Partnerships That Work

SCSA's Safety Ministry Partners

Landscape banner showing a church safety team with a police officer, firefighter, and pastor collaborating inside a sanctuary, with bold text highlighting SCSA’s Safety Ministry Partners.

Introducing four ministry partners of Sheepdog Church Security Academy.

From the Bible –

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour (Ecclesiastes 4:9).

Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety (Proverbs 11:14).

Introduction -

Partnerships are ways of sharing resources, including knowledge and expertise, and supporting each other in facing challenges or opposition. Sheepdog Church Security Academy (SCSA) is not alone. At the top of the page, in the tab banner, the first link is "Training and Tools." This is a drop-down menu. "Ministry Partners" is at the bottom of the list. [1].

The Ministry Partners page has introductions to four organizations which are available to partner with churches and their safety ministries and ministry members. In reality, these four should be your partners in protecting the flock. These four Ministry Partners are:

Critical Response Group:

Picture a 911 response, whether it is to a medical emergency, mass trauma, violence, a fire, an attempted abduction, a thief caught in the act, etc. Emergency vehicles pull into the parking lot, come to a door - providing they know where the church is. EMTs, firefighters, and/or law enforcement officers exit the vehicles and come into the church. Now where do they go? Do they know what you mean when you name a location in your church - such as the worship center, sanctuary, general auditorium, assembly hall, etc. Do they know what you call different classrooms, the social center, and other places? In short, do they know what the incident is, where it is, and how to get there?

Have you seen accounts of special missions by Special Forces? To name a few: rescues of persons held or trapped by enemies, arresting a stealthy fugitive in a foreign country, the Bin Laden killing, capturing Maduro, etc. In each event, the Special Forces had detailed maps of the location, identification of enemy personnel, location and habits of the intended target, information about entry points, alternate routes, exits, etc. Wouldn't it be good if first responders knew where to bring their vehicles, where to get in, and how to get to the location of the incident.

A few veterans of special forces wanted to equip emergency services with the same kinds of maps and associated information they themselves had used on their missions. They applied their knowledge and experience in special forces to developing ready to use maps for responders. Called Critical Incident Mapping (CIM), it combines the layout of a building with a satellite or aerial map of the location. Emergency responders can see how to get to the building, which entrance to use, and how to get from the door to the target area.

CRG makes CIM maps for several kinds of organizations: Educational, Enterprise (businesses), Medical Facilities, Places of Worship, Events, Government (State, Local & Federal), and Transportation.

A link to "Critical Response Group Corporate Profile," the introductory video, is on the Ministry Partners page. The firm is "Veteran owned and operated."

CRG says, "Ensure safe congregation by fostering strong communication between first responders and religious leaders through detailed location mapping." [2].

Right to Bear Association:

Sheepdog Church Security has been connecting armed church safety ministry members to organizations that provide legal protection for those who have used weapons in defense of self and others. We have had to face the fact that most insurance policies do not cover volunteers, and also that legal costs from a use-of-force incident are likely to be more than you can afford, even if you are found innocent and not at fault. [3].

SCSA has found an organization that protects the individual member, the Safety Ministry, and the church. It is Right to Bear Association (RTB). [4].

In its own words, RTB says, "When a safety-team member must act to defend others, the fight doesn't end at the scene. Legal costs can devastate families and ministries." This organization offers "Trusted Legal Protection for Your Right to Self-Defense." Members have access at the time of an incident, 24-7-365.

On its website, RTB says they have membership plans for:

Individuals,
Houses of Worship,
Families,
Law Enforcement Officers and Professional Security.

Membership Benefits:

Right to Bear has six benefits for its members. These are:

24/7/365 Attorney Hotline - You can connect with an attorney at the moment you need one, immediately after the incident. Similar plans have already assisted church security persons who used a firearm on the job.
Access to Self-Defense Insurance - Considering court costs, lost work time, travel and parking, etc., this is a very valuable benefit.
Attorney Fee Coverage - That's how defendants are bankrupted.
Training and Educational Content Library - This is intended not only to initially train you, but to keep you updated. Considering that laws and their court interpretations change, it's necessary to get up-to-date.
Firearm Replacement - Often, a firearm used in an incident is confiscated, at least for the investigation and possible use as evidence.
Industry Partner Discounts - This includes SCSA's affiliate/partner relationship with RTB. [4].

Watch the RTB introductory video on YouTube. [5].

Kearnan Consulting Group:

Founded and led by Jeffrey C. Kearnan, the Kearnan Consulting Group (KCG) specializes in helping churches to establish emergency operation plans that are both effective and compliant with standards and regulations. The intent is to reduce or eliminate the risks of confusion, uncertainty, and legal actions, both civil and criminal. This intends to protect everyone - leaders, church members, staff, and volunteers, as well as the church's ministries. [6].

Affiliates

KCG has a page listing its affiliates:

Church Security Solutions (a part of KCG),
Sheepdog Church Security Academy (that's us),
J-2 Security Services,
ICIP LLC (Security Consulting),
Gentle Response: (Conflict De-escalation Training),
Right To Bear,
Marsh EMS Consulting,
Wise Oak Consulting (Disaster Preparedness),
Sentry One Consulting Group (Church Safety Training),
Grossman Academy (Dave Grossman),
Expert Firearms Training,
Last Resort Training & Consulting,
Christian Warrior Training,
Trinity Security Allies,
Gatekeeper Defense Training,
Texas Sheepdogs.

Some organizations on this list you will or may recognize: Sheepdog Church Security Academy, Right To Bear (in this article), Christian Warrior Training, and Grossman Academy.

Protect My Ministry:

This organization provides background checks for religious organizations: churches, schools, charities, independent ministries. Many news stories underscore the importance of screening pastors, directors, staff, and volunteers in various ministries. When these persons are arrested, charged, or accused of sexual assault, other kinds of abuse, embezzlement, and fraud, or the driver of a church vehicle in a serious accident is at fault and has a bad driving record or is not qualified for the vehicle, it makes the news, putting the ministry in a bad light. This is compounded if the ministry tries to hide the scandal and it finally becomes public.

Then there are legal consequences, both civil and criminal. A few examples:

The church can be charged for non-reporting of sexual abuse.
It can be sued for sexual abuse by a registered sex offender.
It can be sued for wrongful death in a church vehicle collision.
Embezzlement has a cost of its own, several times in hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Doing the required background checks, is daunting. It can take more time than you have available, especially if there are several applicants to screen. Then too, unless you are a practiced professional in these checks, how can you be sure that the applicant has been fully vetted? That's the reason Protect My Ministry exists. [7].

There are many firms who do background checks, but don't really go any deeper than you can do yourself. PMM vets in depth:

They have the leads to access not only the publicly available Federal data bases, but also check the court and police records in any state where the applicant has lived or worked.
They can also check public financial records for persons handling cash and accounts.
They will check to see whether a person with a bad record is the same one as the applicant or just has the same name.
Using Continuous Monitoring, they will watch for any changes on a person's record.

Here's their list of Background Checks:

Continuous Monitoring,
Church Screening,
Volunteer Screening,
Social Intelligence,
Individual Services,
Online Consultation,
Re-Verification,
Personal Background Checks (so you can see what's on your own record). [8].

Protect My Ministry has been a Sheepdog Church Security partner for a long time, at least since 2020, and for a good reason: When it comes to screening staff and volunteers, they do the job and do it well. [9][10].

For an introduction to Protect My Ministry, see their welcome video. [11].

Training Note -

All members of a Church Safety Team should be trained and certified through the Safety Member Certification program. Training modules (classes) relevant to the roles of other staff and volunteers in the church - such as ushers, greeters, teachers, childcare workers, youth leaders -can be taken as standalone courses. [12][13].

Conclusion -

Churches and Church Safety Directors can partner with the Ministry Partners of Sheepdog Church Security Academy to better serve their congregations.

References -

Kris Moloney, "Safety Ministry Partners," Sheepdog Church Security Academy, 2025 [https://sheepdog-church-security.thinkific.com/pages/ministry-partners].
Staff, "Places of Worship," Critical Response Group, undated [https://www.crgplans.com/places-of-worship/].
Kris Moloney, "Why You Might Not Be Covered—Even If the Church Says You Are," Sheepdog Church Security Academy, September 28, 2025 [https://sheepdog-church-security.thinkific.com/pages/security-articles?p=why-you-might-not-be-coveredeven-if-the-church-says-you-are].
Sheepdog Church Security affiliate link to Right to Bear, 2026 [https://protectwithbear.com/pages/scsa].
Staff, "Right To Bear Legal - Defense," Right To Bear Association, February 21, 2023 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMG7fU9U1B4].
Jeffrey C. Kearnan, Home Page, Kearnan Consulting Group, LLC, undated [https://kearnanconsulting.com/].
Home page, Protect My Ministry, [https://www.protectmyministry.com/].
Staff, "Background Checks," Protect My Ministry, no date [https://www.protectmyministry.com/background-checks/].
WGV, "Wolves among Lambs," Sheepdog Church Security, January 4, 2021 [https://sheepdogchurchsecurity.net/articles/wolves-among-the-lambs/].
Affiliate link, Protect My Ministry and Sheepdog Church Security [https://www.protectmyministry.com/integrated-partners/partner-sheepdog-church-security/].
Staff, "Protect My Ministry - Welcome," Protect My Ministry, April 17, 2020 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCKPb-54a4I].
Kris Moloney, Safety Member Certification, Sheepdog Church Security, 2025 [https://sheepdog-church-security.thinkific.com/courses/safety-member-certification-v5-2025].
Kris Moloney, Standalone Member Courses, Sheepdog Church Security, 2025 [https://sheepdog-church-security.thinkific.com/collections/courses].