Articles with training

Mental Health Toolkit: A Free Resource for Self-Defense and Church Security

Mental illnesses are common in the United States, affecting more than one in five US adults (57.8 million in 2021), according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Estimates suggest that only half of people with mental illnesses receive treatment.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Church Security: How to Identify 25 Common Mental Health Behaviors ]

With your involvement in church security/safety, you’ve likely witnessed the growing struggles with mental health evidenced in unusual behavior by some in your services and among people in your congregation, since church is where broken people are drawn to find meaning in their lives.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A Prayer for Church Security Team Members ]

Recognizing the signs of common mental health challenges is crucial for responding appropriately when disruptions occur.

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A Treasure Trove of Gun Information: The Defensive Use of Firearms Website

The website you ABSOLUTELY MUST bookmark if you are at all interested in learning as much as you can about self-defense and firearm insight is spwenger’s Defensive Use of Firearms.

It’s founded and maintained by Stephen P. Wenger, whose extensive credentials include hundreds of hours of law enforcement, self-defense, lethal force, armorer, public safety, and threat management training and teaching. He created the site in response to his frustration with seeing erroneous defensive tactics being taught by firearms instructors.

Along with the website, Mr. Wenger publishes the DUF Digest, a comprehensive examination of the practicalities and realities of the use of firearms for defensive purposes in a free, daily email digest of firearm-related news (subscribe at this list server site). He is also the author of the book, Defensive Use of Firearms (also see book information on Snub Gun Study Group), which he offers as a free PDF download.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Directory: Informative Free Email Newsletters From a Variety of Sources ]

The website’s valuable information is organized in the following categories:

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Church Security: How to Identify 25 Common Mental Health Behaviors

Church security teams serve their congregations by overseeing the safety and decorum of church gatherings. Part of the training for team members includes the ability to quickly and correctly assess the reasons behind the disruptive behaviors of individuals during those events.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Self-Defense and Church Security: Make Scanning Your Priority ]

Determining whether a person is unruly due to a mental health crisis or to an intentional violent motive will influence the proper response required to keep the peace.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Chart: The Spectrum of Potential Threat Personas in Self-Defense and Church Security ]

The ministry Spiritual First Aid™ offers the free PDF resource, 25 Common Mental Health Fact Sheets, that helps identify the signs, symptoms, and triggers of mental health conditions people may struggle with; it’s a tool that can assist security team members in ascertaining whether de-escalation tactics or more extreme measures are necessary.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Gentle Response De-Escalation Training for Church Security Teams ]

For example, the fact sheet on Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) states that this “is a mental health condition characterized by recurrent, sudden episodes of impulsive, aggressive, violent behavior, or angry verbal outbursts that are disproportionate to the situation. These episodes are typically brief and may result in physical harm to others, damage to property, or significant emotional distress, and they often lead to feelings of remorse or regret afterwards.”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Tactical Training for Individuals and Church Security Teams to Thwart Active Violence Incidents (Part 2 ]

This comprehensive set of 25 fact sheets offers insights on the following topics:

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Church Security at Temporary Rental Property: An Interview with Steven Jansen

If you’d like to be interviewed to share best practices of your own church security/safety team, contact SemperVerus by emailing staytrue@semperverus.com.

A church plant is defined as the process of starting a new, local gathering of Christian believers for corporate worship and group edification. Often church plants are sponsored by established churches as a way of reaching people outside of their immediate areas. Church plants usually begin holding weekly services in some type of rental location with the objective of eventually constructing and owning their own facility. The practices of church security in rented space can vary from those in owned property. SemperVerus interviewed Steven Jansen, the leader of a church safety team at a church plant in Michigan.

Why does your church believe it’s important to have a security/safety team?
Our church safety team exists to ensure a safe and secure environment in which our congregation and guests have an opportunity to worship our Lord.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A Prayer for Church Security Team Members ]

What training do you see as being important for team members?
The Active Violence Incidents training Del Kostanko of Blue Arrow Consultants recently did for us (and has in some form for the last three years) is one of the most important training we do. I believe in his training so much that I would say anyone who has a CPL (Concealed Pistol License) should take his class! * Anyone who has a CPL on our team is also required to go to a group shoot with all of us each year.

Another training that we do is CPR/AED training. We have a meeting every year to go over what we’re supposed to be doing, how to do what we’re supposed to be doing, and go over any changes and improvements we can make.

We have multiple medical first responders who have their own required training outside of church for their state emergency medical license and we have a couple guys involved in CPL classes who have separate training for that as well.

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