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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AARP Connecticut is awarding funds to seven groups through its Livable Community Grants program.

Some projects awarded funding include the new internet café at the West Haven Senior Center, shade sails for the outdoor seating at Thrive 55's Active Learning Center and outdoor benches for the Flanders Nature Center and Land Trust's new pavilion.

Kelli Lefler, associate state director of community outreach for AARP Connecticut, said deciding which projects will receive funding is challenging.

"Part of what we look at is how is it impacting the community," Lefler explained. "For a community to really be livable, we want it to be livable whether you're 8 years old or 80 years old. So, if it's just helping one piece of that population, that might not make the cut."

Other considerations are how much impact a project will have, specifically if it benefits a niche audience or the broader community. This year, there were 80 submissions for projects, which Lefler noted all had merits. Once the organizations receive the funding, they have a year to complete the projects with a follow-up report due to AARP Connecticut to see how the project is being used.

Since beginning in 2018, 45 projects in the state have received funding through the program. Typically, the group sees 50 to 75 applications annually, although some are disqualified for not being filled out properly. Lefler added many projects submitted this year were grant-worthy, although they did not make the final cut.

"There was a request for basically like a ramp that a wheelchair can use," Lefler observed. "They place it on the beach and it goes into the water so that wheelchair users have more access to get over the sand and to actually enjoy the water."

She added projects receiving funding can help municipalities make spaces accessible for seniors to age in place.

A champion of rights for older LGBTQ+ people has received recognition for her volunteer work in Oregon.

Liz James is the winner of the AARP Andrus Award for Community Service, thanks to her engagement in a number of efforts to improve the health and equity of LGBTQ+ residents of the state. She said volunteering is a vital part of her life.

"Volunteering gives me purpose, social connection, opportunities to learn and grow, and to make a difference."

James lives in southern Oregon. She is chair of the Oregon LGBTQ+ Aging Coalition, chair of the Rogue Valley Council of Governments Joint Senior Advisory Council, and a volunteer with AARP Oregon.

James stressed LGBTQ+ people are not a monolith and they exist everywhere, not as a single community but many communities. She acknowledged there are specific health risks and needs for LGBTQ+ people and discrimination affects their living conditions. She added poverty and suicidal ideation are higher for them.

"Data shows we're twice as likely to be single and living alone," James noted. "We're more likely to be estranged from family. We're half as likely to have a relative to call. We're four times less likely to have children and almost one and a half times more likely to be primary caregivers."

James was instrumental in passing Senate Bill 99, which established a bill of rights in long-term and community-based care facilities for LGBTQ+ residents and residents living with HIV.

"First of all, it prescribes very specific nondiscrimination protections that have to be physically posted and provided to all residents and adhered to," James outlined. "And there is an accountability for violations built into it."

She added the bill requires training for staff in long-term care facilities. James is serving on the LGBTQ+ subcommittee of the Governor's Commission on Senior Services, which was established by Senate Bill 99 and started this year.

As powerhouse Hurricane Milton nears the Florida coastline, communities in the Tampa Bay area are extending relief efforts initially launched for Hurricane Helene.

The Demps Law Firm at Wesley Chapel, north of Tampa, is one of many organizations leading relief donation drives for Hurricane Helene.

Cornelius Demps is now grappling with the daunting possibility of widespread devastation from Hurricane Milton. He said he would ask people to pray for all in the storm's path as they adjust to the ongoing need.

"The hurricane relief donation drive was supposed to end this Friday," Demps explained. "Instead, we're going to do it the rest of the month of October and we mainly need people just to donate what they can."

The law firm has been collecting essential items such as cleaning supplies, food and clothing with help from local groups like the NAACP in St. Petersburg and the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel. The firm is also working with Carmel Friendship Church to create an Amazon Wishlist so people who do not live in the area can donate as well.

As Hurricane Milton intensifies, Tampa Electric is prepared for widespread outages and extended restoration efforts.

Mary Lou Carn, a company spokesperson, noted their readiness, but warned Milton could cause more disruptions than Hurricane Helene.

"A storm of this magnitude will bring more outages and a longer restoration time than we had with Helene," Carn cautioned. "It's just a bigger, more powerful storm, so that is what we anticipate. Our customers should be prepared for widespread and extended outages."

Residents relying on life-sustaining equipment should have backup power ready and Tampa Electric advised unplugging nonessential devices to prevent surge damage. Tampa Electric has more than 5,000 utility workers in Florida from out of state, staged and ready to begin repairs once it is safe.


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