Handling Protests at Your Church

If demonstrators were to appear across from your church or even on your doorstep next Sunday, would you know what to do?

Over the past few years, there has been an increase in organized protests across the country. Whether they are led by concerned citizens, social activist organizations, or hate groups, gaining media attention is a main goal. While an organizer's intent may be peaceful protest, sometimes agitators can provoke confrontations between protest participants, community members, and law enforcement or even riots.

Make it a Non-Event

Your ultimate goal should be to give as little attention to demonstrators as possible.

Avoid counter protests. Like a bellows, attention to demonstrators can fan hot coals into a full-blown fire.

Don't respond to protesters. Reduce the chances of a protest or demonstration growing into something more destructive.

Protect your people. It’s important not to ignore a demonstration, either. Concern for the safety and security of those attending church requires you to deal with demonstrators appropriately

Three Steps to Finding a Balance

You may find the following three action steps help your ministry strike the proper balance of minimizing the protest’s effectiveness while monitoring a potential threat.

Step 1: Call Police. This is the single most effective step your ministry can take to avert problems.

• Use their expertise. Law enforcement agencies are trained on tactics and strategies designed to cool hot situations, including protests, demonstrations and riots.
• Give them time to prepare. Get police involved ahead of time, if you can. With enough advance notice, local law enforcement can contact demonstration leaders beforehand to establish ground rules for the event. For example, police can require protesters to stay off church property or to demonstrate in a place where they won’t interfere with people or traffic.
• Minimize conflict. Only law enforcement officers possess the legal authority to deal with the most dangerous elements of a disruptive group. Laws in every state allow officers to arrest demonstrators for even the slightest assault on the officer, effectively removing these potentially dangerous individuals from the demonstration. Allowing police to deal with protesters outside your ministry allows you to focus on the people inside your ministry.

Step 2: Craft Your Message. After giving local law enforcement any information you have about a pending demonstration, the next step is to craft the message that your church wants to communicate before, during, and after this event. Often, media will cover a church protest.

• Express your mission. The message should convey your church’s identity and avoid engaging in a debate with the demonstrators. It may also describe briefly what steps the church is taking to ensure the safety of its members and guests.
• Maintain your focus. It’s important to communicate your own message rather than making comments about the demonstration or its organizers. Focusing comments on your ministry's goals can help deflate protesters’ attempts to smear your reputation and decrease their opportunity to sue you for defamation. Even if you ultimately win a defamation suit, the media attention and cost of the legal proceedings could be far more damaging to the church than the demonstration itself.

Step 3: Coach the Congregation. To prepare your church to be united in the face of protests, you’ll need to instruct members how to respond appropriately.

• Train staff and volunteers. Explain their specific roles and the procedures to follow in the event of a demonstration.
• Target key people. Parking lot attendants and security team members are most likely to have direct contact with demonstrators, so their training is critical. Security team members, ushers, and greeters are most likely to encounter any disruptive individuals who make their way into your building, so they need to be equipped to handle this kind of disturbance, as well.
• Inform the general membership. It’s also important to coach the congregation as a whole. In a brief statement, you’ll want to remind members and regular guests of the church’s core identity, reassure them that church leaders are providing for their safety, and ask them to avoid any contact with demonstrators. Encourage them to follow any additional instructions from police or security team members.

Be Ready to Respond

When picketers line the street across from your church, it can be difficult to understand how the same set of laws that give you freedom to worship also protect those who oppose your beliefs.

But they do, and courts have consistently protected the right of American citizens to express their opinions publicly, even if the messages are unpopular or offensive.

By understanding the pitfalls of confronting protesters, your ministry can be better equipped to respond when people with picket signs show up at your door. By refusing to give the demonstration air time, you can smother a potential fire and help turn a planned demonstration into a non-event.

Download a Demonstration Response Checklist >>