In today’s episode, Beth poses the question: do your volunteers know the plan if there’s an emergency situation in the church building such as a fire or an armed intruder? Does your church have a plan? Now is the time to create a plan that we hope and pray you’ll never need to implement.
Listen now in your favorite podcast app!
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Transcript:
Hi ministry leaders. This is Beth Golik, one of your co-hosts for Key Ministry: The Podcast. I love to share practical strategies with you on my episodes, especially when it comes to children’s ministry and welcoming individuals and families impacted by disability into corporate worship and Christian community. Today’s topic is a little bit different. Frankly, it’s a little less fun than my usual content.
Are you ready? This is kind of a heavy one. Does your church have a safety plan that your staff and volunteers know how to enact?
I hope and pray that our churches will never have to face an emergency situation such as a fire on the premises or an armed intruder. But, now is the time to develop a plan of action and communicate it to your staff and volunteers.
I am not going to walk you through how to set up evacuation and lockdown plans. Instead, I am going to pose a few questions and invite you to bring those questions to your church leadership to research and discuss.
Let’s talk fire safety.
If your church leadership has already developed a fire evacuation plan, has it been communicated to staff and volunteers? Has your church done a fire drill on a Sunday morning with your children’s ministry area and during a worship service? Are your children’s ministry volunteers equipped to get kids of all ages safely out of the building and is there a plan in place for reunification with parents? If you have wheelchair users or people with mobility issues, is there a plan in place to help folks get from the upper or below-ground floors to an exit if an elevator is not an option?
In a couple of weeks we’ll be in October, which is fire safety month. Why not make it a goal before then to address evacuation protocols with your church leadership so that there’s a clearly communicated plan for staff and volunteers. If there already is a plan and you are a ministry leader, take the time to train your volunteers whether you are having them walk through the evacuation process in person or providing them with a training video.
Next, let’s address the armed intruder situation.
Again, I’m not going to run you through all the scenarios with suggestions for how you might handle each and every one. Instead, I’d like to suggest that you work with your church leadership to develop protocols, including lockdown procedures. Local law enforcement may be able to help your church develop a plan or secure training for staff or key volunteers. Once that plan has been created, how will it be shared with staff and volunteers? In the event of an emergency, whether the threat is real or perceived, how would that be communicated to people in your building?
We really don’t like to think about scary situations involving fires or intruders. And we pray that our churches and the people in our buildings will never have to experience them. But if your church doesn’t have a plan, maybe you are the person who can start the conversations.
One last question for you: Do your volunteers know when and how to call 911? Check with your local authorities; in some communities, the local 911 dispatch officer can be reached much faster if the call is placed from a landline instead of a cell phone.
Phew. Those were some heavy topics. Thanks for sticking with me. Thank you for giving thoughtful, prayerful consideration to the balance between preparing for certain scary situations without living with a spirit of fear. We want our churches to be welcoming places for worship and Christian communities that are also as safe as can be, especially for our children and those who are most vulnerable.
If you found today’s episode worthwhile, please share it with another ministry leader, and make sure you subscribe on your favorite podcast app so you don’t miss an upcoming episode.
