Some tips for maintaining churches as safe sanctuaries

Some tips for maintaining churches as safe sanctuaries

EDITOR:

The issue of church safety is hardly a new one. Over the last several years, a number of criminal incidents have occurred on church property within the City of Youngstown. Such incidents have occurred at Mount Zion Church, located on the East Side, and Holy Trinity Church, located on the South Side. There is little doubt, however, that the recent murder of an elderly woman at St. Dominic Church on the city’s South Side has served as the straw that finally broke the camel’s back. People of faith are saying, “Enough is enough.”

ACTION’s Crime and Safety Committee contends it is time to take steps to protect our churches against rampant crime and violence. The church, after all, should be a place of peace, a safe haven for worshipping and experiencing God’s love and grace, a space that is set apart from the conflicts of the world. As revealed in Daniel 11:32b, “The people who are loyal to their God shall stand firm and take action.”

Although the church should not become a fortress, there is an evident need for the following precautionary steps, that is, if we are to ensure that worshippers will be safe and protected:

1. Plan for the unexpected by developing procedures for various security breaches.

2. Ask local law enforcement officers to discuss church security with church leaders and church staff.

3. Hire off-duty police and encourage church members who are in law enforcement to wear their uniforms.

4. Trim the hedges around windows and doors and make sure the church’s security lights are working properly.

5. Train ushers on how to react in an emergency.

6. Establish a parking lot greeters’ ministry.

7. Make sure that all events are supervised by adults.

8. Develop an action plan for necessary steps to take should someone becomes disruptive during a worship service.

9. Announce to the congregation the worship services will never have a drama that includes violence.

If churches address some of the precautionary steps, we in the community can do our part by organizing Holy Ground Marches and Prayer Vigils.

LEONARD WILLIAMS Sr., chairman

ACTION Crime and Safety Committee

Youngstown

Beware the new aristocracy

EDITOR:

President Thomas Jefferson said, “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” I, therefore, dissent. The Supreme Court of the United States has given the aristocrats all the power they need to create an aristocracy in America.

That could not happen if there were labor power in America. John L. Lewis and Phil Murray would not allow that to happen if they were labor leaders today. Perhaps the modern laborer does not remember the real power of labor. The power that gave the eight-hour day, compensation for injuries received at work, a decent wage, pensions, security of jobs, equal pay for women and men, the right to form a union, the right to a decent wage, and many other benefits, especially the 13 week vacation for those eligible. But the modern laborer must have forgotten what Labor Power can achieve.

One example of the new aristocracy is the control of the Congress. Exxon alone could give $1 million to every senator and congressman through a second party, and it would not be much of a burden to Exxon. Multiply this by the many corporations in our country and one can readily see the power of aristocrats is unlimited. A good example of modern aristocrats could be seen at a house committee meeting when the five men who were testifying were asked to reveal what they earned the year before. The total was $6 billion earned last year. Kings of old, take a back seat; here are the new aristocrats.

ROBERT E. HOPKINS

Hubbard