SINCE 2009 NO SINGLE OTHER INFLUENCE HAS ENDANGERED THE CHURCH MORE THAN FEDERAL DOLLARS FLOODING IN WITH ALL THAT COMES WITH IT.

Rev Thomas Littleton

10/9/2022

After years of gaining access and influence into the churches -a continued Faith Based Partnership program and its disturbing implications for the future of the church has just received even more funding to establish and strengthen church security protocols . The program even encourages greeting new visitors in the “Power of Hello” training with an eye on assessing them for risk factors.

” WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the appointment of 25 members to the reinvigorated Faith-Based Security Advisory Council, in advance of the first meeting on October 6, 2022. Council members will advise the Secretary on the needs of the faith community relating to security and preparedness matters across all aspects of the DHS mission.

“These prominent faith and law enforcement leaders will help us build and strengthen the community partnerships that are so vital to our mission success,” said Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “We will work together to increase access to our services, ensure equity, maintain openness and transparency, and fully restore the trust of the communities we serve”

The expanding grant program has gone from $90 million in 2020 to $250 million and rapidly expanding to meet high demand. A new “Advisory Council” has been established with an INTERFAITH and decidedly leftward political bent. This Advisory Council even includes Al Sharpton .

Secretary Mayorkas has appointed the following individuals to the Council:

• Chandru Acharya, Member, Plymouth Canton Interfaith Community Outreach  
• Imam Mohamed Hagmagid Ali, Executive Director, All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) Center / Co-Founder, Multi-Faith Neighbors Network 
• Salam Al-Marayati, Co-Founder and President, Muslim Public Affairs Council 
• Deputy Chief Tracie Baker, Arlington Police Department, Texas  
• Kimberly Burgo, Vice President, Disaster Operations, Catholic Charities USA 
• Rev. Jeffery Cooper, General Secretary and Chief Information Officer, African Methodist Episcopal Church 
• Rev. Dr. Leslie Copeland-Tune, Chief Operating Officer, National Council of Churches 
• Kiran Kaur Gill, Executive Director, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund 
• Rabbi Moshe Hauer, Executive Vice President, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
• Commissioner Kenneth Hodder, National Commander, The Salvation Army 
• Hyepin Im, President and Founder, Faith and Community Empowerment (FACE)
• Curtis Jones, National Deputy Sector Chief – Manager Religious Facilities Protection Program (RFPP), InfraGard National Members Alliance  
• Alberto Martinez, Director, Orange County Intelligence Assessment Center Orange County Sheriff’s Department 
• Michael Masters, National Director & CEO, Secure Community Network 
• Sheriff Garry McFadden, 45th Sheriff of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina  
• Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director, Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, Union for Reform Judaism
• Todd Richins, Church Security Department, Field Operations Division Director, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Mayya Saab, Executive Director, Faith Based Information Sharing and Analysis Organization 
• Rev. Gabriel Salguero, President, National Latino Evangelical Coalition 
• Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, CEO Emerita, Rabbinical Assembly
• Chief Issa Shahin, Dearborn, Michigan Police Department 
• Imam Talib Shareef, Nation’s Mosque / Masjid Muhammed 
• Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder & President, National Action Network
• Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart, Director for Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs, Mayor’s Office of Public Engagement, City of Philadelphia
• April Wood, President/CEO, National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters 

ANYONE SEE A PROBLEMATIC POTENTIAL HERE?

AGENCY CONFIRMS THIS ADVISORY COUNCIL REFLECTS BIDENS DIVERSITY ,EQUITY, AND INCLUSION STANDARDS AND CULTURE

“The Council’s membership reflects President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas’ priorities on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and will ensure a wide range of diverse voices across various faith traditions. The members announced today represent various faith communities and a diversity of denominations, including from the Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh communities, as well as law enforcement. “

Faith-Based Security Advisory Council

The Faith-Based Security Advisory Council (FBSAC) provides organizationally independent, strategic, timely, specific and actionable advice to the Secretary through the Assistant Secretary for Partnership and Engagement whom also serves as the DHS Faith-Based Organization Security Coordinator. The FBSAC provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary and other senior leadership on matters related to protecting houses of worship, preparedness and enhanced coordination with the faith community. FBSAC advice may include:

•  Strategy and Policy: Recommendations for the development and implementation of strategies and policies that will further the Department’s ability to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from acts of targeted violence or terrorism, major disasters, cyberattacks, or other threats or emergencies against places of worship, faith communities, and faith-based organizations.
• Information-sharing and Coordination: Recommendations for improving coordination and sharing of threat and security-related information and resources with and between places of worship, faith-based organizations non-profit entities, and the federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector partners. This includes, but is not limited to, recommendations on proposed technical assistance and other resources that include the perspectives of a wide range of faith communities represented in a culturally competent manner, and address potential barriers, such as language access, and ways to build and rebuild relationships of trust between federal government and faith communities.
• Programs and Initiatives: Recommendations for the development and implementation of specific programs or initiatives to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from acts of targeted violence or terrorism, major disasters, cyberattacks, or other threats or emergencies while preserving individual privacy and civil rights and civil liberties.
• Evaluation and Feedback: Recommendations for the efficiency and effectiveness of the Department’s policies, strategies, and programs (including grant programs) intended to support the security and preparedness of places of worship, faith communities, and faith-based organizations. This includes, but is not limited to, providing feedback on how DHS can address the needs of faith communities against evolving and future threats.

GRAVE CONCERNS ON HOW THIS COULD GO

BAPTIST MEDIA PROMOTES FEMA /DHS GRANTS TO CHURCHES FOR “NON PROFIT SECURITY PROGRAM”.

EXCERPT

“THE POWER OF HELLO” GREETING IS NOW AN INVESTIGATION –CYBERSECURITY & INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY AGENCY.

“THE POWER OF HELLO” PROGRAM-

NO LONGER JUST GREETING A STRANGER TO MAKE THEM FEEL WELCOME TO CHURCH

“Every day we face a variety of potential threats, both internal and external, from hostile governments, terrorist groups, disgruntled employees and malicious introducers. Alert employees can spot suspicious activity and report it. The power is in the employee, citizen, patron, or any person who can observe and report.”

WORDS AS A TOOL?

“Used effectively, the right words can be a powerful tool. Simply saying “Hello” can prompt a casual conversation with unknown individuals and help you determine why they are there. The OHNO approach – Observe, Initiate a Hello, Navigate the Risk, and Obtain Help – helps employees observe and evaluate suspicious behaviors, and empowers them to mitigate potential risk, and obtain help when necessary.”

“SPOTTING AND REPORTING SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY”

“This more focused guide promotes employee vigilance for our houses of worship stakeholders. Alert personnel can better spot suspicious activity and actively report it. Keeping houses of worship facilities secure while sustaining the open and welcoming environment necessary for peaceful congregation requires a holistic approach to security.”

GUIDEBOOKS AND TRAINING

“This guide identifies behavioral and suspicious activity indicators and provides basic personal security measures to reduce the probability of becoming a victim of an attack. “

CHURCHES BECOME WATCHDOGS IN THE TOWN

“In collaboration with several houses of worship and community partners (i.e., governmental entities that have a responsibility in the plan, including first responders, public health officials, and mental health officials), houses of worship can take steps to plan for these potential emergencies through the creation of an emergency operations plan (EOP).”

“FAITH BASED INFORMATION SHARING AND ANALYSIS SHARING” …OR SPYING ON CONGREGANTS? WHERE IS THE LINE DRAWN IN “INCULSIVE COMMUNITIES OF FAITH ?

“The FB-ISAO is a trusted community within the inclusive, community of faith. The ISAO and its members maintain primary focus on sharing timely, actionable and relevant information with an all-hazards approach as incidents affecting the community come in the form of physical threats, cybersecurity issues, health outbreaks, and a variety of natural disasters. The FB-ISAO’s mission is to provide members with information, analysis, and capabilities to help reduce risk while enhancing preparedness, security, and resilience.”

CYBER THREATS FOR CHURCHES?

“The faith-based community can be a target of cyber crime or incidents that deny access to information, render information unusable, or even disclose the personal information of congregants in the public domain.  CISA has created the STOP.THINK.CONNECT.™ national campaign and resources for small businesses, aimed at increasing the understanding of cyber threats and empowering the American public to be safer and more secure online. Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility. We each have to do our part to keep the Internet safe. When we all take simple steps to be safer online, it makes using the Internet a more secure experience for everyone.  “

CONCLUSION

Biblical conservative movements and denominations have the most to lose from these ever deepening entanglements and the cultural transformations they require. The Southern Baptist have just seen a 5 year focus on “addressing the #MeToo movement investigation by a third party of former DHS and government agency employees among its ranks result in a full on conversion to DE&I compliance AND a DOJ investigation. The SBC is also deeply involved in other FEMA funding for disaster relief and working with the government and World Relief to use its missions organizations NAMB and IMB as a conduit for human migration and Muslim expansion in the West.

Baptist Press has even directly promoted the DHS/FEMA grant program for church security to its churches and pastors. The problems go beyond the entanglements and even the DE&I requirements to impact the kid of hospitality a visiter will receive when coming in to visit the House of God. Instead of greetings with the Gospel hope -the visitors will be assessed for their political and worldviews and put to the test to see if they pose some threat …according to politically driven standards which already vilify convictional and non- progressive- non compliant Christians as a national threat.

Little hope exist that much of the modern day church leadership can or will halt these ever deepening and corrupting faith based partnership or seperate from the funding that comes with them.