‘Protecting the flock while inviting the wolves’

Stephen Willeford sees church security as a ministry—the ministry of the sheepdog. He confronted and pursued the shooter who killed 26 worshippers at a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, in 2017. “Jesus will leave the 99 to find the one sheep, and while he is gone, he expects his sheepdogs to protect the flock,” he said. Willeford travels and speaks about church security and gun rights. “If you don’t think it can happen, you’re fooling yourself,” he said.

Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, had taken steps to prepare for violence before a hostage situation broke out on Jan. 15 during Saturday worship. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker said training he received from the FBI, Colleyville Police Department, and the Anti-Defamation League all helped him remain calm and thoughtful as 44-year-old Malik Faisal Akram held him and three others hostage.

Cytron-Walker let Akram into the synagogue when he knocked on the glass door that morning and appeared to need shelter. This simple act of welcome resulted in a 10 hour standoff. Akram released one hostage, and Cytron-Walker escaped with the two others when he threw a chair at Akram.

“When I took him in, I stayed with him. Making tea was an opportunity to talk with him,” the rabbi told CBS Mornings. “It was during prayer … I heard a click. And it could have been anything, and it turned out it was his gun.” During the standoff, Akram, a British national, demanded the release of a suspected al-Qaeda supporter who is in prison in the United States. Akram was killed when a SWAT team entered the church after the hostages escaped.

The hostage situation in Colleyville has re-prompted houses of worship to consider the balance between welcoming all people and protecting their congregations. Cory Knopp, a federal park ranger and Austin Police Department member, helped design the security plan for a large evangelical church in Austin, Texas. (WORLD agreed not to name the congregation to protect its security.) Knopp has taught many civilian response active shooter events, a class put on by Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) and Texas State University.

“The important thing at the end of the day is training. We need to stop being reactive or surprised when these things happen,” he said. Knopp believes that a uniformed officer effectively deters many troublemakers, though having covert off-duty law enforcement or security inside is also important.

Twin Lakes Fellowship takes a different approach. After the 2019 shooting at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, the church mapped out security policies that fit the smaller congregation in Austin, Texas. “I wouldn’t have considered getting a license to carry, but church shootings kept happening in Texas,” says Luke Hoeft, a member of the security team who also serves as the worship and youth leader.

A few armed deacons and volunteers hand out bulletins and watch for anything out of the ordinary, lock the doors during service, and guard the children’s building. A member who retired from the Navy felt led to take charge. Almost the whole security team is retired military. “Doing something is better than doing nothing. It’s about being prepared with the volunteers that you do have,” Hoeft says.

Gatekeepers Security Services operates a state licensed armed security school in Texas and has trained and licensed almost 500 church security operators. “A chair is not the ideal weapon … something could have gone terribly wrong,” Gatekeepers President Chuck Chadwick said about Cytron-Walker’s escape from his hostage-taker. Gatekeepers train security operators who wear plain clothes and carry handguns. Chadwick prefers this strategy to churches hiring uniformed officers because a uniform can make them targets for attackers.

Rudi Rudisell heads the security ministry at Riverview Church in Bonsall, Calif. He and his wife started Sheepdog Ministries (the sheepdog is a common symbol in church security circles) and designed a training curriculum with their son. All three have law enforcement and military experience.

“We don’t want to turn people off by being overly aggressive,” Rudisell said. His website describes it as “protecting the flock while inviting the wolves.” Their strategy also emphasizes “layered security” by collaborating with many different ministries like the ushers and Sunday school teachers. Rudisell emphasizes that hospitality and security do not have to be at odds with one another.

So does Congregation Tiferet Israel, one of three synagogues located on the Jewish Community Center (JCC) campus in Austin, Texas. President Joshua Rosenberg says security can be difficult for independent synagogues. At Tiferet Israel attendees must go through JCC security before entering. Strangers stick out from the small congregation. He said the attack in Colleyville reinforced the congregation’s need for vigilance: “It’s a deliberate process rather than an accidental one.”