Churches: Here’s 5 Proactive Crisis Management Steps

By Rich Andrews and Scott Foreman

One of the challenges the church has had over the last few years is that in moments of local or national crisis they are not ready to respond when people show up looking for help, hope, and healing. The mandate is clear in Scripture that the church is to be the hands and feet of Jesus. That should never be more evident than during times of unrest and fear. 

So what should the church’s response be in crisis?  Here are 5 suggestions:

Clear and Concise Messaging

1 Cor. 14:40 reminds us that churches are to take care of their business in an orderly way.  A way to accomplish this as a church is to ensure you have a very clear and concise message.

Your local church will be a place that people turn to for information and insight. Making sure your staff has all the right information and is sharing it with one voice is going to be key during a time of crisis. 

Possibly choose one staff member and have everyone in the church (including senior leadership) communicate through that staff member and get their information from that staff member.  That will ensure that what is being talked about is the same for everyone.

Make sure you communicate to people the centralized platforms you are going to use to deliver information (Facebook, email, website, texting, etc.).

Meet Physical Needs and Spiritual Needs

During times of crisis, people have real physical needs. As the church, we want to make sure that we’re able to meet those needs. Throughout Scripture, when you see Jesus encountering people that are searching or are lost, He often meets a physical need before he needs the spiritual need.

For sure, the end result is to meet a spiritual need. But when people don’t have food, or when people have a medical need, they are not initially interested in hearing about their spiritual needs. They usually only want to know if you can help them physically.

Is the need of the moment food?  Is it repairs?  Is it financial assistance?  Be prepared.  You cannot foresee the crises, but you most certainly can be prepared for a crisis with planning.

Prepare to Get Creative

You cannot stop ministering to people, but you may have to get creative to deliver the goods. Both a live stream and small group ministry can go a long way in continuing to deliver your message and to continue Biblical community.  Additionally, if you have not set up online giving, this is an important tool to allow the flow of gifts to continue.

Don’t Be Afraid to Make Changes

One of the challenges churches have is that they are creatures of habit. However, during times of crisis things are very fluid and constantly changing. Churches need to make sure that they’re agile enough to change when the situation demands it.

You might need to change your service times. You might need to consider shutting down an area of ministry, like the children’s ministry or the nursery, depending on the type of crisis that’s taking place.

Remember, the people that are in need don’t care about how you normally do things. They want to see a measured, appropriate response at the right time.

Intentional Availability

People are worried and are searching for encouragement and answers. Pastoral staff should ramp up their on-call schedule and make it very clear with people how to reach out if they’re in emotional or spiritual distress.  Make sure the administrative assistants have the right information on hand for when people are calling or emailing for help.

What else would you add?  Feel free to comment below…