SAFETY RESPONSE TEAM POLICY
for Fresno Bible Church
(Much of this policy is based on texts from Pistol in the Pulpit by Tim Rupp)
All Safety Response Team Members are required to reread this policy every January.
Our Biblical Church Safety Philosophy
We believe God’s Word prescribes a balanced approach to our understanding of self-defense. We see that balance from Nehemiah’s leadership in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem while under the threat of attack from Jerusalem’s enemies who didn’t want to see the city protected. In Nehemiah 4:9 we read that Nehemiah, “Prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against [their enemies] day and night.” He went on to say, “I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows” (Nehemiah 4:13). And, in verse 14, he said to the people, “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” Nehemiah trusted God but he also set armed guards in place to protect the people. So, we believe that faith and personal responsibility is the balanced approach.
Romans 12:19 instructs, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceable with all.” However, it’s not always possible. Living peaceably with others depends on the other person as well as on us. It takes two. But, when an armed assailant enters our church with intent to kill, it is not possible to live in peace. It then becomes our responsibility to take action that will stop the would-be assailant from taking the lives of our people.
We are now living under “a new normal.” We can no longer expect to be safe from physical harm in places that we used to deem safe, namely in our homes, schools, and churches. For example, churches have traditionally been “soft targets,” having little to no protection from an assailant. Our new normal calls for a proactive response to protect our people by taking steps that would prevent a person or people to take innocent lives, recognizing that an active assailant is motivated by one thing, to kill other people. Therefore, we believe that it is in keeping with biblical stewardship principles to have a Safety Response Team that is prepared and trained to properly respond to an active assailant who comes on our church property and/or enters our church building.
Having security guards for protective purposes is not new to God’s people. Early in Israel’s history, Moses wrote, “There were 8,600 keeping guard over the sanctuary” (Numbers 3:28). However, the New Testament doesn’t direct the church to have armed security; but, it doesn’t rule against it either. Again, we believe a balanced approach to safety is to trust the Lord and take responsibility. That’s what we do in other areas of our lives. For example, when we take a road trip, we trust God, pray for safe travels, and secure ourselves with seatbelts. At home, we trust the Lord and lock our doors. We believe we should take the same balanced approach with self-defense in our church family. We are to trust the Lord fully, pray for safety, but also take responsible steps that will protect our people from potential harm.
We believe, further, that the Lord Jesus’ command in the Sermon on the Mount to turn the other cheek in Matthew 5:38-39 does not rule against the protection of our families or church family. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” When Jesus said, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” He was speaking about the Old Testament law of retaliation. It was legal under the Old Covenant to retaliate equally; for example, “an eye for an eye.” But, when Jesus offered the kingdom to Israel in the gospels, He was replacing the law of retaliation with a new law, that in its essence said do not retaliate. This is a law that righteous people in the church age are to live by. We are not in the business of getting even. Retaliation is not our place. However, this law does not prevent us from protecting innocent lives. Stopping a killer from taking life must not to be motivated by “the law of retaliation.” It’s not, “We’ll take your life because you took life.” That’s the civil authorities’ place and, ultimately, God’s place. We believe the purpose in stopping an assailant from taking life is to be motivated by our responsibility to protect the innocent. Personally, if a person slaps us on the cheek, we should turn the other to be slapped. But, if an assailant is trying to take the life of our loved ones, including our brothers and sisters in Christ, we believe we should do all within our power to stop him. So, it’s not retaliation, but rather taking responsibility for the precious lives God has placed under our protective care.
Finally, the elders of Fresno Bible Church do not permit persons, other than members of our Safety Response Team, to carry concealed or unconcealed weapons on to the church’s premises. State Law requires that all persons, except law enforcement personal, must receive permission from church leadership to carry a concealed weapon on church property. We do not give that permission.
Our Safety Response Team
Our Safety Response Team (SRT) will be led by the ministry’s leader. He or she shall be called the SRT director. The director, along with the church elders and deacons, will be responsible for selecting the people who will make up our team. His or her responsibilities include oversight of the team; training the team; monitoring each team member’s spiritual, mental, emotion, physical condition, assuring that they are in a “good place” on the days when they are on duty; scheduling team members for church services or special church events; and the placement of each team member inside and/or outside the church building. The members shall fully submit to the SRT director’s directions and directives.
The name, “Safety Response Team,” defines the general purpose of the team. It is to provide a team response to an unsafe situation until the situation is safe. Once the situation is safe, then the team’s purpose changes to maintaining safety.
A deadly weapon is any weapon or object that may be used to cause serious bodily injury or death. For example, a gun and a knife are deadly weapons; but, also, objects such as a screwdriver, a hammer, or a baseball bat may potentially become deadly weapons. Consequently, we believe that potentially deadly force of an assailant must be met with deadly force from the Safety Response Team.
A secondary purpose of our Safety Response Team is as follows: if a person is destroying church property or the property of our people, such as a church member’s or attender’s car, our team will do their best to physically stop the destructive person until the police arrive. In such cases, a 911 call will be made as soon as possible.
So, it is the policy of Fresno Bible Church that our Safety Response Team will stop a possible deadly assailant with deadly force. And, it is our policy to physically intervene without deadly force in the destruction of church property. To the best of our ability, we will physically attempt to stop a destructive person from destroying property.
But, to be clear, the primary purpose of our armed Safety Response Team is to quickly stop an armed assailant before that assailant can harm innocent people. To stop a threat is to eliminate it. An armed assailant who chooses to enter our church wielding a deadly weapon is to be promptly stopped. It is not the duty of the Safety Response Team members to determine the assailant’s intentions; it is the team’s responsibility to stop the assailant. When an assailant decides to threaten lives with a deadly weapon, that person gave up any expectation for his or her own personal safety. We, therefore, expect our safety team’s response to an assailant to be immediate and effective.
Our Team Member Character Requirements
New attendees to our church shall not be permitted to become members of the SRT for a minimum of six months. The timing of granting permission shall be determined by the SRT director and the elders. This waiting period will begin when they start faithfully attending. The purpose for waiting shall be to evaluate their fitness to be a member of the team. So, further, he or she shall be permitted to the team only after meeting all the requirements stated below.
The knowledge of firearms or even skill in shooting firearms doesn’t necessarily qualify a person to be on our Safety Response Team. When selecting members, we will look for the same qualifications the Lord looks for—namely, godly character.
So, the first character requirement is personal salvation. All team members must be a born-again believer in Jesus Christ. He or she must profess faith in Christ alone for salvation, and then prove their saved condition by the demonstration of the fruits of salvation in their lives. We will not allow an unsaved person to stand in harm’s way. In case the unthinkable happens, and a team member loses his or her life, we must be confident that the person is in heaven. So, before a person is permitted to be on the team, we will determine their spiritual condition by requiring that they share their testimony with the church elders and the SRT director.
Second, we require that the people on the SRT team shall be committed to doing what is right in the sight of God. We will select members who are both willing and capable of making right decisions in the heat of battle. They must be willing to take the life of an assailant without hesitation to protect the lives of the innocent. Any hesitation at all, could cost lives, and that’s not right in our sight nor in the sight of God.
Third, the team members must love their enemy, namely an assailant. However, he or she must be committed to stopping the assailant to protect our people. Our first and foremost love is for God and His people. One’s love for his or her enemy must not prevent them from doing right.
Fourth, team members must be humble. Humility is demonstrated by a willingness to submit to their elders and the SRT director, demonstrating the ability to take directions from others, especially the director. We will not consider any person who is prideful, doesn’t submit to authority, knows it all, and acts independently of the SRT director and the other team members.
Fifth, all SRT members must possess a teachable spirit. Since all team members are required to receive training from the SRT director so that they respond to a threat or an active assailant as trained, they must be teachable.
Sixth, the ability to keep confidences is required of each team member. At times it will be necessary for team members to be informed of potential problems within the congregation. Team members will need to know about any threats between family members, or threats against the pastor, staff, elders, deacons, or any other person in the church. And, they will need to be informed of any threat from a disgruntled member or regular attender, or from any other person who may pose a threat to the church family. Team members must be trusted to keep their eyes open and their mouths shut about the information that is shared with them.
Our Other Team Member Requirements
A potential team member’s physical condition must be taken into consideration. Their physical limitations need to be understood. However, even a person with certain mobility limitations may be an effective member of the team. For example, that person may add an element of surprise that an assailant may overlook. Also, it is important that every team member knows their limitations and not attempt things beyond their abilities.
A person convicted of a felony cannot legally possess a firearm, so convicted felons are not permitted on our Safety Response Team.
Mental issues need to be considered and addressed. Those under a mental health doctor’s care, are taking medication for mental health reasons, or are potentially mentally unfit, will not be permitted to serve on the team.
Emotional concerns must be taken into consideration. An overly nervous or overly emotional person who responds nervously and/or emotionally instead of instinctively and thoughtfully as trained, is not qualified to be on the team.
A person who is applying to be on the Safety Response Team must have a concealed carry license before becoming a member of the team. But, we believe that having a license to carry a firearm doesn’t necessarily qualify someone for the team. Potential team members must further qualify according to the above policy requirements and be trained and approved by the SRT director.
And, finally, although our Safety Response Team is prepared for a physical battle, they must keep in mind that the real battle is a spiritual one. Ephesians 6:12 states, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” However, that spiritual battle often manifests itself physically, in flesh and blood. It is our purpose to stop that physical threat and thus win the spiritual battle against the evil one.
for Fresno Bible Church
(Much of this policy is based on texts from Pistol in the Pulpit by Tim Rupp)
All Safety Response Team Members are required to reread this policy every January.
Our Biblical Church Safety Philosophy
We believe God’s Word prescribes a balanced approach to our understanding of self-defense. We see that balance from Nehemiah’s leadership in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem while under the threat of attack from Jerusalem’s enemies who didn’t want to see the city protected. In Nehemiah 4:9 we read that Nehemiah, “Prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against [their enemies] day and night.” He went on to say, “I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows” (Nehemiah 4:13). And, in verse 14, he said to the people, “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” Nehemiah trusted God but he also set armed guards in place to protect the people. So, we believe that faith and personal responsibility is the balanced approach.
Romans 12:19 instructs, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceable with all.” However, it’s not always possible. Living peaceably with others depends on the other person as well as on us. It takes two. But, when an armed assailant enters our church with intent to kill, it is not possible to live in peace. It then becomes our responsibility to take action that will stop the would-be assailant from taking the lives of our people.
We are now living under “a new normal.” We can no longer expect to be safe from physical harm in places that we used to deem safe, namely in our homes, schools, and churches. For example, churches have traditionally been “soft targets,” having little to no protection from an assailant. Our new normal calls for a proactive response to protect our people by taking steps that would prevent a person or people to take innocent lives, recognizing that an active assailant is motivated by one thing, to kill other people. Therefore, we believe that it is in keeping with biblical stewardship principles to have a Safety Response Team that is prepared and trained to properly respond to an active assailant who comes on our church property and/or enters our church building.
Having security guards for protective purposes is not new to God’s people. Early in Israel’s history, Moses wrote, “There were 8,600 keeping guard over the sanctuary” (Numbers 3:28). However, the New Testament doesn’t direct the church to have armed security; but, it doesn’t rule against it either. Again, we believe a balanced approach to safety is to trust the Lord and take responsibility. That’s what we do in other areas of our lives. For example, when we take a road trip, we trust God, pray for safe travels, and secure ourselves with seatbelts. At home, we trust the Lord and lock our doors. We believe we should take the same balanced approach with self-defense in our church family. We are to trust the Lord fully, pray for safety, but also take responsible steps that will protect our people from potential harm.
We believe, further, that the Lord Jesus’ command in the Sermon on the Mount to turn the other cheek in Matthew 5:38-39 does not rule against the protection of our families or church family. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” When Jesus said, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” He was speaking about the Old Testament law of retaliation. It was legal under the Old Covenant to retaliate equally; for example, “an eye for an eye.” But, when Jesus offered the kingdom to Israel in the gospels, He was replacing the law of retaliation with a new law, that in its essence said do not retaliate. This is a law that righteous people in the church age are to live by. We are not in the business of getting even. Retaliation is not our place. However, this law does not prevent us from protecting innocent lives. Stopping a killer from taking life must not to be motivated by “the law of retaliation.” It’s not, “We’ll take your life because you took life.” That’s the civil authorities’ place and, ultimately, God’s place. We believe the purpose in stopping an assailant from taking life is to be motivated by our responsibility to protect the innocent. Personally, if a person slaps us on the cheek, we should turn the other to be slapped. But, if an assailant is trying to take the life of our loved ones, including our brothers and sisters in Christ, we believe we should do all within our power to stop him. So, it’s not retaliation, but rather taking responsibility for the precious lives God has placed under our protective care.
Finally, the elders of Fresno Bible Church do not permit persons, other than members of our Safety Response Team, to carry concealed or unconcealed weapons on to the church’s premises. State Law requires that all persons, except law enforcement personal, must receive permission from church leadership to carry a concealed weapon on church property. We do not give that permission.
Our Safety Response Team
Our Safety Response Team (SRT) will be led by the ministry’s leader. He or she shall be called the SRT director. The director, along with the church elders and deacons, will be responsible for selecting the people who will make up our team. His or her responsibilities include oversight of the team; training the team; monitoring each team member’s spiritual, mental, emotion, physical condition, assuring that they are in a “good place” on the days when they are on duty; scheduling team members for church services or special church events; and the placement of each team member inside and/or outside the church building. The members shall fully submit to the SRT director’s directions and directives.
The name, “Safety Response Team,” defines the general purpose of the team. It is to provide a team response to an unsafe situation until the situation is safe. Once the situation is safe, then the team’s purpose changes to maintaining safety.
A deadly weapon is any weapon or object that may be used to cause serious bodily injury or death. For example, a gun and a knife are deadly weapons; but, also, objects such as a screwdriver, a hammer, or a baseball bat may potentially become deadly weapons. Consequently, we believe that potentially deadly force of an assailant must be met with deadly force from the Safety Response Team.
A secondary purpose of our Safety Response Team is as follows: if a person is destroying church property or the property of our people, such as a church member’s or attender’s car, our team will do their best to physically stop the destructive person until the police arrive. In such cases, a 911 call will be made as soon as possible.
So, it is the policy of Fresno Bible Church that our Safety Response Team will stop a possible deadly assailant with deadly force. And, it is our policy to physically intervene without deadly force in the destruction of church property. To the best of our ability, we will physically attempt to stop a destructive person from destroying property.
But, to be clear, the primary purpose of our armed Safety Response Team is to quickly stop an armed assailant before that assailant can harm innocent people. To stop a threat is to eliminate it. An armed assailant who chooses to enter our church wielding a deadly weapon is to be promptly stopped. It is not the duty of the Safety Response Team members to determine the assailant’s intentions; it is the team’s responsibility to stop the assailant. When an assailant decides to threaten lives with a deadly weapon, that person gave up any expectation for his or her own personal safety. We, therefore, expect our safety team’s response to an assailant to be immediate and effective.
Our Team Member Character Requirements
New attendees to our church shall not be permitted to become members of the SRT for a minimum of six months. The timing of granting permission shall be determined by the SRT director and the elders. This waiting period will begin when they start faithfully attending. The purpose for waiting shall be to evaluate their fitness to be a member of the team. So, further, he or she shall be permitted to the team only after meeting all the requirements stated below.
The knowledge of firearms or even skill in shooting firearms doesn’t necessarily qualify a person to be on our Safety Response Team. When selecting members, we will look for the same qualifications the Lord looks for—namely, godly character.
So, the first character requirement is personal salvation. All team members must be a born-again believer in Jesus Christ. He or she must profess faith in Christ alone for salvation, and then prove their saved condition by the demonstration of the fruits of salvation in their lives. We will not allow an unsaved person to stand in harm’s way. In case the unthinkable happens, and a team member loses his or her life, we must be confident that the person is in heaven. So, before a person is permitted to be on the team, we will determine their spiritual condition by requiring that they share their testimony with the church elders and the SRT director.
Second, we require that the people on the SRT team shall be committed to doing what is right in the sight of God. We will select members who are both willing and capable of making right decisions in the heat of battle. They must be willing to take the life of an assailant without hesitation to protect the lives of the innocent. Any hesitation at all, could cost lives, and that’s not right in our sight nor in the sight of God.
Third, the team members must love their enemy, namely an assailant. However, he or she must be committed to stopping the assailant to protect our people. Our first and foremost love is for God and His people. One’s love for his or her enemy must not prevent them from doing right.
Fourth, team members must be humble. Humility is demonstrated by a willingness to submit to their elders and the SRT director, demonstrating the ability to take directions from others, especially the director. We will not consider any person who is prideful, doesn’t submit to authority, knows it all, and acts independently of the SRT director and the other team members.
Fifth, all SRT members must possess a teachable spirit. Since all team members are required to receive training from the SRT director so that they respond to a threat or an active assailant as trained, they must be teachable.
Sixth, the ability to keep confidences is required of each team member. At times it will be necessary for team members to be informed of potential problems within the congregation. Team members will need to know about any threats between family members, or threats against the pastor, staff, elders, deacons, or any other person in the church. And, they will need to be informed of any threat from a disgruntled member or regular attender, or from any other person who may pose a threat to the church family. Team members must be trusted to keep their eyes open and their mouths shut about the information that is shared with them.
Our Other Team Member Requirements
A potential team member’s physical condition must be taken into consideration. Their physical limitations need to be understood. However, even a person with certain mobility limitations may be an effective member of the team. For example, that person may add an element of surprise that an assailant may overlook. Also, it is important that every team member knows their limitations and not attempt things beyond their abilities.
A person convicted of a felony cannot legally possess a firearm, so convicted felons are not permitted on our Safety Response Team.
Mental issues need to be considered and addressed. Those under a mental health doctor’s care, are taking medication for mental health reasons, or are potentially mentally unfit, will not be permitted to serve on the team.
Emotional concerns must be taken into consideration. An overly nervous or overly emotional person who responds nervously and/or emotionally instead of instinctively and thoughtfully as trained, is not qualified to be on the team.
A person who is applying to be on the Safety Response Team must have a concealed carry license before becoming a member of the team. But, we believe that having a license to carry a firearm doesn’t necessarily qualify someone for the team. Potential team members must further qualify according to the above policy requirements and be trained and approved by the SRT director.
And, finally, although our Safety Response Team is prepared for a physical battle, they must keep in mind that the real battle is a spiritual one. Ephesians 6:12 states, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” However, that spiritual battle often manifests itself physically, in flesh and blood. It is our purpose to stop that physical threat and thus win the spiritual battle against the evil one.