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Mitigating Attacks on Houses of Worship Security Guide

Terrorists, criminals, anarchists, and disrupters are attacking houses of worship (HoW). They assume HoW are soft targets; gun-free zones where media coverage and notoriety can be easily achieved through defenseless active killing.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A List of Active Killer Incidents at Houses of Worship and Religious Schools ]

In response, more HoW are establishing and training their own armed volunteer security teams.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Enroll in the Sheepdog Church Security Academy Safety Member Certification Program ]

One resource for these teams is the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)‘s 116-page PDF, Mitigating Attacks on Houses of Worship Security Guide.

By semperverus
Posted on 10/08/202510/21/2025

Spiritual First Aid: Youth Mental Health Fact Sheets

It’s not always easy to recognize when a young person is experiencing mental health challenges. Some signs, like changes in sleep, focus, behavior, or school performance, can be easy to miss or misinterpret.

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of MENTAL HEALTH ]

The ministry Spiritual First Aid^™ offers the free downloadable PDF resource, Common Youth Mental Health Challenges Fact Sheets, a packet of 5 quick-reference pages to help you identify common challenges children and teens face—so you can better understand, support, and respond with care to their acting-out behavior.

100 Million Christians Lack Access to the Bible

Somalia ranks #1 on the Bible Access List (BAL) of 88 countries where access to the Bible is blocked by law, actions of religious extremists, or acts by other nonstate actors.

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of the BIBLE ]

The BAL, a new annual assessment, uncovers the stark reality of the lack of Bible access for an estimated 100 million Christians around the globe. The report combines data-driven analysis with contextual understanding and shows where access to the Bible is most restricted and where the shortage among believers is greatest.

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION ]

In Somalia—where 99.7% of the population is Muslim and 0.3% is Christian, according to Operation World—multiple forces of persecution operate simultaneously to restrict Bible access, including Islamic oppression, clan oppression, organized corruption and crime, and dictatorial paranoia, according to BAL’s profile of that country.

A List of Active Killer Incidents at Houses of Worship and Religious Schools

Photo credit: David von Diemar, https://unsplash.com/@davidvondiemar Some people in leadership at churches still question why it’s necessary to have an armed and trained church security/safety team as part of their dedicated ministry efforts.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Active Killer Advice Compendium ]

The following list should be reason enough:

[ Bookmark the SemperVerus CHURCH SECURITY INTELLIGENCE CLIPBOARD ]

• Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters, Brooklyn, New York, Jan. 28, 2026
A 36-year-old driver repeatedly rammed his car into the entrance doors, damaging the building on a night when thousands had gathered there to celebrate. No injuries were reported. Police arrested the man.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, What You Should Know to Prepare for Mobs Invading Church Services ]

• Church of Christ, Pryor Creek, Oklahoma, Dec. 22, 2025
An unprovoked woman armed with a dagger deliberately attacked the pastor, stabbing his hand, chin, and neck, requiring surgery and stitches. Two senior parishioners helped the pastor disarm and subdue the assailant until officers arrived.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, US Dept. of War Elevating Chaplaincy Corps Back to Spiritual Significance ]

• Archer Park, Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, Dec. 14, 2025
Two terrorists—a 50-year-old man and his 24-year-old son—positioned themselves on a small footbridge and opened fire for more than 11 minutes on a Jewish community gathered for the evening annual beach festival, Chanukah by the Sea, attended by many children and families. At least 15 people were killed, and 42 others were injured. The 50-year-old died at the scene, and his son is in custody. A bystander is being hailed as a hero after wrestling the rifle away from one of the gunmen, but was then wounded twice by the other gunman. Several improvised explosive devices were discovered in a vehicle at the scene and disarmed. The event did not have a visible security team present.