Greetings Friends and Family of RRUMC,
When I was thinking about my topic for this month’s Circuit Rider, it came out of nowhere. I knew immediately that I wanted to let you, the church, know about a new team that we have formed in the church in the wake of the world in which we are now living.
Our staff was at a training from a company name Security Education Consultants (SEC). They are a company that works with businesses, schools, hospitals, and churches to help them be prepared for any and all kinds of situations that organizations like ours may face.
RRUMC has formed a Safety and Security team that has been affirmed by our Administrative Council and our Trustees to address safety and security within the life of our church and primarily during our Sunday morning worship times. We are all aware, after watching the news in recent weeks, of the things that churches, mosques, and synagogues are dealing with on an all too often basis.
We formed this team to help us get in front of any issues that might come up in our church on a Sunday morning and throughout the week. Our staff has now gone through two 90 minute trainings. The first one was about how the human body reacts to emergency situations. That was to help us be aware of how we will react so that we know how to then respond to whatever the situation may be. The second training involved active emergency scenarios that may face us on a Sunday morning. We talked about weather, fires, threats, disruptive behavior, and even a possible chemical spill just outside the church. It was all about what we do when suddenly faced with those active emergency situations.
It was a great training and so informative. I know that Paul and I will be doing “De-escalation Training” in the very near future to help us deal with many of the scenarios that we walked though in that training. The model that SEC uses has a three step process to help prepare us for whatever situations we may face. It is a process that moves from THINKING to PLANNING to TRAINING.
We, as your staff at RRUMC, want you to know that we are doing all that we can to make sure that every time you come to our church for worship and any other activity that it will be a safe and secure experience.
As you enter our building with that peace of mind, we know that you will be much more open and ready to meet Jesus Christ right in the midst of your story. After all, “It’s All About the Story.”
Peace and Blessings,
Rev. Dan