Beginning as a mission and ministry for church staff and volunteers, GENTLE RESPONSE is so much more than just another lecture presentation and slide show! It is a training program specifically designed to help a person develop stress inoculation, muscle memory, self confidence and confidence in other colleagues.
I spent 20 years as a police officer and I am a Certified Crisis Intervention Specialist. My team and I are based in Michigan but travel around the country.
My team and I have worked and trained with staff from a variety of backgrounds and career fields, such as schools, medical facilities, state agencies, churches and other non profits, businesses, law enforcement, security, etc. This training is very applicable, and scenarios customized, to ANY organization that has staff and volunteers who interact with people, and who may encounter a difficult person in a stressful, confrontational situation.
Gentle Response LLC
Although I may basically agree that the beatdown may have been warranted and called for, you just can't be doing that!
Verbal threats and tough talk from across the street does not meet the imminent threat of great bodily injury or death threshold.
The problem with the victim in this incident may have been going on for "years" but when the pastor let himself become so frustrated and offended, he ended up escalating the situation by running a distance and crossing a busy street to confront the victim.
Remember, at the moment of the incident, the victim was exercising his first amendment right, and he was not hurting anyone and he was not breaking anything. So when the pastor very aggressively approached and confronted him, it's natural for the victim to take the first swing at the pastor.
Because the pastor let himself lose situational awareness and self-discipline, he will spend a vast amount of time, money and effort to defend himself, and risk bankrupting the church and dissolving it. Basically, the victim and his family "won", and they will surely get some sort of settlement.
And all the pastor had to do was take a breath and slow down, and assess the situation: is there really an imminent danger of a bodily injury or death? Or is it just that guy across the street being loud, rude, and obnoxious again? Do I REALLY have to engage and confront him?
Put on headphones or earbuds to listen to music or a sermon, and stay focused on changing the batteries in the bus like he said he was doing. Or maybe walk away, go into the building to get a drink and take a breath to calm himself down. OR how about call the police and make a report of harassment and a disturbance?
He could have caught himself as he was running across the property and beginning to cross the busy Street to reassess what he was doing, but he had given himself tunnel vision and was focusing only on the victim.
Take a breath, slow down, assess the situation, and think things through!!
"Anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires" - James 1:20
#deescalation #angermanagement #deescalate #churchministry #leadershipdevelopment #leadership
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Gentle Response LLC
To all you Dad's and step-Dad's out there, wishing you a wonderful, blessed day full of love and family 🥰
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Gentle Response LLC
Happy birthday US Army to all my Army brothers and sisters!
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Prep and recon for Saturday's de-escalation training with staff and volunteers at Bethany Church, Waterford, MI 😀
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 3
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Gentle Response LLC
Hello from high above West Michigan! Gorgeous day to fly!
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Gentle Response LLC
Gorgeous day to fly and practice 8-on-pylons!
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Gentle Response LLC
Take a moment to honor the men and women who will continue to do the right thing despite all the hate.
1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 4
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Gentle Response LLC
De-escalation training and developing a ministry mindset this morning at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, MI!
#churchsafety #churchsecurity #churchministry
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Gentle Response LLC
Sponsoring the critical coffee station at the annual Scouting America Michigan crossroads Council classic clays!
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Gentle Response LLC
De-escalation training should not just be a Church safety and Security event, it is also very applicable to ushers and greeters and everyone else in all Ministries!
Yesterday's training seminar with the ushers and greeters at my home Church in Grandville, MI, was a grand success!
#deescalation #churchministry #churchsafety #churchsecurity
2 months ago | [YT] | 8
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