0:02 Hope is not a strategy. I'm going to say
0:04 that one more time. Hope is not a
0:07 strategy. Why? Because when it comes to
0:09 safety and security, just hoping bad
0:12 things won't happen isn't just risky.
0:14 It's actually reckless and it's
0:16 dangerous. Too many churches, schools,
0:17 and organizations are operating with
0:19 this false sense of security, all the
0:21 while being completely unaware of the
0:24 fact that there are threats all around them.
0:24 them.
0:26 >> I'm in danger.
0:28 >> This is what most of us do. We pray that
0:30 nothing ever happens and hope that if it
0:32 does, someone else is going to know what
0:35 to do. But hope isn't going to stop an
0:37 active shooter. Hope doesn't prevent a
0:39 child from going missing or being
0:41 abducted by a parent who's lost their
0:44 custodial rights. Hope by itself doesn't
0:46 keep a fire from starting in the church
0:48 kitchen or keep it from consuming the
0:50 entirety of your church property. And
0:52 when seconds matter, hope is not going
0:55 to perform CPR or life saving a first
0:57 aid care to somebody who's been injured.
1:00 Here's the hard truth. Emergencies never
1:03 schedule appointments. Chaos is not
1:05 going to send an RSVP.
1:08 >> I'm your blind spot and my job is easy.
1:10 Hide big things.
1:18 Chaos and emergencies show up
1:20 unannounced and they usually show up
1:22 when we're completely unprepared. So if
1:25 your plan is to simply hope for the
1:27 best, then when that day comes, when
1:29 there's a fire, there's a medical
1:32 emergency, or just there's a couple that
1:34 are screaming obscinities at each other
1:36 in your side lobby, you've already lost
1:38 some very precious time. It's kind of
1:40 like racing a 5K, but letting the
1:43 competition start a mile or two ahead.
1:45 If you do that, there's no way you're
1:47 going to win. And the same thing goes
1:49 for not having policies or procedures.
1:51 Not having an official policy equates to
1:53 confusion. Confusion leads to
1:56 hesitation, and hesitation can literally
1:58 cost lives. When people don't know their
2:00 role, they freeze. They assume somebody
2:02 else is going to handle it, which causes
2:05 some friction and even arguments among
2:07 your team. Hope says we'll figure it out
2:09 if something happens or God is going to
2:11 protect us. Listen, I believe in God's
2:14 protection, but I also believe God
2:17 expects us to use wisdom and take
2:19 responsibility for the people that he's
2:21 entrusted to us. I trust God, but I also
2:23 wear my seatelt when I'm driving. And I
2:26 apply that same logic as the reason that
2:28 we should write policies in our church.
2:31 >> He's got a point. Using wisdom and
2:33 taking responsibility for the people
2:34 we've been entrusted with is called
2:36 stewardship. And like it or not,
2:39 stewardship is not a passive activity.
2:41 Stewardship requires forethought,
2:43 meaning brainstorming and thinking about
2:45 things that might happen in the future.
2:47 But it also requires action, meaning you
2:49 got to do some things. The alternative
2:52 to leaning on hope as your strategy is
2:54 simple. It's being proactive. It's
2:57 having official policies and writing
2:59 them down. It means you have clear
3:00 procedures for what you're going to do
3:02 if and it also means you have regular
3:04 training for and with your teams. The
3:07 alternative to hope as a strategy means
3:09 everyone knows what to do. It means
3:11 everyone knows where to go. It means
3:13 people understand your chain of command
3:14 or who they're supposed to talk to if
3:16 they have questions. And when the
3:18 unexpected happens, instead of panic,
3:20 you have a coordinated response. So ask
3:22 yourself right now, does my church have
3:24 written policies for safety and
3:26 security? Does your team know what to do
3:28 in a medical emergency? And if the
3:31 answer is no, it's time to stop hoping
3:33 that nobody ever has a heart attack and
3:36 just start planning in case someone
3:38 does. Why? Because according to the CDC,
3:41 a heart attack occurs every 40 seconds
3:43 in the US. And as far as I know,
3:45 churches or places of worship aren't
3:47 excluded from that statistic. Ask
3:50 yourself this one. Does your team have a
3:53 policy for checking kids in and out of
3:55 kids church? I know a lot of us do the
3:57 check-in pretty good, but we fail at checkout.
3:58 checkout.
3:59 >> Killing me, Smalls.
4:01 >> Again, if the answer is no, it's time to
4:04 stop hoping a kid doesn't go missing
4:05 while they're in your care and start
4:08 planning a preventative strategy for our
4:11 most vulnerable members. The statistic
4:12 for missing children is actually similar
4:15 to the heart attack statistic. In the
4:16 US, it's estimated that a child goes
4:20 missing every 40 to 68 seconds. And that
4:21 doesn't mean all of these kids are being
4:23 abducted, but it does mean they're going
4:25 missing for some reason. So ask yourself
4:27 this. Does your team know what it would
4:29 do if a child went missing while they
4:31 were in your care? If you don't have an
4:34 answer for that question, it's time to
4:36 write some policies. Now, I know a lot
4:37 of you are wondering how we're going to
4:38 do that. So, if you don't know how to
4:40 write policies, I'm going to give you a
4:43 simple process today so that you, even
4:46 you, can write policies today. But
4:48 before we do that, go ahead and do me a
4:49 favor and hit the like button. That
4:51 really helps me in this YouTube
4:53 algorithm. If you've been tasked with
4:55 leading security in your church, hit the
4:57 subscribe button. And I format these
4:58 videos so you can use them in your own
5:01 training sessions. I put out two videos
5:04 every month giving you free resources to
5:06 lead a security ministry at your local church.
5:07 church.
5:09 >> That's impressive. If you're new to
5:11 church security and could benefit from a
5:14 more robust or comprehensive and
5:15 organized training, head over to
5:18 leadsecurity.com for our full training.
5:20 There you're going to find more than 60
5:22 videos. You're going to have well over a
5:25 hundred printable documents to help you
5:28 build a team and lead your team well. We
5:29 actually just crossed the 300
5:32 subscribers threshold on uh our YouTube
5:35 channel, but our next big goal is a
5:36 th000 subscribers. And we don't want to
5:38 grow this channel for the sake of
5:40 growth. We want to grow this channel
5:42 because we believe every subscriber
5:44 represents a community of believers who
5:47 are standing watch, who are providing a
5:49 safe place for people to connect with
5:52 the creator of the world and with the
5:54 community that surrounds them. So, if
5:56 you appreciate what we do here, if you
5:58 find value in these videos, share this
6:01 video or this channel with other pastors
6:02 and leaders that are in your community
6:05 and join me in making churches more
6:09 inviting and secure for everyone. Now,
6:11 let's jump into this conversation. [Music]
6:19 [Music]
6:23 It helps us not.
6:24 >> The first thing you need to do if you
6:26 want to start writing policies is start
6:28 with the purpose.
6:30 >> Why? Why would you do that? Why would
6:31 you do any of that?
6:34 >> Explain why your policy exists. You want
6:36 to keep it short, just one or two
6:38 sentences. And as an example, I'm going
6:40 to show you how I wrote my policy for
6:42 firearms at my church. The purpose for
6:45 that policy reads like this. to ensure
6:47 all concealed carriers at our church
6:50 follow safe handling practices and
6:53 understand response procedures during an
6:54 emergency. The second thing you need to
6:57 do in writing a policy is to define the
6:59 scope. That means you need to clarify
7:02 who this policy is going to apply to. Is
7:04 it just your staff? Is it your
7:06 volunteers? Is it everybody that's on
7:08 your property? An example of this, as
7:11 stated in my firearms policy, was this
7:13 policy applies to all authorized
7:16 individuals carrying a firearm on church
7:19 property. I wrote authorized individuals
7:20 because we have a policy at our church
7:22 that states unauthorized weapons are
7:25 prohibited on our property, which exists
7:28 to alleviate liability and potential
7:31 accidents that are just unnecessary. So,
7:32 third on this list is to state the
7:33 policy clearly.
7:35 >> Can you hear me now?
7:37 >> Good. You're going to want to write this
7:39 rule in a simple statement. Just use
7:41 plain language. That means avoid all the
7:43 legal jargon that might sound fancy, but
7:44 it's only going to serve to blur some
7:47 lines. Writing policies is not the time
7:49 to try to make you sound smart. It's the
7:51 time to make your policies clear and
7:53 easy to understand, which is actually
7:55 the smart move because then now people
7:57 aren't going to ask you a bunch of
7:58 unnecessary questions. So, what does
8:00 that look like? In my firearms policy,
8:03 it states all firearms must remain
8:05 holstered unless responding to an
8:08 immediate deadly threat. Now, fourth,
8:10 you're going to include key procedures.
8:12 I know that policy may have felt short,
8:14 but that's because we're adding key
8:16 procedures here. That means you need to
8:19 explain exactly what to do in specific
8:21 scenarios regarding this one policy.
8:22 You're going to use bullet points to
8:26 clarify things. for my firearms policy.
8:27 In the case of an active shooter, this
8:30 is what that would look like. One, draw
8:32 your firearm only if you clearly
8:35 identify an active deadly threat. Two,
8:38 stop the threat as quickly and as safely
8:41 as possible. Three, remember your
8:43 backdrop and avoid hitting innocent
8:46 bystanders. Four, after the threat is
8:48 neutralized, holster immediately, show
8:51 empty hands when law enforcement arrives
8:54 and follow all of the commands of
8:56 whatever law enforcement officer is on
8:58 the scene. If you have any questions
9:00 regarding this policy specifically, I
9:02 actually just dropped a video, I think
9:04 it was just last week or two weeks ago,
9:06 regarding this policy. If you have any
9:08 questions, go back and check that out or
9:09 hit me up in the comments. Now, the
9:12 fifth part to writing policies is to add
9:14 responsibility and accountability. To do
9:16 this, you need to name who is going to
9:18 be enforcing the policy and what happens
9:21 if the policy is violated. An example of
9:24 this coming from my very own firearms
9:26 policy is failure to comply with this
9:29 policy may result in removal from the
9:31 security team, revocation of carrying
9:35 privileges, and or legal action by the
9:36 church leadership. Here's the thing
9:38 about consequences, though. You have to
9:40 be willing to follow through with them.
9:41 You don't want to write any consequences
9:44 down that you're not going to have the
9:46 guts to back up. See, if you write down
9:48 consequences, but you don't ever back
9:50 them up, you're only damaging your
9:52 reputation as a trusted leader. So, if
9:54 you write down consequences, make sure
9:55 you follow through. And remember, you
9:57 can always use your policy as your backs
9:59 stop. Say, "Listen, I'm sorry that I
10:01 have to do that, but because we have a
10:03 written policy, this is what has to
10:05 happen." Now, the last part of policy
10:07 writing is to train and review. A policy
10:09 is useless without practice. So within
10:10 your policy, consider writing a
10:12 statement that will be reviewed or
10:15 trained regularly. And now that word
10:17 regularly is important because every
10:18 community isn't going to be able to
10:20 train every month or every week, but
10:23 every team needs to have training with
10:25 some regularity. A statement that you
10:27 could use on your written policy to
10:29 promote regular reviews and training
10:32 could be something like this policy is
10:33 going to be reviewed annually and
10:36 covered in all safety or security team
10:37 training sessions. To wrap this up,
10:39 first of all, let me say thanks for
10:40 hanging out. I know this one's been a
10:42 little bit longer than the other videos,
10:44 but I do want to say this. Hope is a
10:46 beautiful thing. I know I kind of busted
10:48 on hope at the beginning. Hope as a strategy
10:49 strategy
10:52 is terrible, but hope actually is a
10:53 beautiful thing. To quote Martin Luther
10:56 King Jr., he said, "We must accept the
10:58 finite disappointment but never lose
11:00 infinite hope." While that sounds good
11:03 and is established in truth, when it
11:05 comes to security, hope isn't a
11:06 sufficient strategy. We need to make
11:09 plans. We need to train our teams and we
11:11 need to cultivate a culture that
11:14 protects our most vulnerable people. If
11:16 you found this video to be helpful, do
11:18 me a favor and like the video. That
11:20 seemingly small gesture goes further
11:21 than you could believe. So until next
11:23 time, remember to be vigilant and stay
