By Emma Gibson
CU News Corps

DENVER — Parishioners in Colorado and around the country are questioning what they would do if someone decided to target one of their weekly services or prayer sessions.

Many places of worship in Colorado have responded by creating safety teams to protect their members. No matter the name — active-threat team, life-safety team, security team — the groups’ goals are the same.

Members from churches statewide have volunteered to watch for and try to defuse potentially threatening situations during religious events before someone gets hurt. In some Christian churches, select team members with concealed-carry permits are armed during every event, in case there is a problem.

"I’m hoping that more churches all over the world will begin to practice some type of a safety protocol," said Marcus Ferrell, director of security and safety at Potter’s House Church of Denver. "Terrorism is real and, unfortunately, the church is not left out of that discussion."

It’s been 10 years since the last church shootings in Colorado, but the memory is still fresh for many who live here. On Dec. 9, 2007, Matthew Murray went to a missionary training center on the campus of Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada and New Life Church in Colorado Springs, killing two people in each location.

Around 12:30 a.m., Murray asked Tiffany Johnson, the 26-year old director of hospitality at the missionary training center, if he could stay the night. She let him in, but asked him to leave 30 minutes later. When Murray left the building, he shot and killed Johnson and Philip Crouse, 24, and wounded two other staff members before he ran from the scene. He evaded police for the next 12 hours.

Just after 1 p.m., Murray began shooting in New Life Church’s parking lot. As he walked by the vehicles of the 7,000 parishioners preparing to leave, he killed two sisters as they climbed into their family’s minivan. Neither Stephanie Works, 18, nor her sister — Rachel, 16 — survived.

Murray wounded three more churchgoers before an armed volunteer on New Life Church’s Life-Safety Team wounded him, which led to Murray fatally shooting himself.

After New Life Church’s Life-Safety Team shot Murray, "that kinda put an exclamation point on the necessity of having a formal, full-time program here at New Life — what we call Life-Safety," said Jeff Kowell, the church's director of life safety.

According to a 2016 study published by the University of Alabama, there were 292 mass shootings around the world from 1966 to 2012. Out of those, 90 occurred in the United States. That means 31 percent of the world’s mass shootings happened in this country.

The definition of "mass shooting" varies, but in 2013, President Obama redefined it as a shooting with three or more victims.

From 1982 to today, there have been 86 mass shootings in America’s airports, workplaces, military buildings, schools and churches.

Mother Jones magazine tracks mass shootings in an online open-database that updates every five minutes. Before 2013, the database reflected incidents with four or more victims, but it changed its requirements in 2013 to fit Obama’s definition of mass shootings.

According to the database, five mass shootings have occurred in Colorado since 1982, including three in the last five years.

Dylann Storm Roof committed the last mass shooting in an American church, killing nine people at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., on June 17, 2015. Mother Jones reported three earlier mass shootings on U.S. religious property — one in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., in 2012, one in Brookfield, Wis., at a Living Church of God in 2005, and one in a Baptist church in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1999.

When the number of victims isn’t a factor, the number of shootings on church property spikes. From 1980 to 2005, there have been 137 shootings in churches, including three in Colorado, according to a church-shooting database published by the Center for Homicide Research.

A 1991 church shooting in Wheat Ridge was followed by one in 1992 at a Methodist church in Fort Collins. The third occurred at a Catholic church in Colorado Springs. The 2007 shootings in Aurora and Colorado Springs bring the total number of church shootings in Colorado to five.

The Potter’s House Church of Denver has a three-part security plan, Ferrell said. For each service, two to eight officers from the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Department and uniformed security guards stand guard, as do volunteers from the church’s Safety Team. The first priority for anyone on these teams is to watch over the flock, which can swell to as many as 2,000 people per service.

Ferrell said the officers first and foremost are there to secure the church’s offering and help direct traffic, but they’re also the first responders in case a threat occurs on the church’s 11-acre campus. The Potter’s House’s contract with the Sheriff’s Department only applies to church events, but during the week a uniformed security team protects the church’s staff and school. Ferrell said each team member is armed with a gun.

However, only a portion of the 15 to 20 volunteers that make up the Safety Team during an average service have guns. Three to five of these members have their concealed-carry permit and are armed during church events, Ferrell said. He chooses these members based on their history with firearms, their character and their ability to talk someone down before any weapons are drawn. Coincidentally, most of these members are retired military and law enforcement.

Ferrell decided that if there were a situation on church property, the number of armed Safety Team members needed to be low in order to reduce loss of life.

"You’re already dealing with chaos if you have to use your weapon," Ferrell said, "and then to think about what’s beyond your target in the event that you do not hit your mark are innocent people."

Ferrell said The Potter’s House always had security precautions in place, but the 2007 shootings on the campuses of Faith Bible Chapel and New Life Church spurred it to increase its security.

New Life Church increased its Life-Safety team as well. Kowell did not want to say how many members the team has, but confirmed that it's five times the size it was before the shooting.

"Back in 2006, the thought of churches having violence was pretty far-fetched," Ferrell said. "From that point to today, it seems like it’s almost every week in the news you hear about the church having some type of crime occurring."

After the 2007 shootings, the safety teams at New Life Church and Potter’s House started training with a new purpose.

In their quarterly trainings, Ferrell’s team members focus on how to respond when other non-Safety Team members produce a weapon, because sometimes people try to help stop the threat on their own. The group also learns how to lock down the church, how to deescalate a verbal or physical threat and how to guide the crowd in the event of an emergency — be it an active shooter or a fire.

Both Ferrell and Kowell require armed volunteers to pass two range qualifications per year in order to remain on the team.

"With the climate of society," Ferrell said, a domestic dispute "can erupt into something with weapons."

The goal of a safety team, Kowell said, is "to keep the peace."

" ‘Watchfulness’ is probably one of the keywords that make this program work," he said.

Megachurches aren’t the only houses of worship that could benefit from adopting security protocols and training their parishioners, Ferrell said. He believes that no matter the size of the congregation, at least one person should be trained to respond to an emergency. A small prayer meeting incited Roof to shoot nine people in the 2015 Charleston incident.

Kowell and other safety directors at religious organizations in Colorado Springs created the Faith-Based Security Coalition to better connect places of worship to each other and the Colorado Springs Police Department during a crisis.

The group of leaders from Christian churches, a mosque and a synagogue established the coalition so that no one would have to build up their security protocols alone.

"Why reinvent the wheel when someone else is doing something great," Kowell said.

Some religious institutions said keeping their security precautions private is the best defense against a possible threat.

At Temple Sinai in Denver, Jody — who did not want to divulge her last name for privacy reasons — chose not to comment on the security measures at the synagogue.

Jeff Galasso, facility manager at Faith Bible Chapel, chose not to comment on the details of the church’s security precautions, but said there are five police officers on the property during church events. These officers help with traffic and security.

Because Faith Bible Chapel had an active shooter on its campus in 2007, Galasso said he hopes the police presence will deter future tragedies.

"In February, we had some vandalism at the mosque. Someone threw a rock into one of our windows, and since then we’ve decided to take extra security precautions," said Iman Jodeh, a spokesperson for the Colorado Muslim Society. However, she, too, chose not to disclose the specifics.

She said the Department of Justice and private security firms reached out to other mosques in the area to help prepare parishioners for bomb threats, active shooters and vandalism.

"If a mosque, or any place of worship, is located in a place where there are threats at a much higher level, then yes, I think armed safety groups makes sense," Jodeh said. "But then again, I think every case is different, and that’s something each place of worship needs to measure for themselves before determining if that is the right protocol."

Lt. Jim Byrne, spokesman for Fort Collins Police Services, said "waiting for police officers to respond will not always be timely in a critical situation. I think it’s a wise thing for organizations to do, as long as there’s some balance" between paranoia and preparedness.

He also said it’s "a valuable tool" for a safety team, well-trained in emergency response, to already be on the scene of an active-threat. He noted that they need "mindset" and situational training.

If a safety teams knows how to respond to the arrival of law-enforcement, on top of being able to responsibly handle an emergency before FCPS arrives, he said, it’s easier for its officers to understand the situation and get it under control.

Regardless of the incident, Byrne said, a volunteer needs to handle a situation appropriately and know when to talk someone down and when to take physical action.

When church members disagree with the idea of an armed protection detail during services at Potter’s House, Ferrell "refers them to Christ." He retells the story of Jesus' arrest and emphasizes that Peter had a weapon and cut off the centurion’s ear.

"Peter was basically like a bodyguard," Ferrell said. "Peter was the armed security that rolled with these disciples."





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Concerns about potential voter intimidation have spurred several states to consider banning firearms at polling sites but so far, New Hampshire is not among them.

Only a dozen states and Washington, D.C., prohibit both open and concealed-carry weapons at voting locations.

Emma Brown, executive director of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said most of the bans were enacted after the 2020 election, when unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud took hold.

"The risk of gun violence at the polls is heightened," Brown contended. "Which means that legislation at the state level is even more critical than it ever has been."

Brown argued America's elections are free and fair, and prohibiting guns at polling sites and government locations is constitutional. Opponents countered the bans unfairly disarm law-abiding gun owners.

Recent surveys reveal election workers have faced increased threats and harassment since the 2020 election with one in three reporting some form of abuse. And nearly half of election workers said they are concerned for their colleagues' safety.

Brown pointed out armed intimidation tactics disproportionately target people of color and add to the growing exodus of election workers.

"This is a threat that we can't ignore," Brown stressed. "These attacks have also served as a deterrent to Black and brown election workers, who've historically been a really key part of ensuring that our democracy endures on Election Day."

As state legislatures consider banning guns at voting sites, legislation in Congress known as the "Vote Without Fear Act" would place a nationwide ban on weapons within 100 feet of a federal election facility, with exceptions for on-duty law enforcement and security personnel. It has been languishing in a House committee for a year.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Nassau County's executive wants to deputize residents who hold gun permits.

County Executive Bruce Blakemen's plan involves training 100 residents for "the protection of human life and property during an emergency." Little else has been made public about the plan but it has been met with widespread opposition and concern.

Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, minority leader of the Nassau County Legislature, said there are many ways it can go wrong.

"Emergencies are very chaotic situations by nature and all of a sudden, someone shows up that a police officer might not recognize or isn't identified correctly," DeRiggi-Whitton pointed out. "We're just waiting for a disaster to happen."

She added some Nassau County police officers are against the plan and, like many others, feel it's unnecessary. Blakeman said he is relying on New York State County Law 655, which grants sheriffs authority to deputize added personnel for emergencies.

DeRiggi-Whitton noted legal options are being pursued to stop the plan from being enacted.

The lack of information has made residents anxious about what the plan would do. Some have said the effort, along with Blakeman's ban on female trans athletes in county athletic facilities, are solutions without problems.

Susan Gotthrer, director of the Nassau Regional Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said more pressing issues need to be addressed.

"We have real problems in Nassau County," Gotthrer argued. "We have housing shortages, we have lack of opportunities, we have education issues, high taxes. We would really like to see Mr. Blakeman putting his energies towards real governing issues and not imaginary ones like this."

Blakeman is not alone in pushing to deputize gun owners. Support for militias is growing among conservative politicians. Some residents are worried the armed people will be used to intimidate voters at or after the 2024 election. Nassau County is considered one of the safest counties, not just in the state but in the nation.


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April is National Volunteer Month, and Nebraskans rank high nationwide for their willingness to volunteer.

In the most recent Census Bureau/AmeriCorps report, Nebraska ranked seventh in the nation for formal volunteering and second for informal volunteering.

However, many nonprofits still need more help.

Central Nebraska Community Action Partnership in Loup City serves 21 counties with programs in housing, early childhood, family outreach and community health. It serves 72 counties with its veterans programs.

Executive Director Cheryl Holcomb said it would struggle to offer these services without volunteers.

"Throughout our agency, it is vital - vital that we have volunteers that provide services as well," she said. "We always have a need for more."

Holcomb explained that for their Head Start programs, volunteers do more than help the teachers and children. Their hours also contribute to the 25% match the program's grant funding requires. Volunteer time is valued at nearly $32 an hour, and most grants count volunteer hours as an "in-kind" match. Nationally, women volunteer at a slightly higher rate than men, and Gen-Xers have the highest percentage by age group.

Like other nonprofits providing food assistance, Holcomb said they've seen an increase in need without an accompanying increase in volunteers. She added that the funding for its Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which serves people 60 and older, isn't sufficient to support the program.

"So, relying on volunteers to help offset that program is crucial," she said. "They rely on volunteers to come in and package the food; they rely on volunteers to make deliveries in the specific community."

Central Nebraska Community Action Partnership also relies on volunteers at its two food pantries, a quarterly mobile food pantry and four food warehouses.

There are nine Community Action agencies across the state. Although their programs vary, Holcomb said, all rely on volunteers.