DALTON, Ga. — A white supremacist killed nine people at an African-American church in Charleston, S.C., in hopes of igniting a race war in 2015. A gunman with a military-style rifle opened fire in a small Texas church, killing 26 people this past November. A Sudanese immigrant opened fire in an Antioch, Tenn., church killing a woman and wounding seven others in September.

The headlines from shootings at churches have shocked the nation in recent years and just as schools have become the scenes of violence — 11 school shootings already in 2018, according to the New York Times — churches have become targets as well.

“Events that have happened around the nation have made everyone more conscious of active shooters,” said Brent Rollins, a deacon at Riverbend Church of Christ in Dalton. “Those events made church-goers aware it can happen and can happen anywhere. It has gotten us past the ‘it can’t happen here’ mentality. In our congregation we have had transient visitors that we don’t know who they are. We want to be a welcoming church environment but we have to be wise about how we protect our members.”

And just as some school systems and many of the area’s large businesses have their staffs undergo training for active-shooter situations, more churches have also been looking to prepare for the unimaginable.

“Getting prepared prior to it all happening is, I guess, the best-case scenario we could hope for,” said Lt. Juan Martinez, training officer for the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office. “Some businesses here locally are completely ahead of the curve in terms of the things they have done to prepare themselves, and that is great.”

To help prepare local churches and their congregations for those types of situations, The United Way of Northwest Georgia is partnering with the Family Support Council and local law enforcement to present a Church Safety and Security Summit on Saturday, Feb. 24, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at the WCSO Firearms Training Center off Old Prater’s Mill Road. There is no cost to attend, but those who would like to participate are asked to register at www.ourunitedway.org. Lunch will be provided for those who register.

Martinez said one of the main things he will focus on are little decisions and simple actions to take in order to minimize any situation.

“Everyone likes to believe that there is some way to best prepare where it is a 100 percent success rate across the board,” Martinez said. “But we really have to hammer home that in all likelihood you have to make decisions and some times it is to save one life or 10 lives.”

The training opportunity will cover a variety of scenarios and situations as well as best practices for churches and church leaders to follow in the event their church is targeted. In addition to active shooter training, there will also be seminars and talks touching on church policy issues, creating safety teams in the church, code of conduct and reporting protocols. In addition, the Family Support Council will conduct “Stewards of Children” training in efforts to stop and prevent child sexual abuse.

“We are looking to learn what the current recommendations are for active shooters, child abuse prevention, domestic violence because there are a lot of other things than just shootings,” Rollins said. “The biggest safety and security risks are simple and common things like domestic disputes or a child getting away from our care team and into the parking lot. Those are the things that happen on a much more regular basis. There is also a legal element and insurance element to it as well in compliance with local and state laws.”

Rollins said the security team at his church doesn’t maintain an obvious presence at the church, but he said the team is vigilant and follows Scripture as well. Matthew 10:16 states, “Behold I sent you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

“It is a tough line to walk,” Rollins said. “Our security team is going to take the approach that we don’t trust the actions of someone just because they are in a church.”

Mary Smith with the Family Support Council — who will be presenting the Stewards of Children training — said that being vigilant and ever watchful are keys.

“One of the points that stand out to me is that 90 percent of the abuse happens with someone the family knows and trusts, and unfortunately sometimes that is in the church,” Smith said. “We have taught kids about ‘stranger danger,’ but we haven’t trained people about things closer and one-on-one situations. Those are places and people that we have trusted.”