Feds Aim To Stop Violence At Houses Of Worship With Faith-Based Council
A crime scene in New York. Unsplash photo by Campbell Jensen.
The recent establishment of the Faith-Based Security Advisory Council and a call for Congress to appropriate additional funding to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program highlighted the federal government’s focus on security and anti-terrorism initiatives for churches, mosques, synagogues and other religious institutions.
On Sept. 19, the Department of Homeland Security announced the appointment of 25 members to the Faith-Based Security Advisory Council. Appointees will advise Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas on the needs of the faith community relating to security and preparedness matters.
The advisory council includes a wide range of representatives from Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities, as well as law enforcement officials.
“These prominent faith and law enforcement leaders will help us build and strengthen the community partnerships that are so vital to our mission success,” Mayorkas said. “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 council includes Christian leaders Kimberly Burgo, vice president of disaster operations for Catholic Charities USA; the Rev. Jeffery Cooper, general secretary and chief information officer for the African Methodist Episcopal Church; the Rev. Leslie Copeland-Tune, chief operating officer for the National Council of Churches; Kenneth Hodder, national commander of the Salvation Army; and the Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition.
“Members of the Faith-Based Security Advisory Council will provide valuable insight that will benefit our stakeholders nationwide on important issues within the scope of the department’s mission,” said Brenda Abdelall, assistant secretary for partnership and engagement.
The first meeting of the Faith-Based Security Advisory Council will be held virtually on Oct. 6, 2022.
According to DHS, the council’s contributions “will enhance the department’s work to protect houses of worship; improve coordination and information sharing of threat information with the faith community, increase access to DHS resources, and protect against, respond to, and recover from acts of targeted violence, terrorism, and other threats.”
Some of those DHS resources include the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. In 2022, Congress appropriated $250 million to the program. This was an increase from $180 million in 2021, $90 million in 2020 and less in years prior, according to a report from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
FEMA allowed applications for up to $150,000 per unique physical address and a maximum of $450,000 per subapplicant for the Nonprofit Security Grant. However, Jewish Insider noted that only 52% of the 3,470 applications received by FEMA this year were approved. According to the article, “the applications totaled slightly over $447 million in funding requests, well outstripping the $250 million available for the program.”
Under the grant program, funding for houses of worship can be used for contracted security personnel; security-related planning, exercises and training; and the acquisition and installation of security equipment, including improvements.
In May, the fiscal year 2023 spending bill released by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security increased the funding amount for the Nonprofit Security Grant to $360 million.
Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, one of the advocates for increased funding, noted a spike in domestic terrorism targeted at churches and synagogues.
“Many Americans do not know that our faith-based communities typically do not often have enough resources to provide security to their members,” Pascrell said. “Government must protect people who want to practice their faith without threat of a bomb or a gunman. If one synagogue or one church or one mosque is not safe, then no churches, mosques or temples anywhere in America are fully safe.”
This piece is republished from MinistryWatch with permission. Tom Campisi is the editor and publisher of www.TriStateVoice.com, a Christian newspaper that covers Metro New York City. A magazine and newspaper veteran with over 34 years of experience, Tom lives in Northern New Jersey and enjoys kayaking with his wife Christen and rooting for the New York Mets in his free time