Crisis Communications Plan for local churches
A free guide to crisis communications for churches.
Crisis communication is an essential element of disaster ministry. A little bit of preparation now can go a long way in ensuring everything goes more smoothly at your church when disaster strikes.
This plan aims to support Ministers, Elders and staff to provide best practice tips for dealing with local media, identify key appropriate contacts, and a strategy for agreeing media statements.
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Crisis communications
Why do we need a crisis communications plan?听
In 2018, Theos Think Tank published its听听(笔顿贵)听report. The report shows that in the wake听of a horrific tragedy, the role of faith groups in the community stands out. It reports how 鈥渃hurches, mosques, synagogues, and gurdwaras all stepped up to the plate, responding practically, emotionally and spiritually to a moment of pain and confusion鈥.
These faith groups acted as evacuation areas, received, sorted and distributed donations, offered accommodation, drew up lists of the missing, supported emergency services, patrolled the cordon, counselled and supported survivors, provided space for prayer and reflection, and hosted interfaith services of memorial and lament.
Faith groups were able to respond the way they did because they are trusted, embedded in to the communities they serve, are long-standing institutions, and committed.
The report explores the experience of these faith groups in dealing with such a tragedy and highlights three things, that faith groups need to be:听prepared, visible and flexible.
Defining a crisis
Faith groups can feature both positively and negatively in the media.
A crisis is a large-scale community/national/ international tragedy that churches would want to support the community in dealing with/responding to.
However, it is also any event that can cause reputational harm to the 探花社区 (探花社区) which places its values on trial in the court of public opinion.
If an incident occurs that has the potential to generate negative media interest, this Crisis Communications Plan will ensure that staff are well supported, can follow media protocols, alert appropriate colleagues and agree a key message statement for media outlets to publish.
This plan is also a good practice guide as to how to respond to community tragedies using social media, your website, and how best to organise volunteers.
Reputational harm scenarios
- Staff issue 鈥 eg a staff member has accused their employer of bullying and reported the matter to the press
- Safeguarding issue 鈥 an allegation involving a 探花社区 member of staff/volunteer or staff/volunteer of an organisation using 探花社区 premises has been made
- Property/manse issue 鈥 a tenant has been issued an eviction notice and reported the matter to the press
- Community issue 鈥 a church is closing, and the local community group can no longer use the premises for its activities and reported the matter to the press. A staff member/volunteer of an organisation using church premises has been arrested and is due to appear in court.
Examples of community/national/international tragedies
- Grenfell
- Shoreham Airshow crash
- Kings Cross fire
- 7/7 bombings
- London Bridge terror attacks
- New Zealand terror attacks
- Sri Lanka terror attacks
In all circumstances, the听探花社区 Communications Team, based at Church House, should be included as a first port of call for advice, information and guidance. They are trained and ready to assist you in whichever way helps.
Sharing good news
If any church has positive news to share eg it is featuring positively in the local media, radio or TV, it is good practice to alert the听探花社区 Communications Team听so it can share your good news across the 探花社区鈥檚 national website and/or social media networks.
Key contacts
Immediate crisis response team
Information should include the name, job title, office number, out of hours mobile and email address:
Minister Lay leader
Synod Moderator
Safeguarding coordinator听(safeguarding issues only)
Synod Safeguarding Officer听(safeguarding issues only)
探花社区 Communications Officer 0207 520 2715 or听07976 753950 or email听[email protected]
探花社区 Head of Communications 0207 691 9865 or 07976 753950 or email听[email protected]
Expanded crisis response team听(depending on crisis/community event)
Information should include the name, job title, office number, out of hours mobile and email address:
Church Secretary/Minister鈥檚 PA Key Elder
Synod Property Officer
Synod Treasurer
探花社区 General Secretary General Assembly Moderators
(Update these details every six months)
Implementing the plan
Anyone may activate the Crisis Communications Plan when they become aware of an actual or potential crisis.
- Activate the Immediate Crisis Response Team (ICRT)
- ICRT to quickly determine the initial response
If the Church is at the centre of/or features in a story and you learn of the crisis from the media
1. Politely but firmly decline to answer the reporter鈥檚 questions using this response:
鈥淚 want to ensure you are given accurate and up-to-date information and will find the best person for you to speak to. If you let me take your details, I鈥檒l do my best to get the information you need.鈥
Record the following:
- The time and date of call
- The reporter鈥檚 name
- The reporter鈥檚 telephone number
- The reporter鈥檚 email address
- The media outlet the reporter works for
- Information the reporter is seeking
- The topic of the story
- The reporter鈥檚 deadline
2. Contact the ICRT and provide the information outlined in point one above.
3. The听探花社区 Communications Team听may agree that you direct all press enquiries to it 鈥 this will give you a buffer zone to deal with what you need to internally while the Communications Officer or Head of Communications manages all the reporters calling you.
4. The 探花社区 Communications Team will gather facts from key people who know information about the situation and draft a media statement that addresses the reporter鈥檚 questions.
5. Once the media statement has been agreed by the Immediate Crisis Response Team, the 探花社区 Communications Officer will forward the statement to the reporter.
6. Determine what/if information needs to be released to others in the congregation.
7. If necessary, the 探花社区 Communications Team will edit the media statement so that it can be read out during a Sunday service (pulpit statement).
8. Monitor media coverage of the story or social media, news websites, local radio and share any press coverage with the Immediate Crisis Response Team.
If you learn of a crisis featuring the church from a source other than the media
1. Gather as much information as possible within 90 minutes of receiving the news and alert the ICRT
2. The 探花社区 Communications Team will gather any additional information needed and draft a pre-prepared media statement in anticipation that contact may be made by the media
3. Once the pre-prepared statement has been agreed by the ICRT, the 探花社区 Communications Team will share the finalised version with the ICRT
4. The statement will lay on file in the Communications鈥 office and will only be sent out if requested by the media 鈥 in other words reactively not proactively.
Dealing with matters of national importance
On matters of national importance, it is likely that your church will want to provide some sort of reaction.
Examples of matters of national importance:
- The death of Her Majesty, the Queen
- The death of Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh
On such occasions, people may want to visit your church to pray or to light a candle.
In such events:
- See the 鈥淥pen your church鈥 section in the chapter below and follow the first three steps.
- Let people know that your church is open on social media
- Post a message of condolence or a prayer, and keep it up-to-date in regards to activities your church is undertaking in relation to the event.
If the media want a local church response to a national crisis/issue/event
1. Thank the reporter for the call. Ask if they want a quote, or a television or radio interview. Don鈥檛 be afraid to take their details (below) so that you can call them back once you have gathered your thoughts and decided upon an answer.
Record the following:
- The time and date of call
- The reporter鈥檚 name
- The reporter鈥檚 telephone number
- The reporter鈥檚 email address
- The media outlet the reporter works for
- Information the reporter is seeking
- The topic of the story
- The reporter鈥檚 deadline
2. Contact the听探花社区 Communications Team听and seek advice and guidance.
Responding to a local community tragedy
In responding to a local community tragedy, this plan aims to help prepare local 探花社区s in providing a visible and flexible presence to members of their communities.
If an unfortunate and unexpected tragedy, like the Grenfell fire, the Shoreham Airshow crash or the London Bridge terror attacks, happens in your area and your church is in the immediate vicinity to where the situation is occurring, your
church could find itself in the middle of a large amount of media attention. You鈥檒l want as much support as possible, and may find the steps below useful:
Get media support for your local church
- Contact the Communications Officer or the Head of Communications in the听探花社区 Communications Team, update them about what鈥檚 happening, seek advice or guidance, or ask if they could come down to your church
- Contact your Synod Moderator and update them too
- The Communications Team will update the General Secretary and General Assembly Moderators
Open your church
- Open your church and make it available for people to pray
- Call members of your church and let them know what鈥檚 happening so you have additional help on the ground
- Designate/assign roles to these people and wear labels/name tags so they鈥檙e easily identifiable, and to aid relationships and communication when lots of people may not know each other
You鈥檒l need someone to:
1. Manage your church鈥檚听social media听accounts (or set accounts up if they haven鈥檛 been already). You'll find guides to help you do this on our听Digital Church听page
2. Ascertain the trending hashtag being used in relation to the situation in your area and use it in all posts to communicate news from the church
3. Establish听safeguarding听procedures (e.g. decide if any children are allowed on site or not/or put up a sign saying children must be accompanied by an adult/create name tags with parent鈥檚 contact details on)
4. Provide light听refreshments听to people using the church
5.听Log queries听and take messages
6.听Answer听queries
7. Handle and record every cash听donation听(who from, the amount)
8. Provide听admin support听to update the news section of your website, communicate with your social media person, and send a message of thanks to those who donated, let people know of special services
9.听Gather听contact details for:
- local police
- local authority鈥檚 emergency out of hours number
- local MP
Using social media in a crisis
Social media is extremely valuable in a crisis. You can use platforms such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram to communicate vital information, request the need for certain items, the need for volunteers, or to communicate things that are not wanted听e.g. 鈥減lease stay away from the area鈥 etc.
1. Before a crisis happens, identity key people within your church who already have or can easily gain access to your social media accounts鈥 log-in details (username and password). It would be ideal for these people to be
- a mix of decision-makers,
- management to coordinate things,
- those who can craft the right message, and
- someone to monitor social media and local news outlets
2. When the crisis strikes, inform your team.
3. If your church is in the immediate vicinity to a community tragedy ascertain if there is a hashtag being used e.g. #Grenfell, #Shoreham, #Londonbridge, and use them in your posts.
4. Identify the Twitter/Facebook handles of key services/agencies/local media and tag them in your post
5. Publicly acknowledge what鈥檚 going on. You can reshare a news report and add a comment or create an organic post. In both circumstances, stick to the facts.
You could say something like this:听鈥淍UnitedReformed understands there are reports of an incident in #newtown #ABCtowncentre. Our church in #XYZ is open for those who would like to pray. Light refreshments will also be provided visit听听for more details. @localcouncil @localpolice @localnewspaper鈥
A tweet from St Clements Church in west London asking for donations for the residents of Grenfell Tower was picked up by an LBC reporter, below, who was able to film and share how people responded outside St Clements itself.
Moving scenes outside St Clement's Church as people bring food, sanitary products and clothes for the homeless after the Grenfell fire
鈥 Rachael Venables (@rachaelvenables)
6. Including the social handles of local organisations means they can share your post too. Including hashtags, means your post will be grouped in all posts mentioning the same hashtag. For example, these tweets below include hashtags and asks for volunteers and directs people to places where help is needed.
Tweet example 1:听
Also
Central Gurduara
(The Big Sikh Temple)
62 Queensdale Rd,
London W11 4SG鈥 Lysandwr Blaidd (@LBlaidd)
Tweet example 2:听
I'm in Fulham, any1 needing a spare room, hot shower, food and strong coffee contact me 鈾ワ笍 pls RT
鈥 Nadia Essex (@LadyNadiaEssex)
Although the Instagram message, below from the chef Jamie Oliver, does not include hashtags and does not tag any other organisations, it is a clear example of what help an organisation is offering and how it is directing people as to where they can receive support.
7. It is best to keep social media posts succinct. You can post a long form response on your website 鈥 an official place where people can find out more detailed information, and link to it in your social media post, as seen in point five above.
8. Monitor the social media accounts of your local council, police and news so that you can be kept updated, so you can adapt your social media and the support you are offering.
Handling the media on site
In the unfortunate event of a community tragedy, the media can show up at a church. Here鈥檚 how to handle them.
- Identify a location where reporters and photographers can park vehicles and stand while covering their story. This will prevent them having 鈥渇ree run鈥 of your church property but also acknowledges that they have a job to do
- Don鈥檛 be afraid to create a 鈥減ress free鈥 zone by cordoning off an area and placing some hand-made signs. Journalists will respect this space (as it relates to privacy and harassment aka Clause 2 and Clause 3 of the听). This would be better than throwing the media off your property, and enables you to create a relationship which may be beneficial to you in the future e.g. promoting a fundraising event to raise money for your church roof
- Designate a staff person to explain and enforce the boundaries
- Designate a staff person to log any queries posed by reporters. Make sure the following is logged:
- The reporter鈥檚 name
- The reporter鈥檚 telephone number
- The media outlet the reporter works for
- Information the reporter is seeking
- The reporter鈥檚 deadline
Providing a media briefing
Alternatively, you could speak to the media directly or read out a statement (ideally prepared in conjunction with the听探花社区 Communications Team)
- Keep the statement short and simple
- Use confirmed facts only that includes the basics of what鈥檚 happened and what the church is doing to respond. Do not give names of victims
- Express concern and compassion
- If reading a statement, don鈥檛 forget to look up and make eye contact with reporters. If you didn鈥檛 hear or don鈥檛 understand a reporter鈥檚 questions, ask them to repeat or clarify it
- You can pause before answering, or ask for a few moments so you can gather your thoughts
- Don鈥檛 guess or speculate, it鈥檚 okay to say 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know, I can check on that鈥
- Conclude the briefing by saying something like: 鈥淚 know you may have more questions, but that鈥檚 all I can say right now as I have to return to managing the situation and take care of the people involved.鈥 You can then take business cards and provide an update later on
- As you have assigned roles to people, you can ask your admin support to publish the statement on your website and social media
Useful help numbers
Samaritans
Confidential support for people experiencing feelings of听distress or despair.
Phone: 116 123 (free 24-hour helpline)
Website:听
Cruse Bereavement UK
National charity for bereaved people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Phone: 0808 808 1677 (Monday-Friday 9.30-5pm (excluding bank holidays), with extended hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, when it鈥檚 open until 8pm.)
Edinburgh Crisis Centre
Provides emotional support to callers.
Phone: 0808 801 0414 / Text 07974 429075 (24 hrs)
Email:听[email protected]
Community Advice and Listening Line (C.A.L.L)
Offers a confidential listening and supportive service to the听people of Wales.
Freephone 0800 132 737 or text help to 81066