Pastor's Weekly Update

JULY 21, 2022

Hello Lakeshore Family,

We are living in a day and age when security seems to be on everyone’s mind.  One report says that 38% of Americans own a home security product or security system to monitor or protect their home.  Just like American homeowners, Lakeshore has implemented various security products and systems over the years to protect our church home in addition to having a Security Team to provide a safe environment for our church family.  With the SCOTUS recently overturning Roe v. Wade and now the talk of them revisiting the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, organizations that are pro-life and pro-traditional family and values are at risk of falling victim to vandalism, protests, and even violence.  Lakeshore has taken several measures to increase our security to protect our people and our property against such threats.

One measure I would like to highlight is the locking of the gate found at the entrance off Latta Road.  There was a lot of discussion about 10 years ago about whether or not to install a gate at that entrance.  With the way our world has changed since then, I do not think anyone is regretting that decision.  A few weeks ago we made the decision to not just close the gate at night, but now to begin locking the gate to prevent unwanted visitors from opening the gate at will.  We decided to follow a rule that many of you probably follow at home – the last one out locks the door, or in Lakeshore’s case, the gate.  So that means during the week the staff is locking the gate when the last person leaves the office.  If there is a meeting or rehearsal taking place, the last one in the building locks the gate.  And on a Sunday, that means the last person to leave the building locks the gate.

I bring this up because occasionally people will leave their vehicle in our parking lot after church if they are meeting some family and friends for lunch after church and they would typically come back later in the afternoon to pick up their vehicle. However, in order to prevent vehicles from getting stuck in the parking lot due to the gate being locked, we are asking that our church family no longer do this. This is an unfortunate thing we have to do, but for the time being, we feel this is the best measure to protect unwanted guests from doing any damage or causing problems on our property. 

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to speak to any of our pastors about this decision.

Make a great day!
Pastor Frank