Before worshippers enter Butler's Congregation B'nai Abraham, they had to pass a security officer.

“I believe having a guard makes some people feel safe. For others, it almost ruins the worship experience for them,” said Cantor Michal Gray-Schaffer about the officer who once guarded the service and still guards the synagogue's religious school. “Before they get to come into a service, where hopefully you find fellowship but you find peace, that peace is gone when you have to go by a guard.”

A guard that may have been needed according to recent statistics.

In 2017, U.S. faith-based organizations experienced a record 261 deadly force incidents, according to Carl Chinn, a church security consultant and author who has been tracking violence in all places of worship since 1999.

Nearly six months ago, 11 people were killed and six others were injured at the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

That's when B'nai Abraham first got a guard.

The sadness from these tragic incidents lingers.

“When I first heard the news I started tearing up. For anybody who was close to the Tree of Life incident, which I was — I worked there and knew some of the people killed — I still tear up. This just brought it to the forefront for me,” Gray-Schaffer said. “It's tragic for the people that it happens to and their friends and their family and tragic for the world that there are people with so much hate in their hearts.”

Places of worship have prioritized and reexamined their security practices in the aftermath of tragedy.

Butler's First Church officials are conscious of the need to provide a safe place of worship, said Tom Holman, the Butler First Church board of trustees chairman.

“Safety of the worshipping congregation is of paramount importance,” Holman said. “You have to feel safe, don't you?”

The board is responsible for maintaining the church's facilities, he said, adding security falls under that responsibility, he said.

“With what seems to be an increasing number of attacks on places of worship, we've taken steps to increase the level of security in our worship sites,” he said.

Close to 900 people attend service every weekend in its three buildings, the Downtown campus, Crossfire and God's Country, he said.

In the wake of these incidents, the church has limited the number of doors that people can enter the sanctuary at worship times, increased security cameras and introduced internal policy and procedures for safety.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, which includes Butler, has made training sessions available and opportunities to apply for federal grants for increased security.

Gray-Schaffer has attended grant-writing meetings, had assessments of the congregation's space and viewed webinars on security.

“For the congregations in Western Pennsylvania, we've all been spending a significant amount of time thinking about security,” she said, adding it to the clergy responsibilities.

The difference is that small congregations are becoming part of the conversations among their larger counterparts, Michal said.

“Tree of Life changed everything,” she said. “Now, we're all aware.”

Congregates also have to be trained in active shooter strategies, she said.

Doors have to be locked.

“If somebody's late they either have to interrupt the service and the guard can let them in,” she said. “For congregations without a guard, we are all locking our doors now. Our doors are not open.”

Many different theories exist about what causes random acts of violence, Holman said. One reason or single cause cannot be identified to violence on churches.

“We are not alarmist,” he said. “I like to think we are doing our best to be prepared.”

Gray-Schaffer said she has no idea why someone would want to target a church. She recalled the deadly Charleston, S.C., church shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17, 2015

“He (the shooter) came in and went to Bible study for an hour before he pulled out a semi-automatic,” she said. “These people reached out to him and included him as part of the group.”

The Charleston tragedy “was anti-black and Tree of Life was anti-Jewish. I believe both were some kind of white nationalist supremacist. It's possible these people were thinking where do Jews congregate, where black people congregate — perhaps it's a congregation,” she said.

Despite the violence, there is hope.

Gray-Schaffer, who lives in Pittsburgh, recalled after the Tree of Life shooting a Muslim man raised money for the synagogue.

The Tree of Life synagogue and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh have raised money for the Muslim community in Christ Church in New Zealand who also experienced church violence in the form of a March 15 shooting.

“There's many more good people than bad people. People with love for their fellow human beings instead of hate,” she said. “I believe everyone in the world has something like 99 percent of the same DNA, which connects us all. What connects us is so much greater than what divides us.”

Faith-based deadly force Incidents- Total deadly force incidents from Jan. 1, 1999, through Dec. 31, 2017: 1,706- Number of deadly force incidents where the attack resulted in murder: 479, or 28.08 percent- Total attacks where the motive was discovered: 1,294- Robbery: 336, or 25.97 percent- Domestic spillover (domestic relationship violence that found it's way onto ministry property and resulted in a deadly force incident): 206, or 15.92 percent- Personal conflict (disagreement between two or more nondomestic-related people that erupted into a deadly force incident): 178, or 13.76 percent- Mental illness: 142, or 10.97 percent- Gang related (gang or likely gang related that included drugs are in drugs category): 115, or 8.89 percent- Bias (against any form of religion, race or people group): 75, or 5.80 percent- Drug related: 46, or 3.55 percent- Random and other (including rare triggers): 196, or 15.15 percentSOURCE: Carl Chinn, a church security consultant and author