Domestic violence: two of the ugliest, most vile words ever spoken. They reference acts which have destroyed homes and marriages, as well as broken hearts, bones and lives. These two words have also pierced our nation and our faith, as perpetrators in the pursuit of an estranged spouse or other family members have entered our houses of worship, resulting in bloodshed of horrific proportions.
On November 5, 2017, the world watched in horror as we learned the shooter in the Sutherland Springs, Texas, church massacre was looking for his ex-in laws, who were not in attendance. He killed 26 people and wounded 20 others, many with multiple gunshot wounds.
That same day, Manuel Garcia, 64, shot his estranged wife and her alleged boyfriend outside of a church in Fresno, California, after the service had ended. His wife died at the scene. He died later from a self-inflicted gunshot.
There are numerous documented cases of domestic violence in churches, ranging from shootings and stabbings to even a guy driving his pickup truck through a church’s front doors. The violence may be marital or familial. For example, in Ohio, a son killed his father during an Easter morning service. We can no longer ignore domestic violence and the propensity of the violence to extend into our houses of worship.
Abusers frequently suspect infidelity in their marriage and oftentimes, the church is “identified” as the reason. They seek revenge and justice. Women in domestic violence situations are encouraged to advise their pastor of the situation, just as they would advise their employer or daycare center. Domestic violence often follows people to their place of employment and it has become more prevalent in our houses of worship. We must be prepared.
Churches must develop security plans to protect the people who worship there. As the church ministers to people who are hurting, in crisis or need help including the homeless, the addicted and the mentally ill, it is to be expected that the trouble in their lives could spill over to the church itself.
Preventing Violence in Houses of Worship
We must be prepared for two distinct scenarios: One is when a gunman enters church and begins firing after service has started, while the second involves a shooter who comes in and stays during the service before taking aim. Perpetrators have attended church with their wife, sitting on the second row from the front, only to pull out a gun and shoot the minister and his wife. Ministers have been shot in church by estranged husbands, who suspected their wives were having an affair. Sons have stabbed their fathers in services. So, it isn’t necessarily limited to keeping the evil person out as sometimes they are already in our midst.
Here are some steps churches and other houses of worship can take to improve security on their campuses:
- Places of worship must secure their parking lots. If you can afford a uniformed officer, that would be great. If not, having members watch the parking lot for any unusual activity would be helpful.
- Installing cameras on the parking lot and WATCHING the cameras at all times can let you know if someone is in the parking lot and heading in.
- Cameras should be focused on the parking lot and every point of entry.
- If your facility has multiple doors, lock some of them when the service has started. Limit the number of access points and have members of your security team by the doors.
- If the front doors open directly into your sanctuary, think about adding a foyer with one or two levels of entry. This would function as an energy savings area, but also can allow for doors to be locked and allow a few seconds for someone to secure the doors into the sanctuary.
- The doors leading into the sanctuary should lock from the inside.
- If the doors have windows, make sure they have security glass laminate to stop the bullets from penetrating the glass. Windows should also be secured with security glass laminate.
- Arm people everywhere. Place security team members throughout the congregation.
- Security team members (welcoming committee) should try to talk to every visitor by being overly friendly and learning more about the person who has entered the place of worship. It’s okay to sit in close proximity to them and observe their behavior.
- Places of worship must have a security plan that includes active shooter drills. We must teach our children to run for the door and to crawl under a pew. Just as we have emergency drills at work and schools, our places of worship should follow.
- If you are suspicious of someone, be observant of how they are dressed because a weapon could be on their body.
Calming the Angry Element of Society
There are people who believe they have a right to take you out because of a perceived hurt in their life. This is evident in many killings across the country, where individuals are offended from a perceived hurt. If there is something that they dislike or disagree with, then it doesn’t have a right to exist. Sometimes the action is immediate in a crime of passion, yet sometimes it takes years for the hatred to fester and eventually spill over.
We must teach tolerance, love and respect for each other and our homes, places of worship, beliefs and values. We can all exist peacefully in our multi-cultural world, but we all have to be respectful of each other, placing extreme significance on the value of life.
We must teach anger management to our young people as many of them do not know how to funnel their anger into anything constructive. We have raised a generation of “princes and princess” where they have been taught that they are special, their opinions matters, their opinions are correct and they should be listened to and obeyed because they are a prince/princess. When these individuals enter into the real world and find they are no longer a princess, it is difficult to adjust and they often resort to violence.
Churches need to offer pre-marital and marriage counseling, marriage enrichment seminars and family counseling. Our families are struggling with infidelity, drugs, anger, poverty, homelessness, job instability, and many are struggling with prescription drug addiction and/or the effects of previous usage. We never know when someone on drugs, alcohol or prescription drugs is going to enter our safe zone. We never know when someone we love is going to have a hallucination and head to church with the intent to kill.
We must encourage and empower women to provide safety for themselves and their children. Churches should offer self-defense classes and concealed carry classes. We should encourage women to be as physically strong and healthy as possible to avoid being a victim. We must teach our young women that they do not need to tolerate any type of violence, regardless of what their parents may have endured. The cycle of violence must end.
Places of worship will continue their mission to minister to those who are hurting. We ultimately accept God’s will when an evil act occurs, however; God expects us to do our part to provide a safe place to worship.
About the Author:
Paula L. Ratliff, BSC, MS, began researching crimes that have occurred in churches in the early 1990’s at the University of Louisville while writing her Master’s thesis on the Victimization of Religious Facilities. She is the author of Crime Prevention for Houses of Worship, published by the American Society of Industrial Security, (ASIS) International, 2015. She is a member of the Cultural Properties Committee with ASIS, serving with professionals from around the world. Her book is available on Amazon.com.
