Church Door Security & Panic Hardware Installation at St. Clare's Church in Staten Island, NY

The main entry doors at St. Clare's Church in Staten Island, NY, fitted with new high-security locking hardware.

About This Project

A church door has to do two jobs that pull in opposite directions. It needs to stay open and welcoming for services, weddings, funerals, and community events — and it needs to be secure against unauthorized entry every other hour of the week. Add in the fact that every exit still has to work instantly and reliably in an emergency, and a parish's entrances turn out to be some of the more complicated openings a commercial locksmith handles.

That was the assignment at St. Clare's Church in Staten Island. Parker Custom Security was brought in to evaluate the parish's exterior entry and exit doors and upgrade them with commercial-grade locking hardware and panic/exit devices — installing new hardware across three separate sets of doors so every entrance on the property met the same standard for security and egress.

The Challenge: Controlled Entry Without Sacrificing Emergency Egress

Churches and places of worship have a security challenge that most commercial buildings don't: an office building can simply lock its doors after hours, but a parish has to think in terms of a weekly rhythm. Sunday morning Mass with a full sanctuary is a completely different access situation than a nearly empty building on a Tuesday afternoon, and the same doors have to work correctly in both cases. On top of that, a church typically has several distinct entrances — a main entrance, side doors, staff or clergy entrances, and designated emergency exits — each of which needs hardware suited to how it's actually used.

At St. Clare's, that meant assessing entry and exit doors across the property rather than treating each door as an isolated repair. Older or mismatched hardware on any one entrance can undermine the security of the whole building, and exit doors that don't operate smoothly create a life-safety concern, not just an inconvenience.

Sound Familiar? Common Door Security Concerns at Churches & Community Facilities

If you manage a church, school, or community facility, some of these will likely sound familiar:

• "We have too many keys and don't know who has copies." Uncontrolled duplicate keys make it difficult to know who can actually get into the building.
• "Some of our exit doors don't operate the way they should." Panic and exit hardware that sticks, doesn't latch, or has been improvised over the years is both a security gap and a code concern.
• "Our locks are decades old." Original hardware on an older building often predates current commercial-grade locking and exit-device standards.
• "We need doors secured from outside but still usable as an exit." Balancing controlled entry with reliable emergency egress isn't something a standard residential-style lock can do.
• "Different doors get used differently depending on the day." A door that's propped open for a Sunday service needs to be reliably secured the rest of the week.

These issues tend to accumulate door by door until a facility ends up with a patchwork of hardware ages and types across the building. Addressing the whole opening — door, frame, hinges, lock, and exit device together — is what actually resolves them.

The Solution: Door & Hardware Upgrades Across Three Entrances

Rather than treating each door as a one-off repair, Parker Custom Security measured and specified hardware for all three sets of entry/exit doors at St. Clare's as a single project, so every entrance received the same standard of locking and exit hardware. The installation covered:

• New high-security keyed cylinders on exterior entry doors
• Von Duprin 22 Series exit devices — commercial panic/exit hardware on each door leaf
• Detex EAX-500 alarmed exit hardware on designated emergency exits, so those doors stay secured from the exterior while sounding an alert if opened
• Reinforced strike plates at each opening for added durability against forced entry
• Continuous hinges sized to the door openings for long-term, high-traffic performance

One of three exterior entrances upgraded with new locking hardware at St. Clare's Church.

Interior view of the same entrance, fitted with panic exit hardware and door closers for reliable egress.

Panic & Alarmed Exit Hardware: Secure Entry Without Blocking an Exit

Can a church door be secure and still allow emergency exit? Yes. Commercial panic and exit hardware is built around exactly that requirement: it can secure the exterior side of a door — so it can't be pulled open from outside — while still allowing anyone inside to open it immediately by pushing the bar or crossbar, no key or code required. At St. Clare's, designated emergency exits were fitted with Detex EAX-500 alarmed exit devices, which add a further layer: opening the door from inside still works instantly, but the device sounds a local alarm, discouraging the door from being used as anything other than an emergency or designated exit.

Getting this right means evaluating the entire opening together rather than any single component in isolation — door, frame, hinges, lock, exit device, closer, and strike all have to work as one system. That's the difference between hardware that merely looks secure and hardware that actually performs the way a church, school, or assembly space needs it to.

A Detex EAX-500 alarmed exit device secures this exit while still allowing immediate emergency egress.

Door & Hardware Design & Specifications

Commercial door hardware for a church or assembly space has to satisfy security, durability, and life-safety requirements at the same time. The hardware specified for this project included:

• Doors: hollow metal doors, fire-rated, sized to each opening (three sets, six door leaves total)
• Hinges: continuous hinges rated for high-traffic commercial openings
• Exit devices: Von Duprin 22 Series panic/exit hardware, one per door leaf
• Alarmed exits: Detex EAX-500 delayed/alarmed egress hardware on designated emergency exits
• Cylinders: Arrow high-security keyed cylinders
• Reinforcement: reinforced strike plates at each opening
• Finish: brass-gold hardware finish to match the building's existing entrances

Appropriate door and exit hardware can help a facility address applicable egress, life-safety, and building-code requirements — those requirements vary by building and occupancy, so every specification should be confirmed for the specific property rather than assumed from a similar job.

The Finished Result

With all three entrances upgraded, St. Clare's Church now has a consistent standard of locking and exit hardware across the property instead of a mix of ages and types. Entrances can be reliably secured against unauthorized access, designated exits open immediately from the inside in an emergency, and staff no longer have to manage a patchwork of older hardware door by door.

A third exterior entrance fitted with new locking hardware during the project.

The completed interior view of the third entrance, with panic hardware and door closers installed.

Why Churches & Places of Worship Have Unique Door Security Needs

A church is rarely just a sanctuary. Most parishes also include offices, classrooms, meeting rooms, kitchens, community spaces, and staff or clergy entrances — each with its own traffic pattern and access needs, and each requiring hardware suited to how that specific door is used rather than a one-size-fits-all lock. A side door used daily by staff needs different hardware than a main entrance that's only unlocked for services, and a designated emergency exit needs to function correctly whether the building is full or empty.

This is where physical security and access planning intersect. Understanding which doors need to stay controlled, which need to open freely during events, and which are strictly emergency egress is the starting point for specifying the right hardware for each opening — the same approach used across the entrances at St. Clare's.

Physical Door Security vs. Electronic Access Control

Door security isn't a single product — it's layered. Physical, mechanical hardware forms the foundation: high-security cylinders, commercial-grade locks, reinforced strike plates, panic/exit devices, continuous hinges, and door closers that keep every opening functioning correctly. That's the scope of work completed at St. Clare's.

For facilities that need more granular control over who can enter and when, electronic access control — card readers, keypads, credentials, electric locking hardware, and video intercoms — can be layered on top of that physical foundation. Electronic access control was not part of this project, but it's an option many churches, schools, and multi-tenant properties evaluate once their physical hardware is up to standard. The right combination depends on how the facility is used, which entrances need to be controlled, who requires access, and how emergency exits must function.

Signs a Church or Facility Should Have Its Doors Evaluated

Not every issue is obvious until it becomes a problem. Common indicators that a facility's entry and exit doors are due for evaluation include:

• Doors that don't close or latch consistently
• Outdated or worn locking hardware
• Uncontrolled or unaccounted-for duplicate keys
• Damaged hinges, closers, or exit devices
• Exit devices that stick, bind, or don't operate smoothly
• Doors that can be pried or pulled open when they should be secured
• Staff manually locking and unlocking numerous entrances every day
• A desire for better control over who can enter specific areas of the building

Any one of these is worth a look; several together usually mean it's time for a full assessment rather than another one-off repair.

Why Facility Administrators Choose Parker Custom Security

Church and institutional properties need a contractor who understands that a door isn't just hardware — it's part of how the building runs every day, from Sunday services to weekday staff access. Parker Custom Security has installed and repaired commercial doors, locks, exit hardware, intercoms, and access control across NYC since 2003.

• Over 20 years of commercial door and hardware experience in NYC
• Whole-opening approach — door, frame, hinges, lock, and exit device evaluated together
• Experience with occupied, active facilities — churches, schools, and multi-tenant buildings
• Licensed, bonded, and insured for commercial and institutional work
• Commercial-grade materials on every project

Serving Churches & Commercial Properties Across Staten Island & NYC

This project was completed in Staten Island, and Parker Custom Security provides commercial door, locking, exit-hardware, and access-control services for churches, religious facilities, schools, offices, multifamily properties, and other commercial and institutional buildings throughout Staten Island and the greater New York City metro area, with service also extending into Westchester and Northern New Jersey.