Are you familiar with the details of the gruesome murder of Reverend Carol Daniels? She was killed while inside her church on Sunday, August 23, 2009, in Anadarko, Oklahoma (60 miles south of Oklahoma City). The district attorney of Caddo County would say of the crime scene …
"I've prosecuted over 50 murders. This is the most horrific crime scene I've ever witnessed."
The church, Christ Holy Sanctified Holy Church, was eventually demolished, and all that’s there now is a memorial. I know this for a fact - I’ve driven there twice, stood there, and just stared at it.
REV. CAROL DANIELS
Actually, the church had already been shut down when Rev. Daniels was murdered. But she was a faithful servant, loved the community, and still chose to make the 60-mile drive from Oklahoma City every week, just in case someone showed up needing her encouragement.
Rev. Daniels was born on October 26 (my birthday). She died on August 23 (my wedding anniversary).
According to the autopsy report, her body was mutilated. She had been stabbed multiple times, her head nearly severed, her hair set on fire and her nude body posed, some say, as if on a crucifix.
One of the responding officers, James Howard, was haunted for years by the sight of Rev. Daniel’s “brutalized body behind the pulpit.” Nine years later he would tell a TV reporter…
“In your mind, you think, ‘how could anybody do this to another person much less someone who is down there serving God.’”
And who knows what effect it had on the other officers. The first officer on the scene was Ashley Burris. Three years after Rev. Daniels's death, Burris walked into the Anadarko Police Department, sat down in a chair, and then shot himself in the chest. Though it is believed that Burris was going through domestic problems, one still can’t help but wonder what effect seeing Rev. Daniels’ body had on him.
No one has even been arrested for Daniels’ murder, and what suspects authorities had, have all died.
I am just about through with my reading of the Guidepost report on the sex abuse problem in the Southern Baptist Convention. Warning; if you do read this, make sure there’s a commode nearby. You’re going to need a place to puke.
I preached my first sermon in a Southern Baptist Church in October of 1973, and six months later that same church granted me my ministerial license. It was a happy day. I was a whopping 16 years old.
The report of sex abuse in the SBC is heartbreaking and probably explains, at least partly, why 287,655 members left the SBC in 2019 - the largest single-year drop in more than 100 years.
The murder of Reverend Carol Daniels, sex crimes in the Baptist churches (and all the other denominational churches, too): what are we to make of it? What message do we take from all these tragedies that have occurred in our houses of worship and in faith-based settings: tragedies that have destroyed the lives of thousands?
There is a certain truth we must come to grips with, and the quicker we do, the greater our chances of staying safe. We have to wake up to the reality that there are wolves among us, and they couldn’t care less where they commit their crimes, or who their victim is.
These wolves will cut your throat, decapitate you, or gun down your children while they sit in class. They … don’t …care.
Their hearts are cold as ice, and shaking your head at them in disgust means nothing to them. They’ll laugh in your face.
“…savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.” - Acts 20:29
After the massacre of nine African Americans at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina, I received a call from TIME magazine. They had a question.
Mr. Meeks. Do you have any safety tips for churches?
“Yes,” I replied, “I have the greatest safety tip ever in the history of safety tips.”
That definitely caught their attention.
“Really? What is it?”
“WAKE UP,” I shouted into the phone.
I went on to explain to him that it doesn’t matter what I say to someone who is asleep - they do not hear me.
It doesn’t matter what “safety tips” I offer you. If you’re asleep - you won’t hear me. People who are asleep have two things in common: 1) they don’t hear and 2) they have no idea what is going on around them.
Pastor, church leaders, I beg you: I plead with you. WAKE UP!
There is no such thing as a “safe place” anywhere on this earth. That Bible you preach from every week has warned about the necessity of being alert and, furthermore, it clearly reveals that there are wolves among us.
ONE MORE THING… consider these alarming stats. From 1999 through 2009, an average of 23 people died a violent death on church and faith-based property every year. But, from 2010 through 2018, an average of 72 people died a violent death on church and faith-based property every year. This should provide you with the motivation to protect your flock.
That, along with the fact that you LOVE them, and love, the Apostle Paul said, “…always protects.” (1 Corinthians 13:7).
The photo below is of the church Rev. Daniels served at, which has since been torn down.
WE WOULD LOVE TO COME TO YOUR AREA AND CONDUCT A CHURCH SAFETY SEMINAR. WE HAVE CONDUCTED ABOUT 400 SUCH SEMINARS SINCE 2009.
CALL US AT 817.437.9693 OR EMAIL US - JIMMY@SHEEPDOGSEMINAR.COM
VIDEO a convicted killer laughs in court at the victim’s sister - who is legally blind (this is not connected to the Rev Daniels case).
