Are You Ready for Disruptors?

“Queer Nation is here!” he blurted. The usher was breathless.

I was backstage. It was Easter Sunday, just minutes before service time. Queer Nation and ACT UP are radical LGBTQ groups known for civil disobedience, including the disruption of a Mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.

Our Chicago church had encountered these groups before, outside a local abortion clinic. Our members knew them by name and face. They had been invited to church. In response to one of those invitations, the answer came back plainly, “We’re coming to your church.”

That message reached me quickly. I knew their reputation. We made a plan.

Now they were here.

We were about to learn some unwanted lessons. We were also about to witness a spiritual victory.

I spoke quickly to the messenger, “Tell the band. Call the police.”

Please Don’t

• Misread or downplay the temperature of the temperature.
• Assume, “This can’t happen to us.”
• Think you will see disruption coming. Unless you are a very small church, disruptors can infiltrate unnoticed, ready to be activated by a signal.
• Rely on the idea that “we have people who carry.” Think that through carefully. You are not going to shoot disruptors. A social media post showing armed Christians confronting someone who appears innocent will not enhance your witness to people who desperately need Jesus.
• Read this as legal advice or a comprehensive guide. Rather, take it as an overview designed to help you think through your own context and preparations.

Important Preparations

Our preparations were primitive and barely adequate. You may not have that luxury.

• Prayer comes first. This is a spiritual battle that manifests itself physically.
• Prepare hearts diligently, in the spirit of Christ, who was full of grace and truth. Above all else, God must be glorified in His church.
• Carefully select a rapid response team. At a minimum, this should include a security lead, a communications director, the point pastor, worship leaders, a media liaison or spokesperson, and a videographer or photographer.
• Recruit and drill the team. If deployment becomes necessary, you cannot afford unauthorized people to interfere with the plan.
• Know the relevant state, county, and municipal laws. 
• Have your attorney on speed dial.
• Identify vulnerabilities on your campus, including entrances and exits, sound booths, children’s areas, the platform, and fire alarms.
• And pick a song, not just any song. More on that in a moment.

Vital Decisions

• Establish your objective. For example, we will maintain control of our service and our property.
• Decide in advance whether you will allow or deny entry. This is critical. It is one thing to block a loud, chanting group marching toward your doors. That decision makes itself. It is another thing entirely when individuals enter quietly, unknown to you, carrying rolled poster boards or backpacks.

In our case, we knew who they were, and they had been invited. The upside was immediate recognition and a heightened state of alert. We made the deliberate decision to welcome them into the worship space.

At that point in our church’s life, I also served as the worship leader. As I led the Easter congregation, I scanned the room, watching a sea of unfamiliar faces. I assumed that if something happened, it would occur during prayer or the message.

I began preaching. Ten minutes in, I was fully engaged spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. I preach while moving, and as I shifted from one side of the platform to the other, two individuals slipped out of the third row and stood directly in front of me.

One said, “We have something we’d like to say.”

I stepped back, raised both hands, and said loudly and enthusiastically, “Let’s stand and sing.”

The Moment

The keyboardist, already seated and alert, hit the opening chord. We sang.

         In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus,
         We have the victory.
         In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus
         Demons have to flee
         Tell me, who can, stand before us
         When we, call on, his great name’
         Jesus, Jesus, Precious Jesus
         We have the victory.

The band was on it from the first note. The vocal team joined me on the platform. The head usher and his partner were down the aisle in seconds, escorting the two individuals out before we were three lines into the song.

It was shock and awe.

Later, we realized those two were the signal. Their action was meant to mobilize the rest of the group scattered across the auditorium.

Standing physically covered them, reducing visibility. Singing eliminated any attempt at speech, chanting, or shouting while they were removed.

No explanation was given. Within five seconds, the entire room was standing and singing. Decisive action and surprise preserved control of the service.

As for song choice, this is not the moment for something quiet or subdued. You need a war song. If you do not have one, that deserves attention. The congregation must know it well enough to sing with conviction.

The Second Attempt

After the song, I said, “You may be seated,” and continued preaching without comment. In hindsight, an explanation might have helped, because I doubt anyone was listening.

Ten minutes later, a tall man stood in the center section, raised his hand to his mouth, and took a deep breath. I knew what was coming. It was a police whistle.

Before he could blow it, my hands were in the air again. “Let’s stand and sing.”

The congregation is on its feet. This time, our people understood exactly what was happening and threw themselves into the song.

           In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus
           We have the victory
           In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus
           Demons have to flee…………

The police, who had been called at the beginning of the service, asked, “What is going on right now?” The answer was simple, “Well, nothing right now.” Their response was, “Call us if something happens.”

At that moment, I had no reason to believe we could rely on the police. Sometime earlier, I had listened to a recording from a San Francisco Baptist church that had been under siege by the very kind of activists we were facing. In that instance, believers huddled inside their building while windows were smashed, landscaping destroyed, and walls spray-painted, all while pounding on the doors and windows, which echoed the scene of Lot in Sodom. Thankfully, these were Chicago cops, not San Francisco cops.

Perhaps a few officers grew curious on a Sunday. They arrived several minutes after the first attempted disruption. By the time of the second attempt, four or five officers were standing along the back wall of the auditorium. They saw everything.

When the second disruption began, the officers, accompanied by our ushers, were more than willing to move quickly. They marched down the center aisle and, quite literally, dragged two more would-be disruptors out of the room.

Once again, we finished the song. I said, “You may be seated,” and dove right back into completing the message.

I never addressed the disruptors from the platform. I never explained to the congregation who they were. I gave them no platform and no identification. After the second attempt, it was clear to everyone that people were present, determined to take over the service. That was all the Easter guests needed to know. Our members, for the most part, already understood what was happening.

Decisive Actions

1. A plan allows swift, confident action. You cannot predict tactics, but you must act decisively. Control can never be in question.
2. The congregation is one of your greatest assets. Standing them deprives disruptors of visibility and disrupts their momentum.
3. A strong, militant song focuses the church spiritually while neutralizing noise-based tactics. Chanting and yelling take a lot of energy and get old quickly. You can sing all day long. 
4. Those responsible for removal must be overwhelmingly adequate in number and well trained, minimizing struggle, delay, or escalation.

After Actions

1. If you offer an explanation, do so in the spirit of Christ, denying His enemies any attention or promotion.
2. Be prepared for the press. Prepare a statement. Designate one spokesperson.
3. Review all videos and photos before releasing them.
4. Debrief your response team immediately, with a deeper review later.
5. Turn the event into prayer, for the glory of God in His church and for the souls of those who attempted disruption.

Seven were arrested. The service continued. God was glorified in His church. And on Monday morning, believers went to work with a story they never expected to tell.