Periodically, I get questions about security & what Hope Church is doing, especially when a tragic incident like the shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, TX happens.
More & more these days, organizations, schools & churches are increasing measures to address the security threats that we now live with as a society. Hope Church is no different. For the past 18-24 months, we have been continuously evolving security measures at both campuses.
We currently have a volunteer team of individuals that provides a security presence at our weekend services at both campuses. Intentionally, they are not identifiable, but they provide eyes & ears that should result in higher awareness & quicker notification of authorities should that be necessary. We hope that this is a boring job for most of them. At the same time, we don’t want to be naïve. The team is made up of several police officers, professional firemen & other volunteers. Also, for the past few years, at least three members from this team have been on-duty watching over the different areas at our Grand River Center events.
In the current environment, our kids are being taught about violence in schools & their teachers & administrators are being instructed on safety & security measures. Our approach is continuously evolving & our security team receives periodic training as well.
Here are some of the additional measures we will be taking this year:
Adding security cameras at our Kennedy Campus (cameras are in place in the Roshek Building).
Holding some specific response drills & scenario training for our security team.
Adding walkie-talkies for the on-duty security person, our connection center & our children check-in areas to aid in communication should an incident occur.
We want to remain an open & welcoming place for people to come & hear the saving grace of the Gospel. We want to continue to evolve our security preparedness at the same time. It’s a hard balance to strike, but one we can’t ignore.