A traditional church beneath a dramatic sky

We remember when safety wasn’t something a church had to think about this way.

How can we help you protect, prepare and care for your congregation?

House of Worship Safety & Emergency Response

Church Safety & Emergency Response Training

Prepare the people responsible for protecting your House of Worship, providing lifesaving measures until First Responders arrive, and helping your congregation carry greater awareness and readiness into everyday life.

Hot Shots Shooting Center & Training Academy, located in Ashland, Ohio, is the founder of the Community Safety Readiness & Emergency Response Initiative (CSRERI). We bring training to your House of Worship, provide training at Hot Shots, or combine both around your congregation’s needs.

Schedule Your Complimentary Discovery Walkthrough Explore training investments

Start where your church needs help

Practical training. Facility-specific assessments. Clear next steps.

Training that fits your priorities—and your budget.

Start with a focused session or build a broader readiness program. We’ll work with you to tailor a practical plan around your House of Worship’s needs and available budget.

In-Service Training

Focused sessions for pastors, ministry leaders, staff, ushers, greeters, volunteers, and Safety Teams—including De-Escalation & Conflict Resolution. Tailor instruction to the people and roles serving your congregation.

Safety Readiness Training

Build awareness, recognize warning signs, report concerns, communicate clearly, and understand assigned responsibilities during services, ministry activities, and everyday operations.

Emergency Response Training

Prepare people in emergency communication, evacuation, congregation accountability, and medical response. Connect written procedures with practical instruction and exercises.

Facility Threat & Vulnerability Assessments with Practical Solutions

Review entrances, worship areas, children’s ministry spaces, and other facility concerns. Receive documented findings, prioritized recommendations, and practical next steps to strengthen readiness.

Small groups or congregation-wide

We’ll bring the training to your House.

Host an HSSC Safety Awareness Education Seminar for a ministry team, a small group of parishioners or your entire congregation. Our instructors bring practical, engaging safety education directly to your House of Worship.

Plan an On-Site Seminar

Questions churches ask before they begin

You do not have to have it all figured out.

Open any question to see how HSSC can meet your church where it is today.

We want to establish a Safety Team—but only have one or two members. Can we begin?

Yes. A church does not need a complete team before it starts. HSSC can help your first members identify immediate priorities, define roles, begin foundational training and create a practical path for adding and preparing others.

Can HSSC “qualify” our Safety Team?

HSSC can conduct role-appropriate assessments, document completed training and, where applicable, provide skills evaluation and firearms qualification. Church leadership remains responsible for selecting, authorizing and governing its Safety Team.

After our contracted training hours are complete, can we continue?

Absolutely. You may add or renew contracted hours, continue à la carte on a pay-as-you-go basis, or schedule refresher training, scenario work and appropriate Range practice as your team develops.

Is Range training exclusively in the dry-fire MILO® simulators?

No. MILO® is an important decision-making and scenario-training tool, but a plan may also include classroom instruction, on-site exercises, unarmed and non-lethal skills, plus live-range training or qualification when appropriate for the member’s authorized role.

Can we talk with other church Safety Teams?

Yes—when participating teams agree. HSSC can help facilitate peer introductions, roundtable conversations or shared learning opportunities while respecting each House of Worship’s privacy and security information.

Are contracted hours based on the session or the number of people attending?

A two-hour presentation attended by 20 people uses two contracted hours, not 40 participant-hours, when attendance remains within the approved delivery capacity.

Illustrative church hallway: a man peers through nursery windows with a pistol grip visible in his coat pocket while adults mingle and worship nearby.

While you worship, who is watching over your children?

Adults are gathered in the sanctuary. Others are visiting in the hallway. Someone is looking into the nursery—but who has noticed?

Does anyone recognize this gentleman? Did anyone notice the pistol grip? Who should receive that concern?

Does your team recognize who belongs in children’s areas and know how to address a concern?

Illustrative parking-lot fall outside a church: concerned bystanders look to each other, unsure who can help.

Someone falls before they reach your doors. Who is prepared to help?

People gather because they care. Without assigned roles, they may look to one another while help is needed.

Who calls 911, provides trained first aid, and directs EMS to the person?

Illustrative cardiac emergency in a church sanctuary: worshippers crowd around, an AED is unused, and EMS arrives.

The AED is nearby. Does anyone know what to do?

A worshipper collapses. Concerned people crowd around while the AED remains unused and arriving responders need room to reach them.

Who retrieves the AED, begins the trained response, and clears access for EMS?

Illustrative training scenarios—not photographs of a specific church or congregation.

Illustrative church safety scenario: a gentleman leans forward in a pew, revealing a handgun retained in a shoulder holster beneath his suit jacket. — Illustrative training scenario; not a photograph of a specific church or congregation.

A conversation worth preparing for

A firearm comes into your church. Is your team prepared to address it?

Does your House of Worship permit carrying? Whether you have a policy, need to clarify one, or are starting from scratch, prepare your leaders and Safety Team to address a concern.

Is your policy clear? Do staff, volunteers, and congregation members understand what is permitted?
Who handles a concern? Do leaders and Safety Team members know what to say, who to notify, and when to seek immediate help?
Have you practiced? Can your team communicate and respond calmly under pressure?

Having a policy is one step. Preparing people to address it takes clear reporting procedures, communication skills, and practice.

We help you turn written guidelines into practiced church safety readiness.

Church leadership makes policy and authorization decisions. Review applicable law, policy language, and insurance considerations with your attorney and insurance provider.

Discuss Your Church Safety Readiness Needs

A complete, coordinated team

Give different people the skills to fulfill different responsibilities.

A solid Safety Team is not made up only of people trained to use lethal force. It brings together people who can prevent, protect, provide care, guide others and communicate effectively.

Situational awareness and behavioral warning signs
De-escalation and conflict resolution
CPR, AED and severe-bleeding response
911 calling and emergency communications
Medical support until First Responders arrive

Safe-exit identification and evacuation assistance
Calming, guiding and informing the congregation
Meeting and directing First Responders
Children’s protection and accountability
Proportionate physical-threat response

Armed response

Skill, judgment and accountability

When authorized by church leadership, armed team members can develop safe handling, judgment, communication, MILO® decision-making and appropriate live-fire skills or qualification.

Non-lethal response

More options before lethal force

Training may include authorized non-lethal tools such as conducted-energy devices and OC canisters, together with sound decision-making and responsible use.

Unarmed response

Practical control and protection

Defensive control, escape and protective techniques add valuable options for team members whose responsibilities do not include a weapon.

Flexible training investment

Choose your path. Build within your budget.

All HSSC Safety Training and Emergency Response Training is available without a contract commitment. Select individual services à la carte and pay as you go, or choose a contracted hour band to receive the applicable discounts and subsidy allowances.

Tell us your priorities and available budget. We’ll help you choose a practical starting point and discuss the training hours, delivery, and applicable support before you commit.

Come experience Hot Shots

See it. Experience it. Talk it through.

Tour the facility, experience a private MILO® Simulator Suite and discuss your church’s safety, emergency-readiness and training goals with the people who will help shape the path forward.

JJ BittingerDirector of Education & Training · Certified Training Instructor

Terri WoodCo-Owner & CEO

Schedule Your HSSC Readiness Experience

The mission remains the same

A warm welcome. A watchful team.

Church entrance illustration with four open doors and no designated greeters at the entrances. — Entrances without assigned greeters

Same church entrance with alternating doors open and designated safety-team greeters welcoming parishioners. — Entrances with designated safety-team greeters

Times have changed—but your mission has not. You remain a place of worship, comfort, community and belonging. Hot Shots can help you prepare for today’s realities without changing the welcoming environment your congregation values.

Your church can remain a place of comfort and belonging while designated people welcome arrivals, observe activity, and communicate concerns.

Who is watching as your congregation gathers?

Start with a conversation and a complimentary Safety-Readiness Discovery Walkthrough.

Schedule Your Complimentary Discovery Walkthrough

419-908-3591 · Training@HotShotsShootingCenter.com