Churches are not exempt from theft, violence problems

Although people generally feel that church is a place to pray and literally serves as a sanctuary from society's ills, it's becoming increasingly apparent that criminals and violent people can destroy that sanctity a church affords.

On May 31, George Tiller, the abortion doctor from Kansas, was shot and killed inside a church.

Karl Welsbacher

"Unfortunately, it can happen in Lodi just like it could anywhere else," said Karl Welsbacher, a deacon at St. Anne's Catholic Church.

While a human being wasn't killed, three dead goats were found last Sunday on the grounds of United Congregational Christian Church at Hutchins and Tokay streets.

Larry Brand

In Galt, several churches had expensive musical equipment and other items stolen in December, according to Larry Brand, pastor of The Gathering Place.

And in 2005, someone stole a bolted-down safe at Lodi's Bear Creek Community Church, hours after churchgoers contributed $6,000 for Hurricane Katrina victims.

But at the same time, church leaders will welcome basically anyone into their building, mainly because that's what pastors do.

"Church has become something God never intended," Brand said.

Larry Groves

Larry Groves, pastor of Galt First Baptist Church, said safety is in the forefront of his mind.

"With 20 years as an ordained minister and nearly seven years as a public safety/security director for one of the top 10 retail facilities in Frisco, Texas, I think that physical security and personnel protection is one of the most overlooked areas in the church world," Groves said. "The reality is that this is and should be an important part of everyones' ministry plan."

Welsbacher and Brand say that churches need to be careful of their congregations' safety.

"I think you have to allow anyone who wants in," Welsbacher said. "You can't lock people out."

But you have to use common sense, he added.

Brand added, "The church is no longer a safe place. The reality is that there are classes being taught for church security. I'm getting e-mails about it all the time now."

Some of the larger churches have armed security at services, Brand said.

He knows of a megachurch in Van Nuys that sometimes collects $100,000 in offerings from the congregation on Sundays. The money is taken in an armored vehicle to the bank, Brand said.

At The Gathering Place, people contribute $6,000 to $8,000 a week, Brand said. The Galt church may not have an armored truck, but ushers count the money and put it in a safe, then try to make a bank deposit that night.

"We very seldom have anything at our facility anymore," Brand said.

At St. Anne's, Welsbacher acknowledged, "Our society seems to get more and more corrupt."

Lay volunteers screened by priests count the weekly offerings and put it in a safe, Welsbacher said.

"It's locked up pretty securely, he said. "Very few people even know the combination to it."

St. Anne's is fortunate to have not experienced a major crime or threat of violence, though several years ago, the late Father Thomas Hayes had to tell a man who Welsbacher believes was panhandling parishioners to stay away from the church.

And more recently, Stockton Diocese Bishop Stephen Blaire asked church officials to advise parishioners to not let children use the restroom by themselves.

"People will think that just because we're in church, nobody's going to take their purse or hurt their child in the restroom," Welsbacher said.

But people can come from outside the church and do bad things, he added.

Groves, the First Baptist pastor in Galt, said that church staff should be encouraged to never be alone at the church, but if they must, to lock the doors.

"And then we have to communicate with our staffs and volunteers to ensure that as we are doing everything we can to make everyone welcome, we are also aware of who is coming and going," Groves said. "The local church is a family of believers, and the same rules that apply in making your home safe, apply to making our spiritual houses safe places."

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

Billy Rubin wrote on Jun 13, 2009 1:00 PM:

" "Father Thomas Hayes had to tell a man who Welsbacher believes was panhandling parishioners to stay away from the church."

Father Hayes didn't like the competition.

What do Christians think Jesus of the bible would have told a beggar? The Catholic answer is apparently "Get lost, you're cutting into my territory." "

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