House of Worship Safety Team Training

Our armed congregation security team (Security Level III licensed officers) in November, 2025.

Congregation Safety Team Training

I [Brian] have been doing congregation security of one sort or another since the deadly First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs shooting on November 5, 2017, that took 26 lives and injured 22. No house of worship is immune and my small country congregation in Central Texas asked me, as a Veteran and licensed pistol carrier, to “sit in the back and watch people” as our first security team.

I lived in Vancouver, WA, for four years after that, and I was shown what real security (led by a retired police officer) looks like. Their very professional team had been vetting me for weeks when I started attending (without my even knowing!) because of their layering of personnel. I brought that training and example back with me to San Antonio in 2022.

I established the security team at our Messianic congregation in the city. We are an actual security team with all members licensed as Commissioned Security Officers in the State of Texas. Most churches don’t want or need uniformed, openly carrying officers but since we are both Christian and Jewish, we are aware that we could draw a little extra love from those who might not have the greatest of intentions toward us at our house of worship. We take these extra licensing measures to present a “hard target.”

That said, it was brought to our attention that there is no set STANDARD for congregation safety teams (volunteers in civilian clothing as opposed to to a professionally trained and licensed team) in Texas, and thus there is no education or training available outside of what one can piece together off the shelf.

We have assembled a curriculum to teach safety teams from other courses we teach and train.

In a nutshell, our core class is two days of material everyone (armed and unarmed) should know on a safety team: laws relating to securing a location from attack, violence, vandalism, theft, etc., how to make a legal arrest, use of force continuum, situational awareness, note taking and report writing, conflict resolution, and the use of radios to enhance performance (and how not to let eavesdroppers know what you’re doing!).

Then we can layer on the various levels of firearms training. Having everyone get their LTC ensures an automatic and thorough background check. Our Texas Defender, Warrior, and Champion Experiences take you beyond simply carrying to acquiring new tools to be safer in public, more accurate when in contact, how to survive multiple contacts at once, how to draw from concealment, select the right firearm and ammo for individual and team needs, talk you through choosing a good holster, and several other helpful tools LTC doesn’t teach. We also train how to build a defensive plan for your home that can be easily transferred to the worship environment. 

Finally, we can train people in OC Spray for legal carry in a security environment, handcuffing, and baton use: nonlethal means to subdue a boisterous opponent.

If you are a worship leader or congregation safety team member, reach out to me at [email protected]. let us put together a personalized training curriculum for your congregation. We want to partner with you.