Faith Leaders Meet To Discuss Heightened Threat To Places Of Worship

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Places of sanctuary aren't feeling very secure.

Attacks on houses of worship have increased.

Alex DeMetrick reports, that's lead to Maryland first summit on faith leaders to focus on security.

This past October, a mosque in Baltimore County was fire bombed. No one was hurt, but damage nearly totaled the place.

The impact was on more than one religion.

"Any time one faith group has been targeted it's a concern for all faith groups," Dr. Zainab Chaudry said.

Enough concern 100 faith leaders from different religions gathered for a security summit.

"I think it's important for us to prepare because you never know where the next act of violence of extremism is coming from," Alvin Gillard, of Maryland's Commission on Civil Rights.

2015 has seen extremes reach mass murder, with the killing of members of Charleston's historic black church.

It's also been a year of arson attacks.

This past summer, black churches in six southern state burned.

Another half dozen have been attacked in the St. Louis area, prompting calls for vigilance.

"Call authorities if you see anything that doesn't look right," an official said.

At the Maryland summit, state and federal security experts laid out basic strategies.

"To really learn more techniques and ways that they can protect themselves and their houses of worship," Chaudry said.

This summit is first, because times right now are not the best.

"There's a lot of irresponsible rhetoric that's taking place," Gillard said. "I think their feeling of insecurity has been heightened by some of the things that have happened around the glob. There is a tension we have to recognize and respond to."

Before that tension claims another house of worship.

Past FBI statistics found an avergae of 100 arson attacks on places of worship each year.