Church Doors Sometimes Locked to Spiritually Needy in Inglewood

The locked doors to protect the offering at the First Church of God and the new alarm system to ward off burglars at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church both reflect a disturbing problem for congregations in Inglewood.

“It’s sad. There’s nothing sacred anymore,” said the Rev. E. W. Dierker, who has been the pastor of Good Shepherd for 45 years. “We have to keep our church doors locked. Years ago, we kept the doors open” to the public.

Many church officials in Inglewood say they are enforcing a closed-door policy to guard against robberies and vandalism. Church officials have reported break-ins, with silver, microphones, office and sound equipment stolen.

And while the ministers are preaching the gospel and the choirs are belting out hallelujahs inside churches on Sunday, ushers and guards are walking the parking lots to prevent cars from being vandalized and stolen.

Churches in the most crime-prone areas are hiring security guards and installing alarm systems, barred windows and security lights, ministers said. But even locked doors are not always the answer in a city where crime has increased 10% since last year.

The Rev. Austin Williams of True Vine Baptist Church on Centinela Avenue described a robbery at his church on a weekday last January. “A fellow came to the door and told the office assistant that his mother had just passed away, and he needed some counseling,” Williams said.

The office assistant opened the door and was robbed at gunpoint of his jewelry. That robber “said the right things to get the door open,” Williams said.

Dierker is debating having a security guard patrol his Maple Street parking lot because cars have been tampered with during services. But he said it is not a simple decision. The feeling that the 600-member church has become a fortress has caused numerous congregants to leave so they can worship “where the security is less severe,” he said.

In addition to an atmosphere that is driving away some parishioners, the closed-door policy has placed the church in conflict with its traditional role of being open 24 hours for the spiritually needy, many pastors said.

But the increase in violence and drug use and the availability of weapons in the community, they said, have placed their buildings at risk, so congregations are taking precautions.

There are 60 churches in Inglewood, according to the Inglewood Chamber of Commerce.

Inglewood Police Sgt. Harold P. Moret said the department does not keep a separate record of church-related crimes, so he does not know if the incidents related by the ministers represent something new that the Police Department needs to address. “If ministers have the perception they need security guards or some kind of safety measure . . . that’s their prerogative.”

Robberies, burglaries and auto thefts in Inglewood have each increased since last year. For the first 10 months of 1988, there were 800 robberies, 1,521 auto thefts and 1,392 burglaries. During the same period this year, there were 912 robberies, 1,830 auto thefts and 1,402 burglaries, Moret said.

The crime rate in the community has caused some smaller churches, especially those heavily attended by older members, to discontinue evening services, said the Rev. Benjamin F. Reid of First Church of God on Crenshaw Boulevard. At his church, the doors are routinely locked on Sunday when donations are taken to prevent thieves from running off with the collection plate.

Vandalism and petty theft are also more common on some church properties. The Rev. Robert Thrash, co-pastor of Christ-Centered Apostolic Church on West Imperial Highway, said: “We’ve had purses stolen while people prayed.”

Even personal and sacred items have been taken. Connie Erickson, church secretary for First Lutheran Church on West Queen Street, said the pastor’s robe and crosses were stolen.

“Why they would take a robe and his crosses, I don’t know,” Erickson said.

At the same time Inglewood church officials are concerned about crime, it is also on the minds of the wider religious community.

When more than 200 Southern California and national ministers gathered in Los Angeles in August for a conference on strategies for urban churches, church safety was an unplanned topic of discussion, Reid said.

One of the chief concerns had to do with preventing violence at church activities, which frequently are open to the public or to a broad cross section of the community.

The most violent event at an Inglewood church this year took place in October at Reid’s church when a basketball game for participants in a gang ministry ballooned into a fight in the parking lot. A 17-year-old was shot in the head. He was released from the hospital later that month.

“We are very conscious that (a shooting) can happen again,” Reid said. “Especially when we don’t know everyone in our congregation.”

Reid described First Church of God as “extremely fortunate” because the shooting is the only incident of violence at his church and because no one died.

Churches are also vulnerable during services and classes, he said. That was underscored in July when two half-brothers stormed a Bible-study class at a South-Central Los Angeles church, shot two women dead and wounded a man. Police said the shooting at Mt. Olive Church of God in Christ stemmed from a domestic dispute.

The gunmen--one was related to one of the slain women--were each arraigned in Los Angeles Superior Court Dec. 21 on two counts of murder and one of attempted murder. Deputy Dist. Atty. Mike Botula said Anthony Oliver, 27, and Albert Lewis Jr., 33, pleaded innocent to the charges.

Many churches in Inglewood, like the Southern Baptist Church on Redfern Avenue, have not been touched by crime. The Rev. Richard Greaves, its pastor, recognizes the potential for danger but notes his church is “in more of a quiet neighborhood. Something could happen, but it is not likely.”

The reaction by most ministers to the crime threat is to fight back rather than reduce their churches’ openness to the spiritually needy. Several churches sponsor neighborhood watch meetings to help fight crime.

The potential for crime “won’t stop us from continuing the work,” said the Rev. Donald Davis of Fairview Heights Baptist Church on Marlborough Avenue. The church is too important and it has “an ameliorating effect on the community,” Davis said.

Una L. Robertson, a First Church congregant for three years, said the precautions are necessary.

“We’ve read about the recent happenings in churches,” she said. “I think for the safety of the congregants, (churches) should have security guards.”

Despite all the precautions, Reid said his church will not have “a fortress survival mentality.” It will continue to reach out to the community by sponsoring youth programs and evening worship and conducting funeral services for gang members, he said.

“The more active the inner-city church is, the safer it is,” Reid said. “We recognize the danger, but there is danger in crossing the streets.”