What Should We Do If Someone Interrupts a Worship Service?

Recent events that took place in Minnesota have raised many questions for us—questions that require timely and thoughtful answers. During a Sunday morning worship service, a group of protesters unexpectedly disrupted the gathering with loud shouts and movement throughout the sanctuary. The local church in that situation made a number of wise and measured decisions that can serve as a good example for us as we prepare for possible similar circumstances. Let us reflect: how should we act rightly, and what should we avoid, if we encounter a situation like this?

1) Ushers will call and notify the police. The issue should be handled by law enforcement, not by us.

2) Do not panic, but, if possible, continue the service. As a practical measure, the congregation can begin singing together, literally drowning out the voices of the protesters.

3) One of the church leaders (most likely the pastor) will address the protesters and ask them to stop chanting and causing disorder, and to leave the building.

4) Make every effort to protect and stay close to children and those who are more vulnerable (the elderly, people with special needs, etc.).

5) Ushers will respectfully, carefully, but firmly attempt to escort out those who are disrupting the order of the service.

6) Under no circumstances provoke, attack, or use force against the protesters. Any aggression on our part becomes a serious issue in any subsequent legal proceedings. Moreover, as practice in Minnesota showed, protesters intentionally provoked the church and recorded events on their phones in order to later have material for testimony and accusations against the church.

7) Do everything possible to minimize conflict, calm people down, and promote a peaceful resolution of the situation.

8) Most importantly, such situations create a context for proclaiming the Gospel. If something like this happens, we must all be ready—through calm personal conversations, through interview responses, without fear or hesitation—to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. The world needs Christ! Be ready to explain why you are in the church, what the gospel means to you, what the church is, and how Scripture teaches us to relate to people. Do not go into politics. We are outside of politics! We belong to the kingdom of Jesus Christ!

9) Pray! Pray out loud! Pray in groups! Surround the weak, and together with them pray for God’s protection (in this situation, I advise praying with your eyes open).

10) Scripture reminds us:

Romans 12:18: “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

1 Peter 2:13–16: “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”

A request from elders: Dear Church, if you are sick or know of someone who is sick and cannot attend services and be in fellowship with other believers, please let us know so we can visit them.

Continue supporting the churches working among the people who have suffered from the war in Ukraine:

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;"
1 Corinthians 13:1-5