Articles with church security

Prepare for Teams of Terrorists, Says Gabe Suarez

Gabe Suarez is a no-holds-barred, full-throated, say-what-he-thinks, blunt, honest, speaking-to-the-point firearms and self-defense expert with decades of experience in martial arts and law enforcement, including being a SWAT sniper and assaulter. He was awarded the Police Medal of Valor for a gunfight against three armed robbery-homicide suspects and he’s the founder and trainer of Suarez Tactics, a training and consulting organization focused solely on developing the art of tactics and gunfighting. His YouTube channel is @suareztactics.

On his Patreon site, he’s written the forceful article, You and the Terrorist(s). With his permission, and because it has application for church security teams, we have summarized the article below (but you’ll want to subscribe to his Patreon site, read the full article there, and learn from all the site’s insightful self-defense content). As Gabe Suarez says, “We teach good guys how to prevail against the bad guys. Whether facing a common robber or a terrorist bent on mass murder, we teach you the skills to defeat them, and as well to live a life of excellence.”

[ Bookmark the SemperVerus CHURCH SECURITY INTELLIGENCE CLIPBOARD ]

He begins by pointing to John Lott’s research paper, Do Armed Civilians Stop Active Shooters More Effectively Than Uniformed Police?, in accepting the fact that private citizens defeat active shooters to a greater degree and with better results—collectively—than law enforcement.

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

Mr. Suarez stresses that, in today’s anarchistic world requiring the need of heightened self-defense, “we are not looking for a lone wolf terrorist, nor a drugged up psychiatric patient, but rather—as Sarah Adams notes—a well trained and dedicated terrorist known as a ‘Fedayeen’ (Arabic: ‘those who sacrifice themselves’).” He compares this combatant to the Kamikaze of WW2. He says, “Their goal is to kill as many Americans as possible and to die ‘gloriously’ in the process.”

US Department of Justice Task Force Reports Steps to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias in Government

In accordance with Executive Order 14202, the US Department of Justice Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias has published its 565-total-page report, Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias within the Federal Government, detailing how the Biden Administration’s prosecutions, policies, and practices demonstrated anti-Christian bias throughout the federal government from 2021 to 2025.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Report: US Government “Weaponized Its Full Weight Against Christians” 2021–2024 ]

“No American should live in fear that the federal government will punish them for their faith,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Chair of the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias. “As our report lays out, the Biden Administration’s actions devastated the lives of many Christian Americans. That devastation ended with President Trump. The Department of Justice will continue to expose bad actors who target Christians and work tirelessly to restore religious liberty for all Americans of faith.”

The Ministry of Protection: Why Church Safety Teams Matter and How Serving in the Ministry of Protection Brings Clarity to the Calling

[The following is a guest article by Trevor DeGroote, a safety and protection professional with a background spanning law enforcement, private-sector operations, and consulting services. He’s the author of Serving in the Ministry of Protection: Fulfilling the Call to Faithful Readiness in the House of God.]

In recent years, conversations around church safety have shifted dramatically. What was once considered a distant “what if” has become a practical, deeply necessary part of ministry life. Across the Midwest and beyond, churches are recognizing that the responsibility to create a safe environment for worship is not merely logistical; it’s pastoral. It’s spiritual. It’s an act of service and love.

[ Bookmark the SemperVerus CHURCH SECURITY INTELLIGENCE CLIPBOARD ]

That’s what makes the concept of a church safety team so vital. These groups of volunteers, men and women from within the congregation, stand quietly at the intersection of faith and readiness. Their job is not to control, but to care; not to intimidate, but to ensure peace. When done the right way, a church safety ministry doesn’t make a church feel guarded. It makes it feel secure enough to worship freely.

Checklist: Questions to Ask During a Bomb Threat Call

Arson and explosives are among the weaponized options in the arsenal of terrorists, criminals, anarchists, and the mentally unstable.

[ Bookmark the SemperVerus CHURCH SECURITY INTELLIGENCE CLIPBOARD ]

ISIS and other terrorist entities continue to issue chilling calls for violence, urging radicalized supporters to use improvised explosive devices (IED), and/or set fire, to cause mayhem and damage churches and synagogues around the world.

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of THREAT ANALYSIS ]

Regular propaganda communication to extremists includes bomb-making instructions and complex attack plans using multiple methods, such as fire, IEDs, firearms, and vehicle ramming.

USCIRF 2026 Annual Report: Key Nations Continue Religious Persecution

China arrests underground church members, mob violence is on the rise in India and Pakistan leading to attacks on religious minorities and the destruction of their homes, Burma’s military bombs houses of worship, and Tajikistan denies parents the right to teach their children about faith, according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom‘s (USCIRF) 2026 Annual Report.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, US Agency 2025 Report: 35 Countries Continue to Repress Religious Freedom ]

“As USCIRF’s Annual Report shows, far too many people in key nations are denied religious freedom through unjust laws, discrimination, harassment, violence, and even crimes against humanity,” says USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler.