Protecting Our Houses of Worship Series (PHOWS)
SITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Latest News
COMING SOON: A 15-Minute Safety Conversation for Your Congregation
What if one brief conversation during a service could help your members feel more informed, prepared, and confident in an emergency?
Our new House of Worship Safety Briefing Package is available, at no cost, and includes a ready-to-share video, customizable partner script, and presentation slides.
Take just 15 minutes—ideally at least once each year—to introduce essential safety information and reinforce your congregation’s preparedness.
Download the free Safety Briefing Video and Package today!
Program Overview
The PHOW Series (PHOWS) is a free, North Texas community-driven non-denominational and scalable program led by dedicated volunteers in close collaboration with local and regional public-sector partners. The program started in 2021 and offers both in person opportunities and a monthly newsletter.
Designed specifically for Houses of Worship of any size, it brings together expert speakers from agencies such as the FBI, The Department of Homeland Security (highlighting no-cost tools and materials), CISA and local public sector partners who provide education and training on topics, not limited to, De-Escalation, Stop the Bleed, and Cyber Security Training.
As participation has expanded and grown, the series has evolved to include interactive multiple 90-minute tabletop exercises that use realistic injects to walk attendees through complex scenarios and decision-making that are focused around a faith facility.
We encourage other communities to engage locally or like us, start a PHOWS initiative on their own using our model.
The PHOWS program is non denominational. It is important that communities help to establish planning protocols that engage all Faith Based Programs with their Public Sector Partners.
The threat landscape itself is broad and evolving, ranging from hate crimes and domestic violence spillover to severe weather, medical emergencies, and other natural or human-caused incidents. Designing a truly comprehensive safety plan requires addressing this full
spectrum of risks while remaining flexible enough to adapt to new threats as they emerge.
(Image Credit: Fox News)
All Houses of Worship should be welcoming and safe for all attendees to practice their faith that encourages both the Faith & Safety Ministries to work closely together.
Real testimony:
Prior training helped in a worship-facility emergencies
“Without the education we received, we would not have been ready to respond and escape when the situation demanded it.”
— Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville January 2022 urging congregations and other organizations to participate in active-shooter and security training after the hostage crisis.
(Source CNN https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/17/us/texas-rabbi-training-synagogue-attack)
"Us having this team certainly saved lives and that’s proof to at least think about that and have some things in place. Churches do need to protect the people. I can’t say they need to do exactly what we do, but they need to be prepared for things like this.”
— Pastor Bobby Kelly, CrossPointe Community Church, following the June 2025 attack.
(Source Asisonline https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/latest-news/today-in-security/2025/june/church-shooting-averted/)
“I would add that the church parishioners and staff members were trained in responding to emergency situations, which also saved lives. … Their actions prevented dozens of people from being murdered today.”
— Wayne Police Chief Ryan Strong, after the CrossPointe Community Church attack.
(Source Asisonline https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/latest-news/today-in-security/2025/june/church-shooting-averted/)
“We are alive today because of that education.”
— Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville January 2022, referring to security training provided through the Colleyville Police Department, FBI, Anti-Defamation League, and Secure Community Network.
(Source CNN https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/17/us/texas-rabbi-training-synagogue-attack)
