Table Of ContentGUARDING THE FLOCK IN AN AGE OF VIOLENCE
A THESIS-PROJECT
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF
GORDON-CONWELL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE
DOCTOR OF MINISTRY
BY
G. THOMPSON ALLEN
MAY 2020
Copyright © 2020 by G. Thompson Allen. All Rights Reserved.
To Judy—My Rib
…there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighTng for.
—Sam Gamgee, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
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CONTENTS
PREFACE vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
ABSTRACT ix
Chapter
1. ARE WE READY? 1
2. BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL RATIONALE FOR A SAFETY MINISTRY 21
3. PRE-PLANNING AND PREPARATION 48
4. WHAT’S THE PLAN? 72
5. GUARDING THE FLOCK IN AN AGE OF VIOLENCE 103
6. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS 137
Appendices
A. EPC SURVEY QUESTIONS 148
B. SURVEY RESPONSE TRENDS 150
C. NEW HOPE FACILITY MAINTENANCE TEAM (FMT) AND SECURITY POSITIONS 162
D. NEW HOPE FLOOR PLAN AND SECURITY POSITIONS 165
REFERENCES 166
VITA 173
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PREFACE
As I considered a thesis-project that might bless the church catholic and about
which I could be passionate, I saw an incredible number of needs and opportuniTes.
For example, the 75 Ranger Regiment has been conTnuously deployed in
th
combat since September 11, 2001. Perhaps I could do a project about providing pastoral
care for Rangers and their families? On the other hand, I had worked for Eli Lilly and
Company as a neuroscience sales representaTve. Because of everything I learned there,
my wife encouraged me (and sTll does) to write a “pastor’s guide to mental illness and
medicaTon.”
Aier my second (of three) doctoral residencies, I landed on a project—I thought.
Having planted a church in Washington, George Whitworth, “the father of
Presbyterianism in Washington,” interested me. I would research everything I could
about Whitworth. Then I would develop a historically-based thesis that, in simple terms,
would glean church planTng principles and wisdom from this great man and apply those
lessons to a modern-day church planTng movement. Whitworth University had recently
digiTzed fiiy years worth of his journals, and the school’s librarian graciously sent me
copies of everything.
Aier months of scouring those journals for anything referring to church planTng
or even wisdom and finding nothing, I realized that this project was a “bust.”
Whitworth’s wriTngs failed to contain anything like church planTng principles. In fact,
they made me wonder if all of the stories we in the Northwest have heard about him
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were, in fact, ficTTous. At this point, I began to pray that God would make clear to me a
project.
He did, right about the Tme that the shooTng at Sutherland First BapTst Church
in Texas occurred on November 5, 2017. It was the deadliest church shooTng in U.S.
history. The news coverage and created anxiety among some in the church. Because of
this, I asked my assistant to find someone who could do “acTve shooter training” for
New Hope’s leaders and to schedule a Tme.
We brought in Steve K., a reTred officer from the Department of Homeland
Security, to do the training, and, for me, the training wasn't life-altering. However, the
overall experience was. Aier four years at a Ranger Bamalion, I was familiar with almost
everything Steve taught. More than once, Steve made statements like, “Your pastor
could be doing this training. You didn’t need me.” Steve was wrong. While I might not
have needed all of his informaTon, I needed his insight.
The Tpping point for me came when Steve suggested that New Hope provide me
with “execuTve protecTon” on Sunday mornings—someone who would watch my back
while I shook hands aier each service. When he said that, something broke loose in me.
Much of my exhausTon each Sunday was the result of funcToning as the lone
“sheepdog” in our congregaTon.
Each week I tried to keep one eye on potenTal threats while also being present
as a pastor—an impossible task. Whether by training or hard-wiring or both, I’d always
felt like Robert Downey in his second Sherlock Holmes film. At one point, he is dancing
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with a woman, and she asks, “What do you see, Mr. Holmes?” He answers grimly, “I see
everything. That is my gii. That is my curse.”
The following Sunday, New Hope implemented “execuTve protecTon.” It
consisted, merely, of a man standing behind me, watching my back as I shook hands with
members and visitors. It was one of my most relaxed Sundays in 14 years of service here.
It enabled me to be present with individuals, to lean in as it were. I didn’t feel the need
to “keep my head on a swivel.” The change was profound, but it was also profoundly
simple.
This experience became the catalyst for this thesis-project. What if every pastor
could feel safe and free to be present? Were there simple ways to minimize the potenTal
of deadly force incidents in churches? I intended to find out.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to my wife, Judy. Aier four years in a Ranger Bamalion, while a
student at Florida State, I prayed that God would give me a “Presbyterian girl” for a wife.
He did. While it takes an incredibly resilient woman to be married to a Ranger and an
equally resilient woman to be married to a pastor, no doubt, it takes a saint to be
married to a man who is both. Knowing you would be uncomfortable with the language
of sainthood, I’ll say this instead: Thank you for constantly anchoring yourself and our
whole family in the grace and mercy of Christ. Thank you also for giving me three more
“Presbyterian girls” to love and cherish—Abby, Flannery, and Mercy.
Thank you to the Session of New Hope Presbyterian Church. You have modeled
godliness and faithfulness to our church and to me through “many dangers, toils, and
snares.” It is my privilege to serve beside you. Also, thank you for the Tme and the
resources to make this project possible. I look forward to many more years of service
with you.
Thanks, especially, to our Clerk of Session and my friend, John Messer. I can’t
imagine where we would be without your organizaTonal giis, your generous heart, and
your passion for the gospel.
Thank you, Ed Baldwin. Besides your service as an elder and chair of our Facility
Maintenance Team, you are one of the most selfless individuals I have ever met. As soon
as we raised the subject of “church safety,” you took iniTaTve and began to establish
protocols and plans. My work on this project has taken place in tandem with yours at
our church.
x
Thank you, Luke Meier. You took a morass of data gathered from the survey I
distributed to our denominaTon’s Teaching Elders and made sense of it in a way I never
could. Added to this, you have encouraged me and prayed for me from the beginning of
this project.
Thanks, to my sister, Lt. Amy Allen (ret.). Your comments, aier the Parkland
shooTng about “stop the bleed” being more important than “acTve shooter training” set
me on a path that informed the direcTon of this project from that point. Anyone who
would doubt that a woman might make a good “sheepdog” has never met you.
Thank you to the following pastors and leaders who have cared for me over the
years:
Lucky Arnold, Ron Hilliard and the Session of First Presbyterian Church in North
Palm Beach. It was through your ministry that I came to know Christ.
Ron Brown, you discipled me as a student in Reformed University Fellowship at
Florida State. What you taught me is sTll the foundaTon of my ministry.
Mike Khandjian, you not only encouraged me toward the gospel ministry and
sent me to seminary, but have never stopped being a pastor to me.
Joe Novenson, shortly aier being ordained, as a young pastor, I called you
needing help and hope. You told me to buy a copy of Luther’s Lectures on Gala<ans and
“read a page a day unTl I was bemer.” I did that and it changed me life.
Bart Johnson, while not an ordained pastor, you and Judy have pastored my
family through the best and worst of Tmes.
