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Churches and Disasters
Local churches are in a unique position to respond to individual needs in ways
that no other organization or group can. Churches can demonstrate the love of
Christ as they meet the needs of victims in a time of disaster. Even spontaneous
reaction to a disaster in or near the church community can be helpful if it is
coordinated with disaster relief agencies' and local government response
efforts.
The purpose of this section is to assist churches in making plans for a disaster
ministry. The lists that follow can give guidance and help church planners
develop other ways their facilities might be used in addition to emergency
services.
If the church building is in or near the disaster area and useful in any way,
the church has a variety of opportunities. It can offer the use of its
facilities for a feeding center, a staging area for emergency medical services
and support teams. Additional opportunities for a church building to be used in
a disaster are: as a distribution center for clothing or bulk food items; an
information staging area for volunteers or work units; as a shelter, child-care
center, a communication center, or an information center for other
organizations.
Church members provide a ready pool of volunteers who may perform any of the
above services, whether it’s in the church's facilities or not. They also can
provide transportation as well as assist with cleanup and repair. Church members
can also provide counseling and assistance for special needs. At
Southern California EMS,
we primarily focus on emergency medical aid.
If the church is not within an affected area, their opportunities will be
different. A church’s facility could be a gathering point for food, supplies,
building materials, and other items contributed by the community. It could be
used as an orientation center for untrained people who have volunteered to help
in the disaster area, a shelter for volunteers from out-of-the-area, a staging
area for mobile units en route to the disaster site, a communications center, or
a command center.
Organizing for Disaster
Response
Disaster relief provides a valid opportunity for a cooperative effort with other
churches, religious bodies, and secular or government agencies, while keeping
your identity, purposes, and sacred obligations intact. Decisions and actions
depend on the church body. Others may advise, assist, and correlate.
Local Church Preparation
Local churches should work with churches and organizations cooperatively, not
competitively. A church should make advance arrangements to offer facilities
during the first few days of an emergency to victims and/or disaster agencies.
Plan and work together with a disaster response organization of local churches
to reduce omissions as well as duplications.
Local churches should coordinate church and local organization's preparation
with civic and American Red Cross efforts, while retaining church identity,
purpose, and direction.
A Church Disaster Relief Committee should be elected by the church membership,
headed by a church disaster relief director who will give general direction to
mitigation, preparation, organization and training. Other recommended members
are church men’s organization, and Woman’s ministry directors, a Missions
Committee chairman, pastor, and other staff. The Disaster Relief Committee
should perform the following functions:
- Conduct a survey of church
members’ skills, gifts, talents, and willingness to serve.
- Provide regular,
up-to-date training.
- Lead the church to approve
making facilities and equipment available for disaster relief ministries.
- Begin and maintain a
crisis closet, food pantry, et cetera.
- Secure approval of the
church to cooperate with other local churches, the association, state
disaster relief director, American Red Cross, civic and government agencies.
- Contact government and
American Red Cross authorities for the names of those will direct disaster
operations.
- Be alert for local and
nearby crises that present the church opportunities to act. These may be
large-scale crises, such as tornadoes, floods, and winter storms. Short-term
crises, such as fires in single family dwellings, accidents, are also
opportunities to act. Churches should report any actions and register them
with local authorities and the state disaster relief director.
- Identify and assign
volunteers according to talent sheets.
- Conduct damage assessment
in the community and notify local, associational and state disaster
directors.
Responsibilities of Church Disaster
Relief Leaders
Church Disaster Relief
Director:
- Chair the Disaster Relief
Committee.
- Assemble a Church Disaster
Response Team.
- Schedule planning and
preparation meetings and activities.
- Schedule training.
- Enlist a church resources
coordinator and help that person establish a plan of action and carry out
duties listed below.
- Enlist a church volunteer
coordinator and help that person to establish a plan of action and carry out
the duties listed below.
- Relate to associational
disaster response coordinator, local American Red Cross Chapter and
government authorities.
- Serve on planning and
coordinating groups before, during, and following a disaster.
- Alert coordinators and the
Church Disaster Relief Committee.
- Prepare the team to
respond.
Church Resources
Coordinator:
- Conduct an inventory of
building facilities, equipment, supplies, and vehicles that might be used
during a disaster.
- Determine, with the whole
committee, what to recommend to the church regarding the use of facilities
and equipment during a disaster.
- Enlist volunteers to
assist with plans adopted by the church regarding the use of church
facilities and equipment.
Church Volunteer
Coordinator:
- Conduct a skills and
talent survey of the church membership.
- Develop a database of
volunteers and skills.
- Arrange for orientation
and training.
- Organize teams by skills;
choose team leaders.
- Establish a telephone
chain for notifying volunteers when a response is possible. Use non-disaster
volunteers for calling.
- Activate the church
disaster relief telephone chain.
- Gather volunteers at the
church or other location for assignment to duties and work locations.
Possible Church Opportunities
and Action
Churches can assist with mitigation, preparation, warning, rescue and
evacuation. They can also provide facilities, volunteers and supplies to
supplement or assist the American Red Cross with emergency feeding, shelter,
childcare or other functions. Church facilities can be used as an information or
advocacy center for victims. Churches can also provide pastoral counseling or
crisis intervention.
Other opportunities for
churches to minister during a disaster is to:
- Finance a line of credit
for authorized applicants to secure clean up or repair products and secure
and disburse grants or loans for emergency needs.
- Identify volunteers (in
the church or in the community) who can give legal or business advice
regarding insurance, repair contracts, applications for loans or grants.
- Locate qualified people to
care for children, as well as elderly, ill and disabled who need special
facilities, diets, transportation and recreation.
- Identifying members who
will provide temporary housing for victims, bilingual interpretation or
assist with those who have language or literacy limitations.
- Provide companionship to
people who have been displaced and are unfamiliar with their new
surroundings, community services and stores.
- Participate in ministries
such as the receiving, sorting and distributing of clothing, bedding, bulk
food, clean-up and household supplies.
- Provide food, housing,
communication and other needs for out-of-town volunteers who come to help
with the disaster response.
- Cooperate with other
agencies in times of disaster, have a voice in rebuilding and relocating,
and make sure victims are treated the same in regard to physical, social and
spiritual recovery.
- Begin a transportation
bank by developing a database of cars, vans, pickup and dump trucks, boats,
planes, and so forth that might be available for use during a disaster.
- Organize clean-up,
salvage, security or repair crews, as well as help victims clean their homes
and furniture, install temporary roofing or board up windows and doors or
remove household contents for safe storage.
Church Preparation
Advance planning is the key to serving effectively in a disaster. The
preparation may be of an emergency nature. As Christ's disciples, sometimes we
must react to people's needs spontaneously. But even in a crisis, we fall back
on what we have learned from experience and training. When disaster strikes,
capable church leaders can still find time to quickly brainstorm how their
facilities can best be used in the crisis and how to make their facilities
available to relief efforts.
Long-range planning is the best answer. Churches will have time to investigate,
learn, decide, plan, and develop a plan before disaster strikes. If no advance
preparation has been made, opportunities will be limited. Before taking a plan
for church disaster ministry to the congregation for approval, capable leaders
must have done their homework. Although members may not approve a cut-and-dried
plan, they will appreciate advance preparation. They will have questions. If the
leaders don’t have the answers, ask the congregation for time to find solutions
before they vote on the proposal.
Consider the following suggestions as you organize your church in disaster
relief:
- Pray! Pray before, during,
and after each of the following steps. If God wants your church to get
involved, the Holy Spirit will lead.
- Discuss the idea with the
pastor.
- Make a checklist for a
Church’s Potential for Disaster Response.
- Discuss the possibilities
with the church men’s organization director; if there is no men’s
organization in your church, establish one or talk to another group that
might take the lead.
- Consider finances. How
will the ministry be paid for?
- Be ready to recommend a
leadership team - people willing to work and willing to enlist others to do
so.
- Discuss ways the ministry
might be used in the church‘s community, or how it will contribute to state
and associational disaster relief.
- Contact the association’s
director of missions, associational men’s organization director and the
state disaster relief director for suggestions and guidance.
- Make a list of possible
services. Try to find out what other churches have done and give examples.
- Contact the local American
Red Cross and county emergency services agency for information on how the
church can help them in case of a disaster.
- Use the checklist "A
Church’s Potential" for Disaster Response to conduct a survey of what the
church has that might be used in disaster response.
- Select one or more
services to recommend to the church, or get input from other church members
in deciding on a ministry.
A local church can be
involved in one or more of the following ministries that use the church building
or another location that may be available to the church:
- Feeding - church
facilities or mobile unit
- Child care - church
facilities or mobile unit
- Elder care - church or
other facilities
- Information center in the
church building
- Service center for
American Red Cross
- Clothing bank
- Crisis closets (clothing,
food, etc.)
- Collection station for
supplies
- Distribution center for
goods and supplies
- Storage
- Communication center -
church facilities or mobile unit
- Shelter
The following could require
a mobile unit:
- Feeding team
- Child care
- Emergency medical unit
- Transportation (use of
church van, etc.)
- Communications center unit
- Before a local church
builds a unit, the church must contact the state disaster relief director
and receive his or her approval.
The following would require
special training or experience for team members:
- Crisis counseling
- Emergency medical
- Advocacy
- Cleanup and repair
- Mudout
The following would require
acquisition, storage, and distribution of special equipment:
- Wheelchairs, crutches,
walkers, et cetera.
- Cots, mattresses, bedding
- Oxygen tanks (if legal in
the area)
- Chainsaw and tree removal
equipment
- Cleaning and sanitation
equipment and supplies
- Church Approval
The next step is to secure
church approval. The proposal for church authorization may come from an
individual, but it would be best if it came from a church organization, either a
men’s organization or Missions Committee. Don't forget to pray! Pray before,
during, and after each step.
Organize the presentation. Present all pertinent facts, whether they are
positive or negative. Omissions may cause doubts to surface about the motive
behind the project. Develop a mission statement. Tell why the ministry is needed
and why the church is capable of accomplishing it. Decide what information is
pertinent to the proposal and what will be useful later in getting the project
off the ground. Decide how the proposal will be worded. Show that the
individuals making the proposal are willing, available, and capable; and also
how others can contribute.
Present the proposal in the form of a motion, either to authorize developing a
specific ministry, or to recommend further study to bring a definite
recommendation later. Make sure the action is entered into the church minutes.
If action is referred to a committee or tabled, immediately follow-up and
provide what the church requested.
Church Follow-up
- Continue to pray. Pray
before, during, and after each step.
- Begin immediately
implementing the planning process.
- Work within the
organization assigned the task by the church.
- Enlist and elect a
director.
- Divide the workload among
individuals or subcommittees. Obtain any needed information.
- Follow through on plans
for financing the project.
- Secure calendar time for
planning and for workdays.
- Ask church members to
complete a skill survey.
- Complete detailed
facility, equipment, and vehicle surveys.
- Create a plan for
promotion and for communication.
- Ensure safety during a
disaster response.
Cooperate with other
agencies to:
- Reach an agreement with
state or associational disaster relief programs, if applicable.
- Arrange for training:
required and specialized.
- Reach agreement with other
agencies active in disaster response.
- Secure permits, codes,
licenses, certification, insurance, et cetera.
- Prepare a report to the
state or associational disaster relief director, local disaster relief
agencies, the local American Red Cross, or other organizations that you will
support.
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