Many churches across America are turning to practical ways to keep their congregations safe from the rising persecution and targeting of faith centers across America.
One company, Sheepdog Church Security, has made an effort to put “faith at the center” of their training to help congregants prepare for the worst case scenarios many fear. SCS was founded in 2014 by Kris Moloney, who has a military and law enforcement background, and has been training volunteer security teams ever since.
“You want it to be open and welcoming and so forth, and yet provide (the) safety and security needed,” Moloney said in an interview with the Idaho Stateman.
“So those of us who do carry firearms, we do so on a concealed basis. We have the protection we need, and yet we’re not ostentatious about it,” he adds.
Since Moloney founded his company a decade ago, demand for his services have surged in requests from houses of worship for training as the threat of violence against people of faith grows.
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Moloney is no longer an outlier in this industry either, as congregations across the nation have turned to military veterans and former or current law enforcement to help prepare them for an invader.
As reported by the Daily Mail, “Keith Graves, a former police officer, now leads his church’s security team and runs Christian Warrior Training, a website aimed at empowering churches with security knowledge.”
“Everybody’s nervous about the direction of what’s going on in the world, (and) you have the same thing in the church,” Graves said in an interview with the Statesman.
Members like Moloney are working tirelessly to make sure people understand that things simply are not the way they used to be, and they must be prepared for this new world that we live in.
“When I was a teenager, the churches were essentially unlocked 24/7,” Moloney recalls. “Even as a kid who was not exactly a very good kid, it never occurred to me to go into a church and do something stupid.
“Public leaders and politicians used to never say a thing against the church. Now, it’s very common. I think as time has gone by, the general respect for religious authority has diminished greatly.” Which in turn means that targeting a place where people worship “is no longer off-limits.”
Moloney believes this act of preparedness, and arming oneself, is not just compatible but follows the examples set forth in the Bible.
“Jesus said, ‘sell your cloak and buy a sword,” says Moloney referencing the Gospel of Luke. “One of the things I like mentioning is OK, yes, God is going to protect us, but you still look both ways before you cross the street.
“God is going to look out for you, but He also gives you these tools to help you watch out for yourself,” he adds.
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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.
