Safety & Security

Developing a safety and security program doesn’t happen overnight. We can connect you to a wealth of information from trusted sources to guide you through the process. Check out these tools to help develop and improve your ministry's safety and security team today.

Assessments & Training

Church security is an ongoing process that involves evaluation, education, and training. Whether you’re just getting started or already have a mature safety team, make sure your volunteers and staff have the knowledge, skills, and practice they need to perform their jobs well.

Safety Team Leadership Training - Leadership training, not tactical training, provided by our agency and guided by our Security Teams Brochure

Security Teams Brochure - A safety and security mindset does not just happen. Where do you start? Read this guide, review the checklists, and see if your ministry is prepared.

Equip Your Medical Response Team - Our local law enforcement contacts recommend these as options for your ministry.

Brotherhood Mutual recognizes the commitment of the following companies to provide superior evaluation, education, and training with a heart for Christian ministry.

  • SafeMinistry Solutions, a Safe Hiring Solutions Company, offers comprehensive background screening options, including pre-employment and volunteer screening packages, as well as security consulting, training, and volunteer management. Visit SafeMinistry Solutions to determine what level of screening and/or products and services fit your ministry's needs.
  • Strategos International provides training to churches that equips them to protect their congregations without compromising their mission. They offer onsite security assessments and a broad range of classes from introductory to advanced tactical training.

Contact one of our agents for training opportunities in your area.


The Safe & Secure Church Kit

This comprehensive, ministry-focused kit helps you recruit, train, and equip a safety and security team that both protects and serves your congregation.

The Safe and Secure Church kit will help equip and prepare your team with training and insights on vital topics, including:

  • Understanding the most common threats to your church
  • Protecting children in your care
  • Lockdown and evacuation procedures
  • Developing a safety and security mindset
  • Attracting, training, and retaining security team volunteers
  • Increasing your awareness and ability to spot danger

Order Your Kit Today


Firearms at Church Brochure

Understand the range of options for firearms at your church. Download the brochure here


Webinars

Establishing a Security Mindset Webinar - Performing assessments and acting on your findings can help you protect your ministry’s people and property.

Church Safety & Security: Building and Training Your Team - One of the first steps toward protecting your church is creating a safety and security team. Recruiting the right people and training them properly is critical.

Church Safety & Security: Put Your Team to Work Webinar - As domestic violence, disruptive people, and other related issues make their way into churches, more and more ministries are forming safety and security teams to help protect their people.

Church Safety & Security: Covering Midweek Activities - Protecting the people who participate in midweek activities may require a unique approach from your safety and security team.

Church Safety & Security: Medical Response - Join us to find out how to incorporate medical personnel into your ministry’s safety and security team, and learn about the liability issues of providing emergency care.

Church Safety & Security: Recognizing Threatening Behavior - A violent attack may be preceded by an escalating pattern of threatening behavior. Learn to recognize these behaviors to try to prevent potential violence.

Church Security: Insurance and the Law - When assessing the church's security policies and procedures, it's important to consider the legal and insurance issues involved.

Violence in Our Schools - Are your safety and security measures enough to keep violence from entering your school? Safety and security remain top of mind as each new incident brings about a new conversation. Learn how to develop a plan to prevent a crisis. 


Articles

Take a 360 View of Your Security - It's time to take a closer look at your ministry's security practices. These additional tips and tools can help you prevent crime that can halt ministry activities.

Prepare for Violence in Your Church - Emergency preparedness for churches used to mean having a plan for responding to reports of fires and severe weather. Today, churches must also be prepared to deal with crises created by violent people, such as church shootings.

Surviving a Violent Attack at Church - What would you do if someone entered your church and began shooting? Learn your five best options for survival.

Develop a Volunteer Safety and Security Team - It can be challenging to build a safety and security ministry based on volunteers, but it can be done. Start with these five steps.

Church Security & Armed Security Guards - Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company urges all churches to have a violence response plan—one that helps you respond swiftly and appropriately to threats against people like active shooters.

Handling Protests at Your Church - Whatever the reason for demonstrators, always strive for a peaceful non-event. These tips will help level the playing field.

Dealing with Disruptive Individuals - Having uniform policies and procedures for dealing with any interruptions will help minimize the disruptive effect of such outbursts.

Responding to Violence at Schools - Schools, like other public places, must be prepared to respond to dangerous people and circumstances. Having a violence response plan is essential.

School Evacuation and Lockdown: Make a Plan - Severe weather, medical emergencies, intruders, and more can require your school to be evacuated or locked down at a moment’s notice. Are your staff and students ready?

Should You Use a Gun to Protect Your School? - Do you know your local laws? Before you make weapons part of your school security plan, this article will help you know which questions to ask.


Checklists

Responding to Violence Checklist - Violence in church can take many forms. This checklist helps you prepare to respond, whatever the scenario.

Demonstration Response Checklist - Is your ministry prepared in the event of a confrontation, protest, or disruption at your church? This to-do checklist offers help for clear thinking during a stressful time.


Videos

Use Risk Assessments to Improve Church Safety & Security - Conducting property risk assessments can help you discover problems hindering church safety. Look for ways to avoid fires, theft, accidents, and injuries.


The Deacon's Bench - Church Security: A Wake-up Call

The Deacon’s Bench is published by Brotherhood Mutual three times a year and focuses on practical risk management guidance to help today's Christian ministries thrive. In this issue: Preparing for active threats and health emergencies.


When developing and revising organizational documents and ministry policies and procedures, involve a local attorney. A wide variety of federal, state, and local laws apply to employer/employee relations. Consulting with a local attorney can provide guidance on state-specific and local legal issues you may encounter. Ask us for a referral to an attorney who can help.

Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company also offers its free Legal Assist service to help answer questions you may have related to ministry safety and security and other tough topics. Brotherhood Mutual's in-house team of attorneys understand ministry legal issues because they've been addressing questions from ministries for years, and they're involved in ministry within their own communities.

Contact Legal Assist

Make Sure You’re Covered

More ministries are forming security teams. That's raising insurance coverage questions. Will team members be covered individually for lawsuits caused by a security incident? Does your insurance cover an armed security team? What special coverages do you need to adequately cover your security team?

Brotherhood Mutual's Security Operations Liability Coverage helps address some of these insurance needs specifically for emergency response incidents. It includes:

  • Primary coverage for team members
  • Coverage for damage to or loss of security-related equipment
  • Increased medical payment and wage loss limits
  • Funds to offer individual and family counseling for team members

Talk to an American Church Group of Kentucky agent to learn more about this coverage designed specifically for ministries.

Contact us

 

© 2021 Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company. All rights reserved. This coverage description is intended to help ministry leaders better understand Brotherhood Mutual’s MinistryFirst® insurance program. It does not provide insurance coverage of any kind, nor does it modify the terms of any Brotherhood Mutual policy. For complete insurance coverage details, please refer to actual policy documents. Coverage for actual claims will be based on applicable policy documents applied to the individual facts of an actual claim event.