Disasters happen everywhere. There is no special bubble of protection surrounding churches that protect them from disasters. The key is planning for and responding to disasters instead of simply reacting to disasters when they occur.
But how?
Planning. Many people focus on the first two words of Disaster Recovery Planning and focus too little on the last. It is difficult and sometimes impossible to recover from a disaster without proper planning.
Seriously, though, what disasters do churches face? These range from the simple to the complex.
- Power loss
- Tech Ministry equipment failure
- On-site accident or serious injury
- Missing child
- A person presenting a threat on campus
- Loss of life
- Building loss
- Natural disaster affecting the entire community
These are just a few of the possible disasters that a church can encounter. Deciding how your organization will respond ahead of time can reduce or even prevent confusion when the disaster occurs.
Create a Disaster Recovery Plan
Borrowing simple steps from the Information Technology industry (where I spend my day) can be useful in creating your Disaster Recovery Plan.
- Admit that a disaster can happen – From what I understand, admitting you have a problem is the first step toward recovery.
- Create a categorized list of threats to the organization – Start with the list above and expand from there. Create categories such as: Facilities, Personnel, Guests, Ministries.
- Inventory important assets – Items in this inventory will include: IT assets containing sensitive financial and personal data, insurance policies, tech equipment serial numbers and maintenance contract information and building blueprints and schematics.
- Create action plans for each threat – Action plans should include the 4 steps to Emergency Management
- Mitigation – Implement plans or processes to prevent the threat (security systems, fire suppression, child check-in)
- Preparation – Prepare for the instances when mitigation plans fail.
- Response – Create specific steps to follow when a disaster occurs. For example, what steps should be followed to evacuate the building safely in the event of power loss? These steps will involve greeters, ushers, children’s ministry staff, and parking lot workers among others.
- Recovery – List specific steps to recover from the disaster. How will you replace failed equipment? How will you replace or repair damaged building assets?
- Train staff and volunteers – To ensure that the plan you have created is executed, train staff and volunteers on threats they may face and the proper steps for response and recovery. Train regularly to keep the information fresh and to include new staff and volunteers.
Disaster Recovery Planning is Never Finished
Unlike other organizational projects like building a building, disaster recovery planning is never finished. The last step in creating a Disaster Recovery Plan should be establishing a regular plan review cadence. There should be an annual review. Take time to review asset inventories, threat assessments and action plans. Any time there is a change, train the affected staff or volunteers on key changes.
Planning Prevents or Reduces Panic
Disasters create enough stress, tension and uncertainty. Insert some calm into the chaos by having a clear plan people can follow when responding to a disaster. There is an important difference between a reaction and a response. A reaction is like a reflexive action that requires little thought. Pulling your hand away from a flame doesn’t require much thinking. A response implies that there was considered thought involved. Our organizations need to respond, not react.
Regardless of how detailed your final Disaster Recovery Plan is, remember, planning is best done in advance.
[Image via Alejandro Escamilla]
Jeremy Smith says
I’ve worked with several non-profit Christian organizations that had this very plan, but they also had a crisis plan as well that took what you have a step further. What happens if someone makes an allegation against a staff member, or heaven forbid they confess it to staff? How do you handle that? What if a news organization or other entity runs a smear campaign publicly against you, how do you proceed? And what if a staff member makes some terrible statement online that is not with doctrine or ethics of your church, what is the formal process for approaching that?
Greg says
Very good points. I was mainly focused on the Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery side of things. But, the personnel and PR concerns are very real. Honestly, I cringe when using PR related to churches because it can have the connotation of “spinning the truth”. In reality, what you are trying to do is formalize the organization’s response.
In call cases, it’s all about planning ahead of time.
Matt Rittgers says
With respect to natural disasters, I recommend looking into signing your church up as a site that Samaritan’s Purse can use as a base location for volunteers and relief teams. I was a part of a church where 2 natural disasters happened in a one year time period, and both times our church hosted volunteers from across the country coming to lend a hand. SP is a fantastic organization and incredibly organized when it comes to natural disasters.
Greg says
I would agree under one condition Matt. 🙂 Be sure your church’s own DR plan is in place before agreeing to be a DR site. This gives you space to think through all the contingency plans to ensure you can continue to operate in the event of a natural disaster. SP, the Red Cross and other orgs depend on functioning shelters and recovery centers. My dad used to coordinate churches that were used as Red Cross evacuation shelters and he had to ensure they had plans in place to be operational during a disaster.
Carl Nelson says
There is an excellent book called “The Unthinkable” (Amanda Ripley) which talks about planning your disaster in advance. Simple things, such as having a roll of plastic to cover your sound board if the roof leaks can be very cost effective mitigation planning. Most church staffs are reluctant to even address these different scenarios.
The main points of the book, by the way, were:
Anticipate, Rehearse, Survive. You can’t stop to think during a disaster.
Here was my first pass at a list:
So, What Would You Do if:
1. The electricity went out for the stage / platform area
2. The electricity went out for the entire building
3. An ice storm / other type of storm severely impacted the ability of people to move around before the service.
4. An ice storm / other type of storm severely impacted the ability of people to move around during/after the service.
5. Some one in the audience has a heart attack / gets violently sick during worship.
6. Some one in the audience becomes disruptive.
7. Some one rushes the platform and tries to grab the microphone.
8. There is a strong smell of smoke / signs of smoke when the worship set is in process.
9. A fire alarm is pulled while worship is in process.
10. A bomb threat is called into the office.
11. A strange device is found in the men’s room during the service.
12. A call comes from the nursery that a child is missing.
13. A call comes from children’s ministry that a strange man has burst into one of the rooms and is acting in a threatening manner.
14. Someone finds 2 people in a compromising situation before / during the service. (Could be adult, could be teens).
15. A child comes out of Sunday School and says that someone touched them (in an inappropriate manner).
16. A news reporter and van suddenly show up outside the service.
17. The minister calls and his vehicle has been in an accident and he won’t be coming.
18. The roof begins to leak and water is coming down on the stage / sound booth.
19. The bulb in the projector suddenly burns out.
20. The heating / cooling system stops working just as you start.
Greg says
I’ll have to check that resource out. Thanks for sharing it.
That is a great starting list of questions to consider. Like you mentioned, immediate response planning doesn’t have to be expensive or high tech (plastic sheets to cover equipment). However, all responses required some forethought.
Rash decisions can lead to bad decisions.