The Security Ministry?
A poster over at this blog revealed something that is rather shocking, the security ministry
Is this the new ‘armorbearing’? What is the real purpose of this? To protect the congregation from a ‘nutjob’ or is it really to protect the ‘pulpit-pimp’ from the ‘nutjob’ and possibly the ‘prophet’ that would ‘expose’ him resulting in a lose of numbers and money and no more Bentleys?
If it is to really protect the congregation, we need that to some degree but not to some of the extremes that have been documented on the Internet.
In light of the YWAM and New Life Church shootings in Colorado Springs this past winter, there are some churches that have heightened their level of security. An e-friend of mine has told me that at his church, they have started accounting for every person by making them wear nametags. Members are one color, frequent attendees in good standing are another color, visitors are another color (red, go figure), elders and staff wear another tag, stage musicians wear another tag, and ushers not only collect the money, but were trained on how to act in a hostle situation to protect the congregation, the childrens church is isolated and the child wears a necklace with a number as only a parent with a matching necklace can retrieve the child.
Plus, security cameras were installed in the building and parking lot and a volunteer team on Sundays monitor the cameras.
I have heard of churches where ushers / bodyguards wear sunglasses, suits, pack heat, and have earpieces. I have heard of churches that sign a usher for ‘tagging, watching, and following’ visitors from arriving to leaving to the point of going into the bathroom. I went to a conference where the speaker was escorted by ‘bodyguards’ with swat-team type dress which disturbed many in the congregation who were not used to this type of behavior in a church.
If you knew of a church that had this type of security, would you go feeling more safe or would you stay away fearing an unsafe condition? If you were a visitor and was planning to visit a church that had this type of security, would you go feeling more safe or would you stay away fearing that you would be treated and ‘pentecostally profiled’ as a suspect or ‘potential public enemy number one’?
From a theological perspective, if you knew of a church that had this type of security, would you go feeling theologically safe, or feeling that the theology is not sound and the security is not there to protect you but to intimidate you into not questioning, or would you go feeling that the pastor is so anointed that he needs protecting?
I really wonder…
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Comments
Ted Haggard had a personal security and bodyguard Chris V******* (edited by admin) who was a Belgian cop and some say might have escorted or protected Teddy during his various little trips to the big city. He ws a guy with “mission mobilization” and “peace officers international”
Anyone know anything ’bout this?
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