What to do When a Crisis Hits the Church.
Do you know who to call and what to do? Running around like “Chicken Little” does not keep the staff and congregation protected. Can you confidently make decisions when there is severe injury or life threatening events happening? An Emergency Church Crisis Management Plan is a guide for church staff members that will assist in addressing a wide range of potential problems in the church. An effective plan includes specific procedures that cover a wide variety of potential problems or situations. Each potential topic area should be reviewed, and if deemed appropriate, a detailed procedure should be put into place. Suggested areas that should be reviewed include, but are not limited to:
Assaults/Active Shooter
Auto/Bus Accidents
Blizzard/Snow Conditions
Bomb Threat/Suspicious Package
Bomb Explosion
Demonstration
Disturbance
Drive By Shooting
Earthquake
Emergency Plan to Relocate All Staff and Attendees
Evacuation
Flooding
Kidnapping – Missing Person
Hazardous Materials spill
Hurricane
Intruder/Hostage
Lightning
Lockdown
Power Lines Down – Utility Failure
Children’s School Violence
Serious Injury/Death at or away from church
Severe Weather
Severe Winds-Hail Storm-Thunderstorm
Sexual Assault
Shelter-in-Place due to Weather
Suicide Threat
Terrorism (Chemical or Biological Threat)
Tornado/Severe Thunderstorm/Indoor Shelter Once you have reviewed the issues and decided which you need to plan for, a procedure should be implemented to deal with the most likely results of the incident. Once this is completed , they should be added to the church safety manual.
