Many Churches provide volunteers to help with Disaster Recovery. When a nearby city suffers damage from a natural disaster, the needs are great and immediate. The 1st responders will perform search and rescue operations. After that, there may be a need for volunteers in a shelter, or home repair, or delivering food and water.

The Church can help these efforts. One Church bought a trailer and outfitted it with emergency tools and supplies. They organized a team of people to be immediately available to go and help. They provided service to damaged communities in Christ’s name. This is the Faith Community in action.

Disasters happen. They make the news. And they impact Churches in the Disaster Community. If the Church building is spared, then it often becomes part of the recovery effort. Your Church building can provide shelter to those who are homeless. It can provide logistical support for organizations – e.g. UMCOR – that are bringing in relief. It can provide support groups and comfort to those who are traumatized by the event.

When the Church building is damaged, as in a storm or fire, then it too has to be rebuilt. Generally, there will be property insurance to help pay the bills. There may need to be an alternative worship plan for a time while reconstruction happens. Sometimes a neighboring Church will share facilities. Or a school auditorium may be used. Churches and communities need to pull together to rebound from the disaster. That’s what the Christian Community does.

When a disaster strikes a community, the Church is often there immediately to help. Whether it is a hurricane, tornado, flood, fire or earthquake, the Church is part of the community response. Usually, this happens after the first responders have completed their mission. Churches will reach out with people, resources and service to help in the recovery. This is part of the Church’s caring for others ministry.

How does your Church respond when a disaster strikes? Some Churches will take up a collection and send money. Others will gather supplies and get them delivered. Still others will organize a team to go and help. It might be covering damaged roofs with tarps to keep out more rain. It might be repairing damaged homes for those without insurance. It might be sending cleaning supplies and home goods to help those who have suffered. Whatever the method, the Church is called to reach out and help. And I have been amazed at the generosity and helpfulness of those in the Church.

Disaster Recovery involves a whole lot of effort in a short period of time. Planning ahead helps by bringing order to the chaos and helping the recovery go smoothly. You can’t always prevent a disaster from striking. You can support the community of faith by helping them recover. The Church needs to recover, too.

Planning for the recovery of the administration of the Church involves many aspects. The Church can learn from IT Disaster Recovery, but it has some unique needs. People come first; administrative systems come after that. Planning for the recovery of the administration involves all of the following steps:

1. Get church/leadership support
2. Select a disaster recovery team
3. Conduct a Business/Ministry Impact Analysis
4. Build a Technology Recovery Plan
5. Testing and Monitoring
6. Document the plan

For more information, see the following references:
Protecting church data from the unthinkable : information technology (IT) disaster recovery planning by Brian J Shoup.