By Cade Shadowlight
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Should churches prepare for bad times? The answer is Yes! The
Bible makes it clear that preparedness, both physical and spiritual, is
not only prudent, but in fact is commanded by God. If you doubt this
fact, please read my article Why Christians Must Embrace Preparedness and Self-Reliance which
contains dozens of quotes from the Bible. The idea that "We have
Jesus, therefore we don't need to prepare" is both naive and
anti-Biblical.
What can churches do to prepare for the bad times ahead?
1) Emphasize Bible study and prayer.
Studying God's Word and spending time with Him in prayer is how we build our personal relationship with God. It is that personal relationship that will see us through the tough times.
2) Admit the need for emergency preparedness.
2) Admit the need for emergency preparedness.
Yes,
at some point Jesus will return and establish His Kingdom and we will
all be safe. But until, we are warned that we will face persecution, danger, and harsh
times.
3) Call it Obeying God.
3) Call it Obeying God.
Terms like "survivalism" or even "prepping" have negative connotations with some people, and may meet with
automatic resistance. "Emergency preparedness," "disaster
preparedness," or even "helping those in need" are legitimate names for what I'm suggesting, and may be
more acceptable to your fellow church members. Of course you know your
church better, so call it whatever you feel is appropriate.
4) Realize that our Rights come from God.
Our Rights are from God, not from Government,
or even by majority vote. Therefore, no government, nor any voting
majority no matter how big, may take away any of those God-given Rights.
These rights include Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Assembly, Freedom of Speech, and
Self-Defense, among many others.
5) Promote the traditional family unit as the building block of civilization.
This
includes traditional marriage, traditional gender roles, sex only
within marriage, honoring your father and mother. All
churches should be teaching these things from a Biblical perspective,
and doing everything it can to support healthy marriages and families.
6) Church security is important.
We
want our churches to be open and welcoming to the larger community, but
events have shown we do need to think about security also. Security cameras covering
the entrances and parking lot are a good idea. A multi-camera CCTV
system with DVR recorder can be had for under $200 (here's one such system on Amazon).
Most
churches cannot afford paid security, but perhaps they have police
officers, military veterans, or others in the congregation who can act
as armed security during services. Anyone in the congregation with the
proper training can be volunteer security.
7) Proper training includes professional-level First-Aid and Trauma Response.
Mass-shootings
and fire-bombings at churches and synagogues here in the US do happen
these days, and are likely to continue. Having a professionally-trained response team is an
important element to modern church security. Check out the excellent
training provided by Refuge Medical and Refuge Training. (Yes, I am affiliated with these great folks.)
8) Create a church communications plan.
8) Create a church communications plan.
Many
churches have phone trees (sometimes called prayer trees or prayer
chains), in which prayer requests and other information can be spread
quickly to all church members. Basically, person A calls two
predetermined people, who each in turn call two predetermined people.
Those four people each call two people, and so forth until the entire
church is notified. If your church doesn't already have one of these,
set one up. It can be used to pass on not just prayer requests, but all
sorts of news and information.
Some churches now use cloud-based services in place of the more old-fashioned manual phone tree, but these usually require a subscription and may not always be available during Internet outages or when the service is experiencing "technical difficulties." Having a back-up manual phone tree is a good idea.
9) Start a church community garden.
9) Start a church community garden.
If
your church has, or can get access to, some open land, then start a
community gardening program. There are many ways this can be done, from
one massive garden that everyone works and shares its harvest, to
individuals & families being provided smaller plots to garden as
they see fit. The garden could be limited to church members only, or it
could be opened up a larger community.
10) Hold classes in first aid and CPR.
This is literally giving your church members the ability to help others and do good. Your
church could offer all its members courses in first aid and CPR. You
many have members already qualified to teach those courses. If not,
contact your local fire department or EMS. Many will be happy to work
with your church to provide first aid training.
11) Hold classes in food storage and canning.
Churches
could encourage and educate their members to store food and water.
Chances are your church has a number of older members who would love to
pass on their knowledge of canning and other food preservation
techniques. If not, check your your local agricultural extension office.
12) Hold classes in budgeting and family finance.
12) Hold classes in budgeting and family finance.
Encourage
and educate church members on personal finances, budgeting, and
becoming debt-free. There are a number of ministries which educate and
encourage folks in their personal finances, and a lot of free and
low-cost programs and bible studies available.
13) Hold other preparedness classes.
13) Hold other preparedness classes.
Churches
could provide occasional or on-going classes in preparedness and
survivalism. How to do this and what subjects to cover are limited only
by your imagination. Your church members could also work together to buy
supplies in bulk, combining your individual purchases to get the best
prices possible.
14) Sponsor scout-like youth programs.
14) Sponsor scout-like youth programs.
Your church could host various types of scouting and scouting-like groups, including Heritage Girls and Trail Life USA.
Both are great alternatives to the now VERY woke Boy Scouts and Girls
Scouts. Your church can also start its own scout-like group using
scouting handbooks and materials (anyone can buy them), but not being
connected to the national groups. These programs are a great way to
teach young people the values and skills that will help them no matter
what life throws their way.
15) Store food and other supplies.
A church I attended many years ago had a small room where they stored
old coats & jackets, blankets, canned and dried food, baby supplies,
and other similar things. These were then given to the homeless or
other people in need that would show up at the church from time-to-time
asking for help. Your church could do something similar — buying and
storing supplies that could be distributed to either church members
and/or needy folks in an emergency.
16) Prepare for activists and others to infiltrate our churches.
Some activists are already doing this, to spy on the "hate speech" and other disapproved activities within
the church, as well as to sow discord among its members. I suggest your
church plan now for how to spot and deal with (remove) such individuals.
This is actually a Biblical mandate:
"Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning, knowing that such a person is perverted and sins, being self-condemned." -- Titus 3:10-11
"Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning, knowing that such a person is perverted and sins, being self-condemned." -- Titus 3:10-11
We want people, even non-believers, to feel welcome by the Church, but NEVER at the expense of our relationship with God, or our own harmony within our church.
17) Be prepared for LGBTQ+ activists.
17) Be prepared for LGBTQ+ activists.
Imagine
this: An openly gay couple starts attending your Church, and asks to
join, but are unwilling to change their homosexual relationship. Perhaps
they even demand that your pastor or priest performs their gay marriage at
your church. How do you deal with their requests without violating
their "civil rights" and running afoul of laws that are growing
progressively liberal? How do you deal with the bad press if they
choose to challenge your church in court, especially given that most
modern media outlets will be decisively on their side?
What
happens if your Church is ultimately ordered by a court to perform a
gay marriage? At that point, you may be forced to dissolve your church
as a legal entity, going underground and implementing your house church
plan (see 18 below). Figure out the details of how to dissolve the
church now.
18) Form smaller "home churches."
Consider
forming or joining a home church, even as you continue to participate
in your larger church. Alternately, having a small group Bible study
that meets in private homes that could become a worship group (home
church) may be very useful should the Church in America ever be forced
underground. Your current church could and should work on such a "break up into smaller private house churches" plan that would be implemented under certain circumstances.
What churches can do to help their members and communities prepare is in no way limited by this list. There are many, many other possibilities, and most also make terrific opportunities to reach out to the unchurched in our communities.
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