{"id":31568,"date":"2022-09-10T15:35:31","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/how-frequently-do-church-shootings-occur\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:35:31","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:35:31","slug":"how-frequently-do-church-shootings-occur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/how-frequently-do-church-shootings-occur\/","title":{"rendered":"How Frequently Do Church Shootings Occur?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-99888 is-style-default\">Skitterphoto &#8211; Pexels<\/div>\n<p><strong>Since the Columbine school shooting on April 20, 1999, there have been 23 fatal church shootings.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>By Aaron Earls<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Since the Columbine school shooting on April 20, 1999, there have been 23 fatal church shootings. The deadliest was the 2017 shooting at First Baptist Sutherland Springs in Texas, with 26 deaths including an unborn child.<\/p>\n<p>After three fatal church shootings in 2017, none occurred in 2018 and 2019 until a gunman opened fire at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas on Dec. 29, 2019. After another two-year absence in 2020 and 2021, four fatal church shootings have already taken place in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The most church shootings and most deadly have taken place in Texas. Four church shootings have happened in Texas, while Georgia has had three. The two most recent were in California. World Changers Church in College Park, Georgia, has been the site of two incidents.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the locations of all the fatal church shootings since Columbine.<\/p>\n<div class='code-block code-block-1' style='margin: 8px 0;clear: both'> <\/div>\n<ul class=\"has-normal-font-size\">\n<li>1999 Wedgewood Baptist Church\u00a0in Fort Worth, Texas<\/li>\n<li>2001 Greater Oak Missionary Baptist Church\u00a0in Hopkinsville, Kentucky<\/li>\n<li>2002 Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church\u00a0in Lynbrook, New York<\/li>\n<li>2003 Turner Monumental AME Church in Kirkwood, Georgia<\/li>\n<li>2005 Living Church of God in Brookfield, Wisconsin<\/li>\n<li>2005 World Changers Church in College Park, Georgia<\/li>\n<li>2006 Zion Hope Missionary Baptist in Detroit, Michigan<\/li>\n<li>2006 Ministry of Jesus Christ Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana<\/li>\n<li>2007 First Presbyterian Church in Moscow, Idaho<\/li>\n<li>2007 First Congregational Church in Neosho, Missouri<\/li>\n<li>2007 New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado<\/li>\n<li>2008 First Baptist Church in Maryville, Illinois<\/li>\n<li>2009 Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas<\/li>\n<li>2012 World Changers Church in College Park, Georgia<\/li>\n<li>2015 Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina<\/li>\n<li>2017 Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee<\/li>\n<li>2017 First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas<\/li>\n<li>2017 St. Alphonsus Church in Fresno, Texas<\/li>\n<li>2019 West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas<\/li>\n<li>2022 The Church In Sacramento in Sacramento, California<\/li>\n<li>2022 Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California<\/li>\n<li>2022 Cornerstone Church in Ames, Iowa<\/li>\n<li>2022 St. Stephen\u2019s Episcopal Church in Vestavia Hills, Alabama<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In addition to these incidents at Christian churches, fatal shootings have happened at other religious sites, including at a Jewish synagogue, a Benedictine monastery, a Sikh temple, and an Amish school.<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear:both;margin-top:0em;margin-bottom:1em\">\n<div class=\"centered-text-area\">\n<div class=\"centered-text\" style=\"float: left\">\n<div class=\"u948ea674805e15c25b1a8dad543643b8-content\">See also&nbsp; The Power of the Ordinary Moments<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ctaButton\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>Prevention of church shootings<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Deadly incidents are on the rise at churches, says Carl Chinn, a church security expert. According to his research, there had never been a mass murder (four or more killed) associated with a faith-based property before 1963.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, around 4 in 5 Protestant pastors (80%) say their church has some type of security measure in place when they gather for worship, according to a survey from Lifeway Research.<\/p>\n<p>The most common form of preparation is making an intentional plan. Almost 2 in 3 pastors (62%) say their church has an intentional plan for an active shooter situation.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Chinn says, \u201cMost churches spend far more time and money training their choir than they do investing in the safety of their staff and guests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chinn knows pastors often think the odds are in their favor and more than likely they\u2019ll never have to deal with a serious security threat in their church.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are absolutely right,\u201d he&nbsp;acknowledges. \u201cOdds are their church will never face a serious threat. But if their congregation does face a serious threat, the odds won\u2019t matter much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For those looking to become better prepared, Chinn advises churches to work with other leaders in the area.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWork with your community first and foremost,\u201d he says. \u201cKnow your law enforcement and fellow faith-based safety operators in your area on a first-name basis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Working with other safety professionals like those at area schools is also a good idea, according to Chinn. \u201cDon\u2019t be a silo of information,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>For churches looking for simple steps to make themselves more secure, Chinn offers these nine guidelines.<\/p>\n<ol class=\"has-normal-font-size\">\n<li>Confirm support from your church\u2019s leadership team.<\/li>\n<li>Do a baseline readiness evaluation.<\/li>\n<li>Start with what you have, where you are.<\/li>\n<li>Keep it simple.<\/li>\n<li>Keep it legal.<\/li>\n<li>Know your insurance agent and policies.<\/li>\n<li>Network with your community.<\/li>\n<li>Train and drill.<\/li>\n<li>Develop policies and procedures.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-profile-box square gb-has-avatar gb-font-size-18 gb-block-profile gb-profile-columns\">\n<div class=\"gb-profile-column gb-profile-avatar-wrap\">\n<div class=\"gb-profile-image-wrap\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gb-profile-column gb-profile-content-wrap\">\n<h2 class=\"gb-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Aaron Earls<\/h2>\n<p class=\"gb-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">@WardrobeDoor<\/p>\n<div class=\"gb-profile-text\">\n<p>Aaron is a writer for LifewayResearch.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ul class=\"gb-social-links\"><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-box su-box-style-default\" id=\"\" style=\"border-color:#000000;border-radius:0px\">\n<div class=\"su-box-title\" style=\"background-color:#333333;color:#FFFFFF;border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px\">Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-box-content su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"border-bottom-left-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px\">\n<div class=\"one-third first\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"two-thirds\">\n<h3> Serving by Safeguarding Your Church<\/h3>\n<p>Randall D. Engle<\/p>\n<p>  FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class='yarpp yarpp-related yarpp-related-website yarpp-template-thumbnails'>\n<h3>Related posts:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"yarpp-thumbnails-horizontal\">  Americans Open to Most Churches, Regardless of Denomination  What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times?  What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Skitterphoto &#8211; Pexels Since the Columbine school shooting on April 20, 1999, there have been 23 fatal church shootings. By Aaron Earls Since the Columbine school shooting on April 20, 1999, there have been 23 fatal church shootings. The deadliest was the 2017 shooting at First Baptist Sutherland Springs in Texas, with 26 deaths including &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/how-frequently-do-church-shootings-occur\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;How Frequently Do Church Shootings Occur?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31568\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}