ChurchSafety

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"Church is cancelled."

Not the words a church ever wants to broadcast. Not only does a closure prevent a congregation from engaging in worship together; it also means that church leaders will need to implement a comprehensive plan to communicate the closing and address whatever issues forced the decision—a massive snowstorm that cripples an entire region, a hurricane evacuation, even a pandemic like the H1N1 virus that spread throughout the country in 2009.

Seacoast Church, a multi-site church with 13 locations in 3 states (South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia) used its voicemail system to communicate any weather-related information.

"Being on the coast during hurricane season, we modified the voicemail greeting and said, 'If inclement weather is in the area, please press 1 for more information,'" says Glenn Wood, business administrator for Seacoast. "Then it would take them to a voicemail box with more information."

Because of its many locations, Seacoast has shifted away from the use of its voicemail system. Instead, its website is the primary source for any weather-related information. Seacoast's website allows visitors to choose their campus and then they can view information that pertains to that location.

"In Greenville or Asheville, they might be having snowstorms, but in Charleston it's 75 degrees," Wood says. "Or there might be an issue in Savannah, but it's bright and sunny in Greensboro and they don't care."

Seacoast also turns to its small group leaders for help communicating news.

"We push the information to our small group leaders who pass it down to the people in their small group," Wood says. "Fifty to sixty percent of our people are connected to a small group. So it's a primary way of getting that information out."

Wood also stresses the importance of working with the radio and TV stations to communicate closures.

"If there's a hurricane coming, you're going to hear about it," Wood says. "So it's easy to communicate what's going on."

Like Seacoast, Paul Clark, executive pastor of operations for Fairhaven Church in Ohio, says they would post a closing on their home page too. "Our church has been trained well," Clark says. "If there's any disruption, it'll be posted on the front of the website. In red."

Plus, in the event of a closing, Fairhaven would use text messaging and automated phone-calling systems to broadcast the news.

Many churches are familiar with the risks posed by inclement weather, whether it's snow, ice, or tropical storms. But what about closures due to health concerns such as a pandemic? The spread of the H1N1 flu virus in 2009 prompted churches to consider how they would respond to an outbreak in their community. What if the government mandated a forced closure to mitigate the public health risk from a deadly virus?

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