After Sunday's shooting at a Wisconsin Sikh temple 59News wanted to know how safe are Southern West Virginia churches.
Ken Wright is the Senior Pastor at The Family Worship Center in Beckley which has approximately 600 people in the congregation.
Wright said making sure doors are locked is secure is important from the security team which is made up of six individuals who are either retired or current law enforcement officers, "once service starts that way nobody gets in and out of those doors we have places they are assigned to watch over to make sure there isn't any active happening that shouldn't be."
Wright said his church put in place security measure about five years ago, "you would think you could come and be safe and secure unfortunately it's the times we are in right now."
The Heart of God Ministries in Beckley which has about 400 attending their worship services also has security during services and church functions.
Head of security at the church is Mark Larkin, who is also a Mt. Hope Police Officer.
"I did some research the events happening in churches shootings, domestic related incidents that lead to homicides gang related shootings at funerals. So there was defiantly a need,"
Larkin said his security measures are to make sure greeters and ushers are trained to watch out for anything suspicious, "we want to be apart of the service, but we realize we have a job to do."
Both churches have security on staff who have the right to carry a concealed weapon if they wish to do so and both have security camera placed strategically throughout the inside and outside of the buildings.
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