CEN convened with house of worship safety experts this fall to prepare churches to "Be Ready."  Christian Emergency Network (CEN) is developing best church safety and security practices from the faith community, finding seasoned trainers, and gathering a pool of emergency plan coaches to help protect churches nationwide from a variety of crises.

“Some of the most gifted, committed and professional experts in the area of church safety gathered with us in November for what is likely to be the first of several powerful meetings in the coming months.  We are combining our experiences, people and processes to best ensure safety and preparedness in our churches,” states Mary Marr, CEN’s founder and CEO.

The summit determined and/or discussed several things, among which were:

• The five top problem areas for church safety and security
• Principles by which safety and security providers should operate
• Best practices for 15 key safety and security issues
• Organizations providing training or consultation within the principled boundaries
• Standards by which to determine expert trainers in these areas
• Availability to cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security to improve communication with houses of worship

These and several other topics were addressed to better forge a successful and efficient effort to keep America’s churches safe from harm and destruction.  “As much as is within our power to do so, we want secure churches; we need them to be alive and well for the seemingly increasing troubled times ahead,” says Marr.  “Scripture teaches us to ‘be ready, in season and out, to share the Hope within,’ and we can only do that if alive and well,” she adds.