During my career, I’ve dealt with many crisis situations with churches and ministries. Staff members embezzling money, leaders who turn out to be abusers or pedophiles, serial adulterers, lawsuits, outside agitators, incompetence, and much more. Every situation is different, and the goals include healing the hurt, proper reporting to authorities, helping any victim, restoring trust, and keeping the church healthy. Seeking God is critical, but along with that process, there are some immediate practical choices that have to be made. If you’re a church leader, elder, board member, or know someone who is, this is a critical list you should share and keep handy just in case a crisis happens in your church:
1. Prepare for a crisis ahead of time. Research shows that organizations that have a crisis plan recover much more quickly (and with less cost) than those that don’t. And don’t think a crisis can’t happen to you. In today’s complex, Internet-driven world, the chances your church or ministry will have problems have only increased. Pray and hope for the best, but always have a plan if something goes wrong.
2. Get an attorney’s advice immediately. There are numerous legal issues surrounding many types of problems, and you don’t want to put the church at risk. A qualified attorney should be your first call. In the case of minor abuse, he or she will also know the procedures for notifying authorities in your particular state.
3. Know your risk for liability. In many cases, lawsuits happen, and a good insurance policy can literally save the church. Because there is such a wide range of potential crisis situations, you don’t want to bring the entire church down because of legal actions. Remember that church members are innocent people caught in the crossfire, so talk to your insurance agent as well as your attorney and make sure you’re covered for these types of situations.
4. When a crisis happens, don’t cover it up. In an instant message, texting, and email world, word travels fast. It’s worth remembering that leaks happen, and they will happen to you. Today, we have to be more transparent than ever because you simply can’t hide anymore. Even if you think you’re helping protect someone, never lie or cover anything up.
5. Be honest. Depending on privacy issues, you don’t have to reveal lurid details about the situation, but whatever you do, don’t make anything up or hide anything. Even when you think you’re trying to help the situation, lies will be found out because once trust is broken, it’s very difficult to restore. The worst situation is to have to change your story as new information is revealed. So be honest from the beginning.
6. If possible, break the news to your church family first. This is indeed a family, and they need to be told in person. Don’t email the news, tell it to them live if at all possible. Sometimes, that’s difficult if the problem happens early in the week because word gets out. But if possible, and especially if the news comes to light toward the end of the week, I’m an advocate of sharing the truth with the congregation first. They deserve to hear the real story, not rumors, gossip, or through the local news.
7. Then, go public and tell the story. I encourage sharing the story of what happened through an official statement, press release, or a local news story. You don’t need to go into inappropriate detail, but the story needs to be told. If you don’t, the press will report anything they can find, including rumors, secondhand gossip, and speculation. In an online world, if you don’t tell your side of what happened, the other story will remain out there forever.
8. Seek counseling, healing, and restoration for all parties. Churches often focus on helping the offender and his family recover and don’t think about helping the victim or other party. Sometimes, it may be difficult to discern who started the relationship, so reach out to both sides. If there’s a victim, that person should always be your priority.
9. If it’s a senior pastor or leader, pull his or her content from your website, print materials, church bookstore, and everywhere else. After stepping down from leadership, his or her presence in these and other places will only confuse the situation. Make a clean break and make it quickly. Online content, sermon downloads, podcasts, broadcast radio or TV programming, books, etc, should all be pulled. Also, take down the leader’s personal websites and social media platforms. If you don’t, critics will use online photos and videos to make fun of the situation, and it can get ugly.
10. Get communications advice from a professional. Good attorneys can help with legal issues, but an experienced crisis communications and media professional can help you know what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. Writing official statements and press releases can be tricky. Setting up a press conference can backfire. Talk to someone who has been there and can help you plan. The cost will not only save an enormous amount down the road, but it can save the church’s reputation.
11. Start moving the church forward immediately. Members of your congregation will grieve, but for the church to survive, you need to keep moving forward. Once the perpetrator has been properly dealt with, tell your leaders, teachers, and small groups not to dwell on the failing but to talk about the future. Keep programs intact. Plan new events. Refocus the congregation from the recent past, to the possibilities of the future.
Be ready for critics of all kinds, because even some Christians inexperienced in these matters will criticize a crisis plan as not being spiritual, or trying to manipulate the truth. But it’s not about manipulation, it’s about being honest. It’s not about contriving a story, it’s about revealing the truth. However – it needs to be handled in an appropriate way so more lives aren’t damaged, and the church doesn’t suffer even more.
God is a good God. The healing of your congregation can happen. But taking the right steps from the beginning will make a big difference. God forbid anything like this will ever happen to your church, but just in case, share this with your church leadership so they’ll know what to do if and when that time comes. For more detailed information, get the members of your leadership team and elders copies of my book “Church on Trial: How to Protect Your Congregation, Mission, and Reputation During a Crisis.”
This article originally appeared on PhilCooke.com and is reposted here by permission.
