This lengthy article has ten major headings. Four of them are Core Team Objectives and Expectations, Security Team Policies and Procedures, Security Team Communication Practices, and Security Team and Congregation Engagement. Reading this will be beneficial. However, it does not have the same ongoing resources of SDCS's Church Safety Director Toolkit.[3]

General Counsel Blog, United Church of Christ - Heather Kimmel of the General Counsel's office published a blog post on the resources and best practices for local church security. She paid special attention to how the denomination's stands and practices attract opposition which is sometimes vandalistic and/or violent - by the way, the positions and practices of almost any church can meet opposition from elements of the populace. One thing she does say applies everywhere: "Preparing your church to protect itself from violence and harassment is good ministry." While this article adds to our considerations, more is needed for the ongoing support and equipping of church safety directors.[4]

Southern Baptist Convention - The SBC website has a "Church Safety and Security" page. In it is a linked list of resources for church security. Of the eight resources listed, six are from Brotherhood Mutual. These have good, practical advice. Their primary value is in developing a management plan for the church's safety.[5]

The Toolkit

Kris tags the Safety Director Toolkit as a "Safety Ministry Training Resource." By encouraging, training, coaching, and supporting the Safety Director, the real beneficiary is the church. This year-long program is for the well-being of the congregation.

The Toolkit consists of:

• Weekly Interactive Online Workshops - Guidance in the Right Direction
• Streamlined Training for Staff and Volunteers - Online Training Events
• Safety Drills for Churches Drill Manual - Elevating Preparedness to Reality
• Ongoing Growth and Community Engagement - A Support Network
• Enhanced Digital Resource Library for Church Safety Directors

The content of the Safety Director Toolkit is in line with SDCS's Safety Member Certification program. This way there is no conflict between the two programs. The toolkit does not include certification, nor is it a substitute for it. Certification is available on its own webpage.[1]

Weekly Interactive Online Workshops

The Weekly Interactive Online Workshops are tagged as "Guidance in the Right Direction." The Toolkit page says they "Empower Safety Directors." The workshops consist of Integrated Learning Sessions. These are weekly Zoom workshops, starting at 7 p.m. Central Time with Kris Moloney as the leader. The focus of these sessions is the administrative side of directing a Church Safety Ministry. The goal of the workshops is to raise the quality of the Safety Ministry's administration and operations.

Examples of workshop topics are:

• Policies and Procedures - How to develop policies and procedures that will really work.
• Security Assessment - How to conduct safety & security assessments.
• Building a Safety Team - How to start a Safety Team and/or how to recruit qualified members
• Training a Safety Team - How to have effective team training.
• Emergency Action Plans - How to plan and prepare for emergencies, even less likely ones which would be severe (devastating) if they happened.

Streamlined Training for Staff and Volunteers

Online Training Events

Training is for more than members of the Church Safety Ministry. Training is for everyone in the church. What the training is depends on the roles of the members. For example:

• As many persons as possible should learn how to operate a fire extinguisher.
• Teachers need to know how and whether to evacuate or to lock down in case of an active killer.
• Greeters should learn how to spot suspicious persons and what to do if one shows up.
• Greeters, ushers, and teachers should learn life-saving skills for medical emergencies and what to do in a mass trauma incident.
• Greeters, ushers, and teachers would also benefit from learning verbal de-escalation.
• Ushers and teachers need to know what to do in a fire evacuation.
• There is a lot that staff can learn, such as fire prevention for custodians and safety protocols for office staff.

Online Events (live Zoom classes) are held during the school year at 3:00 pm CT on Sundays. The entire course for training is conducted four times (in four quarters). The 2023-2024 Online Events calendar is as follows:

The next school year (2024-2025) is expected to start on September 8, 2024. Enrollment is good for a year, so a student enrolling and starting late in the season can finish the course in the next season.

Safety Drills for Churches Drill Manual

Elevating Preparedness to Reality

Drills are part of the process for enabling emergency plans. Just consider these three scenarios for fire, active killers, and severe weather:

• How about trying to evacuate hundreds of people during a fire when no one knows which way to turn to get out safely, and no one is effectively in charge? Chaos! If no one is injured in that scene, count it a miracle.
• What if a killer is active in the church and several teachers don't know lockdown procedures and safety team members end up shooting wildly? Scary!
• How many will be injured if a tornado bears down on the church and few know where the tornado shelters are?

Drills are hands-on, shoes-on exercises. Two kinds of lessons are learned:

• First, those participating in the drill learn by doing. Acting out emergency plans imprints them in the minds and muscles of participants.
• Second, team leaders and expert observers (such as a police officer during an active killer drill) learn how well the plans really work so necessary changes can be made.

Ongoing Growth and Community Engagement

A Support Network

Also on Thursdays, but in the morning (10:00 a.m. CT), are Zoom meetings. This is an active support network with information shared, issues discussed, problems diagnosed, and encouragement given. By participating in this, you as a Safety Director know you are not alone.

Enhanced Digital Resource Library for Church Safety Directors

Just as physical schools have libraries, so do several online schools. For example, SDCS affiliate Worship Security Academy has libraries of training materials. Among the benefits of some courses are "Lifetime Access to All Materials" and "Unlimited Access To The Video Vault (OVER 60 HOURS AND 70 VIDEOS!!)."[6]

Likewise, the Sheepdog Church Security Safety Director Toolkit has administrative materials available to Church Safety Directors, such as

• "DIY Short Security Assessment v2"
• Including "DIY Security Assessment Guide"
• "Safety Ministry Policy and Procedure Manual"
• "Safety Drills and Scenarios Manual"
• Including "Active Shooter Drills Manual"
• Fillable Forms and Reports (printed and electronic versions)
• Including "Safety Member Training Record"

Conclusion

Elevate church security and empower your congregation with the Safety Director Toolkit.

Other SDCS Training Resources

There are training resources for Safety Team members besides the ones mentioned above. These include

The Church Security Guide with its ten articles: [7]

Kris Moloney, Church Security Guide, Sheepdog Church Security, © Copyright 2018 [https://sheepdogchurchsecurity.net/church-security-guide/].

1. How to Start a Church Safety Ministry in 5 Simple Steps (the banner article)
2. Introduction to Church Safety and Security
3. How to Conduct a Risk Assessment
4. Church Safety Team Basics
5. Fire Safety in the Church
6. Preparing Your Church for Natural Disasters
7. Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults in the Church
8. Self Defense Laws, Your Rights and Use of Force
9. Disruptive Individuals: How to De-escalate the Situation
10. Church Safety Teams and Active Shooter Training

Videocasts and Podcasts -

On the Sheepdog Church Security Academy channel on YouTube Kris discusses various issues, including current weekly articles, Lessons Learned from Deadly-Force Attacks, special topics, and interviews with security experts.[8]

Audios of the videocasts are on Church Security Roll Call podcasts.[9]

Sheepdog Church Security Academy's Security Articles (Blog) has "Weekly Tips and Encouragement for Church Security Teams based on the research and experience of Kris Moloney and the Sheepdog Church Security Team." It is articles selected from the weekly articles (such as this one), the Church Security Guide, Guest Articles, and Lesson Learned articles.[10]

References

1. Kris Moloney, Safety Member Certification, Sheepdog Church Security, © 2020 [https://sheepdog-church-security.thinkific.com/bundles/safety-member-certification] .
2. Kris Moloney, Safety Director Toolkit, Sheepdog Church Security, © 2020 [https://sheepdog-church-security.thinkific.com/bundles/safety-director-toolkit] .
3. Cody Martin, "Church Safety and Security: Guide to Policies, Procedures, and Team Training," Risk Strategy Group, n.d. [https://riskstrategygroup.com/church-safety-and-security-policies-procedures/] .
4. Heather Kimmel, "Local Church Security: Resources and Best Practices," General Counsel Blog, United Church of Christ, August 1, 2023 [https://www.ucc.org/local-church-security-resources-and-best-practices/] .
5. Staff, "Church Safety and Security," Southern Baptist Convention, n.d. [https://www.sbc.net/resources/resources-for-church-safety-and-security/] .
6. Sheepdog Church Security affiliate link to Worship Security Association [https://worshipsecurity.org/?code=sheepdog] .
7. Kris Moloney, Church Security Guide, Sheepdog Church Security, © Copyright 2018 [https://sheepdogchurchsecurity.net/church-security-guide/] .
8. Kris Moloney, Sheepdog Church Security Academy channel, YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/c/SheepdogChurchSecurityAcademy] .
9. Kris Moloney, Church Security Roll Call channel, SoundCloud [https://soundcloud.com/churchsecurityrollcall] .
10. Kris Moloney, et al, Security Articles (Blog), Sheepdog Church Security, beginning October 17, 2023 [https://sheepdog-church-security.thinkific.com/pages/security-articles]