Law enforcement and religious leaders gather to protect safe worship – WVIR

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – Faith leaders across central Virginia are stepping up to keep their communities safe.
On Friday, May 16 training at first Baptist church in Charlottesville gave them practical tools to handle emergencies with confidence—not fear.
“Your approach can really make a difference in how the actions are going to evolve,” Representing Harvest Church of God John Sampson said.
Faith leaders across central Virginia spent the day walking through the unthinkable, such as a shooter, a medical emergency and even a stranger with bad intentions walking into a sanctuary, like at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston, South Carolina.
You never know when there’s going to be an emergency,” Albemarle County Police Department Crime Prevention Specialist Joseph George said.
Or like First Baptist church in Sutherland Spring, Texas.
“You don’t know what type of emergency it is, so we’re just trying to give people the tools that they need,” George said.
Safe Worship 2025 turned a house of worship into a training ground.
Police and fire guided church leaders through real-world scenarios, from verbal de-escalation, child protection and targeted violence response.
 “It’s about preparation and giving people the tools and the knowledge that they need to be more successful if there was an emergency,” George said.
For people who’ve been leading congregations for years, even they say the safety conversation looks different now.
“We have to be open minded, and we have to be willing to learn,” Sampson said.
The training isn’t about instilling fear; it’s about giving people confidence to act when it counts.
“This can’t be fear based,” Charlottesville Police Faith Liaison Eric Pendleton said. “We have to be mystified and defuse those terror moments, and instead, encourage people to act from a knowledge base.”
At its core, this isn’t just about safety.
It’s about freedom, for everyone.
“It doesn’t matter about what name we call God,” Pendleton said. “If one of us is not free to worship after the dictates of our conscience, after we understand god, then none of us really are free.”
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