Interview With John Correia of Active Self Protection About Church Security Teams

SemperVerus interviewed John Correia, founder and owner of Active Self Protection, which has as its mission, “To help others develop the Attitude, Skills, and Plan to better protect themselves and their loved ones from harm” through research-informed evidence-based lessons.

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What are your recommendations for church security team members for crowd control and threat management based on the White House Correspondents Association Dinner shooting?
They’re actually very different kinds of incidents. The WHCA Dinner is venue security and executive protection which is very different than church safety. A church safety team functions best as part of hospitality and caregiving, not as security.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, WHCA Dinner Shooter: Is Your Situational Awareness Keen Enough? ]

What are some of the lessons ASP teaches in its “Self-Defense and the Way of Jesus” presentation?
It’s a multi-hour presentation, but our focus is on spiritual fitness first and foremost and developing a warm, growing, healthy relationship with Jesus as the core of our being. Self-defense as a principle is part of that, but of course, we need to consider use of force and deadly force in light of the person and work of Jesus on our behalf and on behalf of someone who threatens us. So, minimizing force, being a good, sane, sober, moral, prudent person, honoring the image of God in each person, and also having the emotional and spiritual stability to set and enforce healthy boundaries is the core of the message.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A Prayer for Church Security Team Members ]

Why are you personally convinced of the importance of a church forming its own security team?
No one else can do it for you. No outside force can keep your congregation safe, period. And that’s from incidents as small as a child with a boo-boo all the way up to an active killer.

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

Why should church security team members regularly watch ASP’s video analyses? What principles can they apply in their church contexts?
While we do cover church incidents when they arise, the main value for church safety teams in learning from the daily ASP analyses is to have mental reps of real situations that happened to real people, giving team members a broad experience of actual incidents to draw from in their own encounters.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Self-Defense and Church Security Lessons by John Correia Reviewing an Attempted Carjacking ]

Do you advocate for a church to have both unarmed and armed security team volunteers? If so, why?
The carriage of firearms is highly individual and context-dependent. I recommend that all people consider carrying a firearm, whether they are on a team or not. Remember that a firearm is a unitasker; a tool of last resort that only solves one problem. The vast majority of problems a church safety team will encounter will have nothing to do with using firearms, so team members must know that. It’s not a fire team, it’s a safety team.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Church Security Armament Recommendations By Tom Givens, John Correia, and 6 Other Professionals ]

You are known for creating acrostics to help remember defensive strategies and tactics. What acrostics have you developed explicitly for issues faced by church security team members?
There’s nothing explicitly for churches, though all of the acrostics and memory aids we use are helpful.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Active Self Protection Self-Defense Checklists and Acrostics ]

What skills should a church security volunteer seek to perfect?
First and foremost, connection skills. The ability to connect with people. Then de-escalation skills and problem-solving skills. LEAPSS method of communication. Those would be my first.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Gentle Response De-Escalation Training for Church Security Teams ]

How can a church security team stay informed about potential threats in its community to its services and events?
Having a good relationship with the local PD and Sheriff’s Office is a good start.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Checklist: Church Security/Safety Equipment ]

What are a few of the threats that a church could encounter and should be prepared for?
Medical is the biggest one by a mile. Weather depends on location, but in some places could be a very important part. Kids’ safety is important, especially the prevention of abuse of children physically or sexually in church events, as is dealing with mentally ill people or those having a psychotic break. Clergy sexual abuse prevention is often overlooked but critical.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Self-Defense Includes First-Aid Defense: Turn to ProTrainings to Learn ]

How should church security leaders recruit team members?
It must, in my opinion, be much less about being a ninja squad and much more about being part of hospitality and providing a warm, stable, loving environment grounded in safety for people to learn to live like Jesus. Recruit by building people up and asking them to help you build others up…you know, disciple-making. 🙂

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of SPIRITUAL FITNESS ]

What frequency and methods (dry-fire, table top, range, etc.) of training do you recommend?
Yes to all. Dry practice with firearms is super useful and takes 15-30 minutes a week, maybe. Range trips are great, but should be focused on skill improvement.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Church Security Demands a Higher Standard Than Mere Every Day Carry ]

What should be the mindset of a church security volunteer?
“I am here to be the hands and feet of Jesus and help people connect to him.”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Free Online Educational Resources to Grow Your Spiritual Knowledge ]

How can people sign up for the ASP newsletter, podcast, and Unlimited App?
Go to our websites:

Also watch John Correia’s Church Safety Training Videos on YouTube.

— Read other interviews on SemperVerus —

BIO: John Correia founded Active Self Protection in 2011 to teach people in all walks of life to develop the attitude, skills, and plan to defend themselves and their families from harm. He is a nationally-recognized subject matter expert in private citizen defensive encounters and law enforcement use of force, a master firearms instructor, martial artist, court-admitted expert witness, and teacher of teachers whose passion is to help people better protect themselves and their loved ones from criminal violence.

— Get the SemperVerus booklet, The Case for Biblical Self-Defense —

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