“Safe & Secure: A Practical Workshop on Church Security” will be held on Friday, June 8, 2018 at 7:00-10:00 p.m. The free event will be held at the First Church of the Open Bible at 2200 Beaver Ave., Des Moines, IA 50310.
John McLaughlin will be the keynote speaker at this one-night event designed for pastors, church leaders, church security team members, and those who want to receive practical, useful information to make their churches more safe and secure. Breakout sessions will also be offered. The lead sponsors for the event are 99.3 FM The Truth Network and Armour Tech.
For three decades, meteorologist John McLaughlin used his training and tools like weather radar, storm spotters, and remote sensors to warn viewers of KCCI to dangerous weather. Now medically retired due to an autoimmune disease, McLaughlin has turned his focus to helping churches stay safe.
“In 2017, 35 people lost their lives in tornadoes across the United States,” Mclaughlin says, “but many are surprised when I tell them that 118 people died in violence in churches and on faith-based properties, including 26 in the massacre at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.”
McLaughlin says God laid church security on his heart last fall after his TV career had ended. “I’ve been teaching defensive handgun classes to Iowans for a decade, but I hadn’t really stopped to think how my background in both meteorology and aviation has prepared me to help others in a new way,” says the 54-year-old, now living near Jefferson, IA. “Everything with severe weather is about observing, detecting patterns, and recognizing a threat ahead of time to warn others. That’s exactly what our churches need to be doing.”
Tickets are free, but people must register on the workshop’s Eventbrite page to attend.
