Glade Springs Site Visit

I had the opportunity to visit Glade Springs, VA last week and tour some of the disaster sites from the tornado that destroyed this town. As noted in my previous post, local churches were the ones that were looked to for help to provide disaster services to the community. Here are a few of the pictures that I took.

 This was a church in Glade Springs, VA that was leveled!

This was an apartment complex in Glade Springs, VA

This is in Abingdon, VA. Off in the distance you can see a barn that was leveled! You can also see how the trees are missing from the mountain side.

This is part of the historic Creeper Trail in Abingdon, VA. A F3 Tornado pick up this bridge and turned it into tooth picks. 

Local Churches Provide Disaster Assistance

The following story was written last week by the associated press. You will notice in the story that local churches were the ones that were looked to in order to provide support for those who were devastated by this tragedy. Think about your church and if you have a plan to react in the event of a disaster in your local community.

GLADE SPRING, Va. (AP) - "Two tornado-relief centers in Washington County are closing as the focus of recovery has shifted to rebuilding structures the storm destroyed.

Joy Baptist Church and Old Glade Presbyterian Church housed relief centers, where volunteers helped collect and distribute items to tornado victims. Organizers at the churches say the centers are closing this week.

Four people were killed in Washington County when the April 28 tornado swept through southwest Virginia, destroying numerous buildings and injuring 50 people.

Old Glade's relief center coordinator Elaine Smythe tells the Bristol Herald Courier that people can best help by donating money or buying specific construction supplies.

Glade Spring Baptist Church and Glade Spring Fire Department will keep their centers open for the next couple weeks."

Hat Tip: Mike Allen, Politico

Preventing Theft of Valuable Metals from Churches

Should this come to the United States next?

From: The Northern Echo

"A NEW security system aimed at preventing the theft of lead and other valuable metals from buildings is being trialled by a North-East firm.

The Vipa Defender system is being tested at St Paul’s Church, in Spennymoor, County Durham, and St Mary’s Church, in Darlington, before being made available throughout the country.

It has been developed by Vipa UK, which is based in Darlington, in response to the soaring levels of metal thefts – now said to account for a quarter of all crime."

Click for article and more information

New: Church Safety and Security Conference

San Diego National Church Safety and Security Conference
June 23rd and 24th, 2011 

From: The Rock Church

"Every Church needs to be prepared for the real challenges we all face. From the smallest to the largest congregation, we all need to have the skills and awareness to best serve our members, our communities and our God in the safest way possible. Learn how to Plan, Protect, and Recover from potential hazards in our uncertain world."

Thursday 8:00am
Pastor Miles McPherson
SR. PASTOR ROCK CHURCH

Welcome Message.

Thursday 10:00am
Lt. Dave Dalton
RET LAPD, PRESIDENT ASIS,INFRAGARD BOARD

Earthquakes: prepare yourself, your home, your workplace and your church and recover from the next major seisimic event. (1 hr)

Thursday 11:30am
Mr. James Lofton

We are pleased to present Mr. James Lofton, NFL Hall of Famer and former NFL MVP and 3 time Superbowl winner as our very special guest lunchtime speaker.

Hear his testimony as he shares his compelling story of his life beyond the field serving his church and his community

Thursday 1:00pm
Dr. Steve Albrecht, PHR, CPP
"Active Shooter responses: The Two-Choice solution"

This dynamic presentation will help teach you and your staff and volunteers how to survive and win in a sudden violent encounter. (1 hr)

Thursday 2:00 pm
Lt. Andrew Mills
SDPD C.O. ANTI TERROR UNIT

Terror Awareness for Houses of Worship "What you need to know". (1 hr)

Thursday 3:30pm
Mike Diggs
ROCK DIRECTOR SAFETY & SECURITY

Recruiting and developing a volunteer Security team Children's Security

"Keeping our kids safe" Establish & improve your childcare safety procedures. (1 hr)

Friday 8:00am - 12:00pm
INFRAGARD presents:
"Active shooter on campus"

Live tabletop exercise with 200 law enforcement and private security professionals. Q & A with the experts. (4 hr)

Link: http://www.sdsecurityconference.com/schedule/

Mars Hill Church: Why Church Security?

From: Mars Hill Church Blog

“Why does a church need a security team??” That question is mostly asked incredulously when people visit one of our campuses and see a team of usually large guys wearing polo shirts in the lobby, the children’s ministry, and the sanctuary.

Security within our church can be a misunderstood concept. Many people believe that security does not belong in the church. On the one hand, there are people who say it unnecessarily heightens a perception of threat, and on the other, people say it means we’re not trusting in the sovereignty of God (to protect his church). We also recognize there are people who are simply opposed to our church and the gospel of Jesus. As Pastor Mark said in the 2007 sermon, “Pain and Progress,” from the Nehemiah sermon series, “Not everybody in Seattle has the same agenda as we do. Our goal is to read the Bible and love Jesus. … That’s not the most popular agenda in Seattle.” We get that, and the fact that people might oppose us is not what worries us. But here’s what we’re very committed to: people should be able to come to a Mars Hill Church service and worship in peace."

Click for Full Article

Mars Hill Church posted an article on their church website this week explaining why they have church security. The article does a great job outline why the security is there and how it works.

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Politico: The Mission Behind Osama bin Laden

A good friend of mine, Mike Allen with Politico, has written several articles on the mission behind Osama bin Laden.

Here are a few links to his articles over the last two days. Mike is one of the highest respected reporters in Washington, DC and is a trusted source for news information!


Wild moments during daring SEAL assault
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54080.html

Getting Osama bin Laden: How the mission went down
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54093.html

Osama bin Laden raid yields trove of computer data
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54151.html

From: www.politico.com "Mike Allen is the chief White House correspondent forPolitico. He comes to us from Time magazine where he was their White House correspondent. Prior to that, Allen spent six years at The Washington Post, where he covered President Bush's first term, Capitol Hill, campaign finance, and the Bush, Gore and Bradley campaigns of 2000. Before turning to national politics, he covered schools and local governments in rural counties outside Fredericksburg, Va., for The Free Lance-Star, then wrote about Doug Wilder, Oliver North, Chuck Robb and the Bobbitts for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where he nurtured police sources on overnight ride-alongs through housing projects. Allen also covered Mayor Giuliani, the Connecticut statehouse and the wacky rich of Greenwich for The New York Times. Before moving to The Times, he did stints in the Richmond and Alexandria bureaus of The Washington Post. Allen grew up in Orange County, Calif., and has a B.A. from Washington and Lee University, where he majored in politics and journalism."