Americas Faith Community American Culture - 1459 Words

WHY: For most of the 20th Century, America’s Faith Community enjoyed the luxury of reposeful sanctuary within their Houses of Worship. Such places were considered â€Å"off limits† for acts of crime and mayhem by most Americans. Reality often mirrored this anticipation. Even the criminal element looked with great disdain upon those victimizing churches and synagogues. However, immunity to the problems slowly began to deteriorate. The lawless began to view holy and sacred locations as merely wealthy soft targets overseen by the forgiving and the naive. The general respect that was once accustomed from American culture started to erode as well; only exasperating the situation. By 2001, the reality that world level terrorism could also†¦show more content†¦Those who have dared to consider the realities of today’s violent and dangerous world often find themselves with few resources from which to draw from. The usual source prevailed upon by churches is local Law Enforcement, who generously offer suggestions and ideas. Nevertheless, such assistance – however valuable – is usually generic and not necessarily location specific. The resources to offer specific and continuing advice and suggestions are usually not within an Enforcement Agency’s ability to deliver. APPLICATION TO SPRING LAKE CHURCH: Spring Lake Church (SLC) is no exception to these circumstances. There are few, if any, safety policies, security procedures, or other such plans. By default, SLC, like many faith-based (and in reality, secular based) organizations rely mostly on the hope that past history will be the indicator of the future events. This void in safety and security measures can affect church attendees, but staff are potentially more vulnerable due to the amount of regularly scheduled time spend on campus. Creation of specific plans, policies and procedures covering safety and security matters at SLC as a whole are not yet a reality. They certainly are a realistic probability in the near future; and should be. In the meantime, several topics and issues independent of such elements are available for sharing with SLC staff