Paid subscribers make this possible. Please consider upgrading your subscription to help us protect all churches. We are looking for churches to host CASIC in CA, TX and FL. Your church and students must meet selective criteria. Not everyone can attend. See selection criteria at the bottom of this article. Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) The first Church Active Shooter Instructor Course (CASIC) ran October 28 to 30, 2026, at Eagle Christian Church in Eagle, Idaho, and graduated 20 instructors from 13 churches in seven states. CASIC is the only church-specific active shooter instructor course in the United States. In 2027 we are taking it to the rest of the nation, starting with California, Texas and Florida. We need host churches in those states, and smaller churches make good hosts because each class runs 15 to 20 students. What CASIC Is CASIC is a three-day train-the-trainer certification from Christian Warrior Training. It teaches church safety team members how to train their own teams to respond to an active shooter. Graduates go home qualified to run the Church Active Shooter Course (CASC), an eight-hour training day for their church’s safety team, with the instructor guide, forms and program toolkit to run it. They may also teach other churches and charge enough to cover their expenses. They may not teach it for profit. The first class brought safety ministry leaders and team members from Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah, from nondenominational, Baptist, Nazarene, Calvary Chapel and Catholic congregations. Several were retired law enforcement officers and firearms instructors. Every student needed a letter of support from their church to register, and Scripture ran through every block of the course. What Happened Over the Three Days No live firearms or live ammunition were allowed on site for anyone, instructors included. Everyone was searched at the door every morning and again after lunch. Students trained with blue guns and laser training pistols, and only instructors and role players fired blanks, in one room, on Day 2. Every run had ear and eye protection and a Safety Officer, and anyone in the room could call STOP for any reason. Day 1: The Instructor’s Foundation The biblical and theological block covered the core Scriptures behind protecting the church and how to answer people who misquote Scripture to object to this training. Students paired up and answered the “we just trust God” objection out loud while a partner played the pastor, an elder or a congregant. The use of force block covered the levels of force and imminence, and each student found the key parts of their own state’s self-defense statute, using Idaho’s as the model. The class then worked use of force scenario cards: what level of force fits, on what legal basis, and what gets documented. Adult learning theory came next, including crawl-walk-run and the explain, demonstrate, perform and critique cycle. The RACE framework (Recognize, Alert, Close, Engage) took the longest block of the day. Students worked contact and cover on a role player, with one person talking and one watching, gave radio calls and 911 calls until they were clean, walked through the unarmed swarm with no hands on anyone, and took the West Freeway Church of Christ shooting in Texas and the CrossPointe Community Church attack in Michigan through each step of RACE. The reactionary standards block covered pass and fail benchmarks and the police arrival protocol, and every student said the line out loud: “Security team. My weapon is holstered.” The day closed with a weapons platforms overview and a knowledge check. Day 2: Safe Training and Scenario Delivery Day 2 covered how to run scenario training without anyone getting hurt. Students read back the seven safety rules, then every student inspected a blue gun, a laser trainer and the blank gun with a partner verifying. During the live blank gun demonstration, the instructor fired into a backstop near cardboard sheets at about 2 and 10 feet so students could see the report, the muzzle gas and the wadding. Each of them then stood the Safety Officer post in the vest during short laser runs, making the hot, cold and STOP calls, calling hits and logging each run. Medical integration covered Mass Casualty (MASCAS) incidents, the Casualty Collection Point (CCP) and the Rescue Task Force (RTF). Students found an expired item planted in a trauma kit and picked a primary and backup collection point on the church’s floor plan. In scenario design, they watched real attack footage and wrote a scenario from it. The instructor ran an After Action Review (AAR) on that morning’s STOP drill, and then each student facilitated a short scenario for a small group and ran the AAR. The day ended with the hat drill, where a student pulls a church security topic from a hat and talks on it for three minutes with no preparation, followed by a read-back of the Safety Officer logs. Day 3: Certification Practicum To certify, students had to answer at least 14 of 20 questions correctly on a closed-book written test and score at least 70 of 100 points across a graded teach and a scenario run. A zero in safety management failed the practicum. Each student taught a five-minute block from the Team Handbook to the class, who played their team, and was scored on doctrine accuracy and instructional clarity. The building your program block covered what to ask church leadership for: a date on the calendar, the rooms, a budget and what is allowed in the room. In the scenario delivery practicum, each student briefed, ran and debriefed the scenario they wrote the night before and stood the Safety Officer post for a classmate. The day finished with the written test, graduation and commissioning. Each graduate received a numbered certificate, CASIC Instructor #2 through #21. I hold #1. Certificates are valid for three years, and graduates recertify after that. Instructors from this first class will travel with me to help teach the 2027 classes. CASIC Is Coming to California, Texas and Florida In 2027 we are taking CASIC to the rest of the nation, and California, Texas and Florida come first. If you lead or serve on a church safety team in one of those states, we are coming to you, and we need host churches to make it happen. A host church provides the training space for three days, and its safety team gets seats in the class. Smaller churches work well as hosts because each class runs 15 to 20 students. We cannot facilitate larger groups. To request a seat in a 2027 class, send your name, church, city and state to casic@christianwarriortraining.com. If your church wants to host a class, email casic@christianwarriortraining.com with the church name, city, state and a contact person. What the Bible Says Some Christians believe that preparing for an attack shows a lack of faith. David trusted God with his life, and he also trained for battle. In Psalm 144:1, English Standard Version (ESV), he writes, “Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle.” David credited the Lord for the skill in his hands and saw no conflict between faith and training. A church safety team trusts God with the outcome and puts in the hours so its members know what to do if an attacker comes through the doors. In John 10, Jesus contrasts the good shepherd, who lays down His life for the sheep, with the hired hand. John 10:12-13 (ESV) reads, “He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” The people who stand post on church safety teams care about their congregations and know many of them by name. Training means they also know where to go, what to say on the radio and how to move people away from an attacker. CASIC follows the pattern Paul gave Timothy. Second Timothy 2:2 (ESV) reads, “and what you hav… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.christianwarriortraining.com/subscribe