Volley from the Canon #27

KEYS TO THE KINGDOM

As a parish priest, I had a chronic problem: what to do about keys to the church buildings.

On the one hand, I’d just as soon leave the doors unlocked 24/7. On the other hand, Episcopal churches do have valuable wares inside them, that people value (and which in some cases have historical significance). In our area, we do have regular church break-ins, usually for computers and accessories (my church in Maryland got broken into, and communion vessels stolen). Consequently, we try to be conscientious about locking up.

Still, over time, it gets so that everyone who was ever connected with the church has a key. In addition, everyone who ever “borrowed” the church facilities got keys. One might have no idea who has keys, or to whom they passed them on. Yet changing locks always causes a ruckus. If you want to lose a long-time member, just change the lock on the door without warning, so that his key no longer works! Never mind that he has had no official function for eight years.

I refer you to “the one hand” above: I never cared who got into the church (I’d love to have more people there.) But wardens, vestries, and insurance agents want some kind of order to things.

Lately I’ve noticed at several of our congregations, and discovered for my own residential use, combination door-bolts. I commend them to our churches for greatly assisting access and control of access.

The one I have (Lowe’s, starting at $109) has a battery to power the keypad light, but the bolt itself is manual. There is a key in case the battery dies unexpectedly. It uses a programming code for adding and removing codes, and it can hold up to nineteen different ones at a time.

Eureka! You can have a code for wardens and vestry, changed annually so that no one gets snubbed. One for Altar Guild and choir, changed every several years. One for staff, one for youth group, one for AA. You can program one in for the caterer at a wedding, then program it out after the event. There is no need to drive over to borrow a key, no need to return it (or forget to), no problem with losing it, no running over early Saturday morning to let in the florist, and no dilemma over asking for a key back if the senior warden quits in a huff and joins the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

I know not all of our church doors can accommodate a bolt, but for those that do, this seems to me an ideal answer to the access vs. security dilemma.