Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 2 December 2025

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters. 

Christmas ruined as thieves steal £500 decorations from UK church

A congregation in Norwich UK has been left devastated after thieves stole Christmas decorations. Two large nutcracker statues used in the church’s annual festive display and toy drive events were taken after thieves cut the chains securing them. Church leaders said the stolen decorations were volunteer-funded and intended for repeated use in future years. The theft has disrupted the church’s holiday efforts and dampened the “magic of Christmas”.

Analyst Comments: This incident offers a reminder that outdoor holiday displays can be targets for opportunistic theft. This loss can create significant emotional and logistical setbacks for less resourced communities and groups that are doing charity work, executing community events, and overall trying to provide seasonal joy. Theft of decorations often increases during the holidays because items are left outside, unsecured, and visible.

Ways to protect:

• Better lighting
• Discreet cameras
• Anchoring Items

Mass killings in 2025 hit lowest level since 2006

The US recorded 17 mass killing in 2025, which is the lowest total since 2006 according to a database compiled by Associated Press. This decline is roughly a 24% drop from 2024 and 20% from 2023. Since 2006, 3,234 people have died in mass killing and firearms still were the cause of about 82% of those incidents which highlights that gun violence remains a major concern.

Analyst Comments: This decline may just be a “regression to the mean,” or a return to more typical levels after the unusually high number of mass killings that occurred in 2018 and 2019. Although this decline in 2025 is good it shows just a small sample size and does not mean that the problem is gone for good.

Hackers hijack U.S. radio gear to send fake alerts and obscenities

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently warned that hackers have been hijacking U.S. radio transmission equipment to broadcast bogus emergency alerts and obscene audio in place of legitimate programming. In these incidents, attackers used improperly secured studio-to-transmitted link equipment to inject their own audio feed. The broadcasted content included attention signals followed by bigoted, obscene material which misled listeners to think they were receiving a real public-safety alert.

Analyst Comments: The hijacking of alert systems matters because it directly affects public trust, and trust is critical during real emergencies. While houses of worship (HOWs) don’t typically operate emergency alert infrastructure, they do depend on accurate, reliable public warnings to make decisions for their community events. When fake alerts or obscene messages are broadcast over trusted channels, it creates confusion and desensitizes people, causing them to hesitate, question authenticity, or fail to act promptly in a real crisis. For faith-based organizations that host large gatherings, children’s programs, food distributions, or holiday services, confidence in emergency communications is a safety issue.