Churches expect more concealed weapons come Sunday

Security plans in place at local places of worship

LONGWOOD, Fla. – At one of the largest churches in the country -- Northland, A Church Distributed based in Longwood --- security is serious.

On Sundays, upwards of 10,000 people pack the sanctuary over multiple services. Armed deputies direct traffic outside the church building and armed plain-clothed officers are inside.

"We have law enforcement on duty that are off-duty law enforcement officers that we hire to be here during our weekend services or any large event that takes place here," said Vernon Rainwater. "We have law enforcement here both for traffic issues and in the building. And a lot of those nobody will know they're here."

Rainwater is responsible for the safety of one of the largest congregations in the United States.

"We know that there's a vulnerability in a church, in a large building, in any building in the community as we've seen, unfortunately we know it all too well in Orlando,"  Rainwater said.

Monday afternoon, Rainwater said the Northland security team, led by a security director trained in corporate security, met to discuss the church's security plan and look for ways to improve.

"So one of the things we talked about today is there are some parts of our campus that we need to pay closer attention to," Rainwater said. "We have eyes on most of the building, even today we realized there's some vulnerable places and we want to shore those up."

Rainwater understands the anxiety after the shooting at a small-town Texas church on Sunday. He stressed that his congregation at Northland is safe because of extensive security protocols.

"People can feel safe here, " Rainwater said. "Other large churches I know do this too - we monitor the comings and goings, we have eyes on just about every square inch of this property, and a team that monitors that continuously. So we know what's happening here and that lends itself to safety."

Rainwater insisted that the best thing any church can do is to have a plan in place in case of an incident. Northland is offering to help any church improve its security plan.

First United Methodist Church in downtown Orlando has had a private security firm in place for years. Senior Pastor Rev. Tom McCloskey said the church has a close relationship with the Orlando Police Department because of its downtown location and there is unarmed security whenever the church is open. McCloskey said at this point there are no plans to add armed security.

St. Luke's Lutheran Church in suburban Oviedo utilizes officers in the congregation to analyze and improve its security plan. The Rev. Wally Arp said the church continues to review its security procedures but armed security at this point is not a consideration.

Both McCloskey and Arp said they are horrified by Sunday's massacre and are keeping Sutherland Springs in their prayers.

Several pastors contacted by News 6 said they understand parishioners may be nervous and some church-goers may consider bringing concealed weapons to church on Sunday. Florida law allows concealed weapon permit holders to bring concealed weapons onto church campuses but not in schools.

Northland Church has affiliates in Texas near Sutherland Springs and is prepared to travel to Texas for support.

"We've already heard from them, we're talking to them about ways we can be present with the folks going through this, " Rainwater said. "We learned this in a dramatic way after the Pulse incident that it's one thing to sit in church and say we pray for people, it's another thing altogether to go and be present where they are and that's what they need, that's what people need."
 


About the Author:

Erik von Ancken anchors and reports for News 6 and is a two-time Emmy award-winning journalist in the prestigious and coveted "On-Camera Talent" categories for both anchoring and reporting.

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