After Charleston shootings, a renewed focus on sacred security

Cameras throughout the facility keep an eye on who’s coming and going. Several doors require fingerprint scanner access. The entire place can be locked down in an instant.

Senior Pastor Dr. Sam Matthews noted that such measures are unfortunately necessary in today’s world, and how sadly prescient his words were. Days later, the nation would grieve as a Wednesday shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., would leave nine people dead, including the church’s pastor.

Dylann Storm Roof has been charged with nine counts of murder and possession of a firearm during a violent crime. The incident has prompted a renewed focus on security in some metro Atlanta area houses of worship.

“Our church tragically knows that the unimaginable can happen,” said the Rev. Dr. Raphael Gamaliel Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. Alberta Williams King, mother of slain civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was shot and killed while sitting at Ebenezer’s organ on June 30, 1974. Marcus Wayne Chenault Jr., who later said that he hated Christianity and that God told him to carry out the shooting, died in prison in 1995 at age 44.

Following Alberta King’s death, Ebenezer enacted a number of security measures that are regularly examined and will be once again.

“We have off-duty police officers who are part of the church’s regular security detail,” Warnock said. “That’s been the case for many years. We have armed security throughout the church. Some of them are visible and some are not. In view of the tragic events in Charleston, we are reviewing our security protocols and looking at ways we can improve our security systems.”

As shocking as Wednesday’s shootings were, they aren’t unprecedented. Since 1999, more than 550 people have died violent deaths at churches, temples, mosques and synagogues in this country, church security specialist Jimmy Meeks told AJC columnist Gracie Bonds Staples.

“Just as many people are dying at churches as they are at public schools,” Meeks said.

At The Temple in Midtown, security is vigilant but subtle.

“We don’t talk a lot about exactly what we do about security,” said Mark Jacobson, the synagogue’s executive director. “If you talk about it, you don’t have it.”

An expert would probably notice the security cameras placed throughout the building and the grounds, though. Off-duty Atlanta police officers are there anytime The Temple is open to the public. They’re usually seen directing traffic, but double as security guards, Jacobson said.

“We know terroristic acts can happen,” Jacobson said. In 1958, white supremacists placed a bomb made of 50 sticks of dynamite by The Temple’s north entrance in retaliation for the rabbi’s outspoken views on integration. No one was injured and no one was ever convicted.

“The Temple has taken care and taken steps to be open, warm and welcoming, at the same time knowing that bad things can happen,” Jacobson said.

Marietta’s First United Methodist Church grappled with the same issue.

“How do you secure a church and make it not feel like you’re going to Fort Knox?” said Steve Fisher, chair of the board of trustees. “You want to be friendly, you want to be welcoming, but at the same time, you have to keep control.”

The renovations are scheduled to be completed in September, although many security upgrades are already in place. On Sundays, parishioners will be able to enter through various doors, but during the week, everyone must enter at a designated welcoming center, where a staff member will greet them and cameras will keep watch. Staff members who need regular access to certain areas within the church will use the fingerprint scanners.

“It’s a terrible thing that we have to do this because of crazy people like this kid up in Charleston,” Fisher said. “Unfortunately, there’s a lot of evil out there in the world today.”