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- Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:15 am
- Forum: General Texas CHL Discussion
- Topic: How much authority do Security Guards have?
- Replies: 58
- Views: 7349
Re: How much authority do Security Guards have?
OK, this thread had drifted and now talking about Mega-Churches, not security guards. Please bring the subject back on topic.
- Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:05 am
- Forum: General Texas CHL Discussion
- Topic: How much authority do Security Guards have?
- Replies: 58
- Views: 7349
Re: How much authority do Security Guards have?
Texas is a little unique in the amount of Mega-Churches it has. Coming from the middle Midwest I was used to a large church having 1000 - 1500 members, with the normal 1/3 - 1/2 in attendance. When I moved to the DFW area, we attended a church that was recommended to us. The membership at that time was about 5000 and i ti was very intimidating. On our first visit we weren't even spoken to by the greeters when we entered. We received a call from one of the pastors a couple of days later thanking us for visiting and I advised him of the situation. He was VERY apologetic and asked us to please visit again as that was not normal. We did visit again the next Sunday. During the service, the senior pastor actually scolded the members in the congregation because there were 'visitors last week that didn't get spoken to'. I was hoping he wouldn't point us out!! (He didn't LOL). He said you can at least say 'Hello' to ANYONE you see in the hall or that sits next to you in the pew, especially if you don't know them. While the people you don't recognize may have actually been members longer than you, you can at least say 'Hi' and 'Nice to meet you'. Long story short, we were spoken to that Sunday (even before the pastor's comments) and have been members for over 10 years now.
In the Mega-churches you have to find a place to fit in. You can't know everyone or even try to. You have to find you comfort area and a Sunday school class and activities that you like, and associate with the ones that have the same interests. It is no different than everyday life where you hang with your shooting buddies or go ride motorcycles with a friend that rides. I sing in the choir with friends and my Sunday school class has a phenomenal group of people.
Anyway, my story is, don't discount a Mega-church just because it is large and seems impersonal at first. There should places there for everyone if you search for them.
To get back on topic, I think the situation was handled poorly by the staff. If the gentleman was disrupting the service by jingling keys or change, that should be the usher's job to ask him to step out, NOT a security guard. The ushers should advise him of the noise (the gentleman may have been hard of hearing and not realized it was that noisy) and ask him to desist. As for the security guards function, they should be there to handle unruly individuals or to patrol the outside of the building and watch for people looking into cars or someone trying to work through empty classrooms looking for valuables to take. My opinion is the staff needs to reassess the functions of the ushers and guards and clarify it for the people on duty during that time.
In the Mega-churches you have to find a place to fit in. You can't know everyone or even try to. You have to find you comfort area and a Sunday school class and activities that you like, and associate with the ones that have the same interests. It is no different than everyday life where you hang with your shooting buddies or go ride motorcycles with a friend that rides. I sing in the choir with friends and my Sunday school class has a phenomenal group of people.
Anyway, my story is, don't discount a Mega-church just because it is large and seems impersonal at first. There should places there for everyone if you search for them.
To get back on topic, I think the situation was handled poorly by the staff. If the gentleman was disrupting the service by jingling keys or change, that should be the usher's job to ask him to step out, NOT a security guard. The ushers should advise him of the noise (the gentleman may have been hard of hearing and not realized it was that noisy) and ask him to desist. As for the security guards function, they should be there to handle unruly individuals or to patrol the outside of the building and watch for people looking into cars or someone trying to work through empty classrooms looking for valuables to take. My opinion is the staff needs to reassess the functions of the ushers and guards and clarify it for the people on duty during that time.