House of Worship Emergency Planning

Planning for emergencies and disasters at a house of worship is not much different than planning for these types of events at other facilities or businesses. However, unlike a business, this task may fall on the shoulders of a volunteer or staff member who doesn't have a background in this type of planning. That's where some of the following resources may help: 

Church parking lot with police tape draped across the front

FEMA's Guide to Emergency Operations Planning

This guide, developed in 2013, contains a ton of important information and walks you through the six primary steps of creating an Emergency Operations Plan.

Planting the Seeds for Recovery: Agency and Business Disaster Planning for Montgomery County

This template gives planners the tools to take what they've learned from the FEMA six-step process and identify the roles and responsibilities of an agency or business Emergency Operations Plan.

Disaster Preparedness Guide for Congregations (Lutheran Disaster Response)

This guide from Lutheran Disaster Response provides information and checklists to allow congregations to take some basic and important steps toward resiliency so that they will be better able to serve their communities when disasters strike.

Slideshow: Montgomery County Safety and Security Symposium

These are slides from the Safety and Security Symposium that was delivered at the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Campus in November 2018.