Church Security Guard Shot - 1 Killed in Los Angeles shooting

From: ABC7 News

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A man was killed and a church security guard was injured Wednesday night when a gunman fired at them in South Los Angeles.

The shooting happened in the 8800 block of South Vermont Avenue shortly before 7 p.m. outside of the 88th Street Temple Church of God in Christ.

Police said a church security guard and a man, identified as 36-year-old John Matthews, were talking outside the church gates when a gunman approached them, said a few words to the men and then opened fire. Both were transported to an area hospital, where Matthews was pronounced dead and the guard was listed in fair condition.

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Troubling Times - North Korea

North Korea's Kim aims rockets at DC, LA, Hawaii and Austin

From: Fox News

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s latest threat is his most specific yet – a vow to strike the U.S. mainland, complete with a photo on the state-run media showing Hawaii, Washington, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, as the targets of choice.

Photos believed to have been taken at an “emergency meeting” Friday appeared in the state-run Rodong newspaper and showed Kim signing an order putting rockets on standby to fire at U.S. targets, the paper said. Behind Kim, a chart titled "U.S. mainland strike plan" can be seen and a map shows missiles arcing into the U.S. locations.

Kim warned Friday he is preparing to "settle accounts with the U.S." after the U.S. deployed B-2 stealth bombers to South Korea to participate in a training exercise Thursday.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/29/north-korea-orders-rocket-prep-b2-drill/#ixzz2Ow0HbETm

Houses of worship not as secure as they should be | Security Director News

From: Security Director News

LOS ANGELES—The Shepherd of the Hills Church here has 10,000 members and four campuses. Almost weekly there is some sort of security incident, said Tim Winters, executive pastor of the non-denominational church...

Churches are soft targets for crime, "no longer the sacred places" they were considered to be a few decades ago, he said. Now that churches have flat-screen TVs, sound equipment, computers and other valuable assets, they're ripe for both internal and external thefts.

"There are tens of thousands of burglaries each year," Hawkins said. "Property crime is most common, but the most costly crime to churches is internal theft."

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http://www.securitydirectornews.com/general-news/houses-worship-not-secure-they-should-be#.USaMqYVlvPs.mailto

Cardinal Mahony Removed From Public Church Duties

From: Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez on Thursday announced dramatic actions in response to the priest abuse scandal, saying that Cardinal Roger Mahony would no longer perform public duties in the church and that Santa Barbara Bishop Thomas J. Curry has stepped down.

Gomez said in a statement that Mahony -- who led the L.A. archdiocese from 1985 to 2011 -- "will no longer have any administrative or public duties."

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Photo from Los Angeles Times

New Sexual Abuse Claims Against Catholic Cardinal in Los Angeles

From: The Washington Post


{Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, for more than 25 years the savvy shepherd of the Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles, retired nearly two years ago to a renovated yellow house behind his childhood parish, pledging to stay in the spotlight by continuing to fight for the rights of immigrants.

But the cardinal now finds himself in a most unwelcome spotlight, one that he sought for years to avoid. Internal church personnel files released this week as part of a civil court case reveal that he and his top adviser knowingly shielded priests accused of child sexual abuse from law enforcement. In one letter, the cardinal ordered a clergyman to stay in New Mexico, where he had been sent for treatment, to avoid the possibility of being reported to the police in California.}

Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/us/mahony-shielded-abusive-priests-documents-show.html?_r=0

Security at Church: I came across this article this morning. As I read through the story, my attention was drawn to the fact that the charges against Cardinal Mahony were NOT related to his direct actions in sexual abuse; however, related to the accusation that he shielded priests and their actions from the police.

Unfortunately, I am starting to see a pattern related to this topic. This is a similar complaint to the story we shared regarding The Rock Church in California. It is also similar to some of the allegations against Sovereign Grace Ministries in Louisville, KY (formerly Gaithersburg, MD). This begs the questions “where are we going wrong within our churches”? How can we prevent this from happening in the future?

As I have stated before on this website, my goal is to shed light on events happening in churches across the country and provide my thoughts along with resources on how to protect your local church from similar events happening at your place of worship. I have no intention of highlighting any one specific church, denomination or religion. Whether it is a Catholic Parish, Baptist Church or Non-denominational place of worship we can all learn from the experiences of others.

NEW: LA Church Killing over Graffiti

From: Seattle PI

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The service was in full swing at the storefront church near downtown when a parishioner spotted a woman spraying graffiti on the building. He told her to stop, and she shoved him to the ground. Two other congregants rushed to his aid.

One of them met his death when a gunman stepped out of a waiting car and opened fire, killing the 25-year-old church deacon and wounding another worshipper.

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Las Vegas Pastor Pleads Guilty to Stealing $650,000 from Church

From: Los Angeles Times

{Parishioners at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, a Catholic church in Las Vegas, were baffled. Why would their beloved pastor steal from their parish?

But steal, he did. Msgr. Kevin McAuliffe stole from the church mission fund. He stole from the gift shop fund. He even stole from the pot of money for votive candles.}

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