Posted on 07/17/2007 9:05:27 AM PDT by PAR35
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
On any Sunday morning, sanctuary doors of churches that line Main Street and nearby thoroughfares swing open to welcome thousands of faithful who come to worship in some of the city's oldest, most prominent religious institutions. But at other times in the week, doors may be locked tight, windows latched and grounds and hallways patrolled by burly uniformed guards.
-snip-
And though the security problems may be most pronounced at the city's downtown-area churches, their suburban counterparts often implement equally stringent safety measures to protect their property and congregants.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Funny how they don’t mention the “K-word” once in this article.
Moral of story, if you are a “sanctuary” city then your sanctuaries will have to keep their doors locked.
Crime from the Katrina refugees?
Kangaroo? Kayak? Kwanzaa? Knights? Koalas? Kiwis? Kabobs?
Houston has been lucky then if they are just NOW locking their doors. There are a LOT of churches around the country that have been doing that for years.
See #4
OK, got it. I was thinking of k-words while #4 was sent.
But at other times in the week, doors may be locked tight, windows latched and grounds and hallways patrolled by burly uniformed guards.
Nothing new here.
Churches have long locked their buildings when not in use.
My parents live in the Phoenix area, and churches there regularly have to lock up their doors when not meeting, store vehicles behind razor-wire, etc. because of thievery by the double-I word. A few churches have even had exposed outdoor copper piping stolen, since the double-I words can sell the copper for scrap.
It’s hot, we move slowly down here.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
/sarc
Unfortunately, thieves have figures out there are valuable to be had at churches. And most churches don’t mark their property. Have you ever been passed a really nice collection plate with a “property of” tag on it? Of course not, which is why churches are such easy marks for thieves. Churches would rather just replace stolen things like sound system components and other valuables, than go through the hassle of trying to recover stolen items
IMHO...ripping off a church is one of the most immoral things a person could do!
I used to belong to a small little church that was one of the first churches built in LaMarque and they had a small vestibule before entering the actual sanctuary. Some days I would go by even when the sanctuary was all locked up and pray in the vestibule. Then one day the vestibule was vandalized. After that, everything stayed locked up.
I think there will always be God-haters who seek to burn and vandalize churches. In this era of legal liabilities and high insurance rates, church buildings simply can’t be as open as they historically have been - which is a sad reflection on our wayward society.
It’s not only Houston.
Last winter, a couple of youthful thugs entered the Buddhist temple where my wife attends, beat up the 2 monks that live there and robbed them of all their money. This was in Buffalo, NY; and it wasn’t the first time.
Now the temple locks their doors and the congregation only gets let in by ringing the door bell and being individually let in by one of the monks.
That's because it's irrelevant. My church in upstate NY has an alarm system.
It is no surprise that in this prevailing anti-Christian atmosphere, church doors have to remain locked during the times that the building is not used for official functions.
And, of course, the “reporter” had to reveal his agenda, which is to slam the churches for protecting themselves, rather than those who are victimizing the churches:
“Given tight security at the churches, a question arises: Could Christ gain entry, especially if he sported the long hair and beard with which he’s often depicted?”
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