After the massacre of 26 people in a small church in Texas, houses of worship in Montana are getting professional help in protecting their congregations from a similar attack.

Seth Lodine with Glidewell Insurance in Missoula is a church insurance specialist, and is constantly on the road helping churches in small, medium and large communities throughout the state.

“We usually have some security recommendations within the church, including a small security team to monitor doors, and we do advocate some control over entrances to the church,” Lodine said. “We offer an individual who has trained several churches in Wyoming, some in the Bozeman area and one of the churches I work with up in Cutbank on how to avoid or mitigate violence within the church or at any inside or outside church event.”

Lodine said churches and other organizations are calling his office for information about security following the massacre in Texas.

“One of the larger Christian schools in Montana engaged in a training exercise this morning for both staff and children in the event that something like that might happen,” he said. “It was almost a lockdown procedure. I can provide more references, referrals and resources for schools and churches specifically in a tragic event such as what happened in Texas.”

Lodine said one of his resources is a risk-management specialist from Oregon who will do an on-site visit for any church in Montana. He said there are other companies that offer similar protections for synagogues, but he does not know of any companies that write insurance policies for mosques.

 

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