Is Your Ministry as Safe as It Could Be?

Have you thought through potential dangers that may confront your ministry? Taking steps to consider and address these risks provides important protection from injuries, lawsuits, fires, and dozens of other hazards that may affect your ministry, especially your employees and those you serve.
Here are some ideas to help you develop a risk management plan for your church or ministry:
- Choose good people. Create one or more committees of people who understand and value risk management. If possible, choose professionals involved in your ministry to help in specific areas; e.g., an accountant for financial issues and a building contractor to evaluate facility risks.
- Take small steps. Break the process into several steps. Focus on the areas most central to your ministry, such as your children’s ministry or sports program.
- Identify hazards. Consider any risk that can cause injury, illness, death, loss, or damage to equipment or property. Such risks range from weather and medical emergencies to child sexual assault and counseling liabilities. Identify risks specific to your ministry.
Develop the Plan
Once you have finished preparations, you’re ready to begin work on your risk management plan.
- Assess the risks. Estimate the probability and severity of each potential risk. Think in terms of worst-case possibilities to get a credible measure of how severe a risk could become. With the results, you will have a useful tool for identifying which risks you should give closest attention.
- Analyze risk control measures. Identify specific strategies and tools that reduce or eliminate risks. There’s a range of options, from deciding not to take a risk at all to finding ways to reduce, accept, or transfer the risk. Consult with your church’s attorney for assistance.
- Make risk control decisions. Once you have chosen a strategy, determine the level of risk remaining. Do you think the remaining risk is acceptable? Should you modify the plan to develop measures to better control the risk?
- Implement risk controls. Document your plan fully and implement it with appropriate resources. Communicate the plan to church or ministry employees, volunteers, and others involved in your ministry.
- Supervise and review. Make sure everyone follows your plan. Review the plan periodically. Seek feedback from people involved in all aspects of the plan, and use their comments to modify it as needed.
With these suggestions, you should be able to create a risk management plan for your church or ministry that can help you keep everyone, from infants to the elderly, safe.
-
January 24, 2023
-
Wind and Hail – Deductible Buyback
-
-
Tags:
insurance,
coverage,
ministry
-
January 24, 2023
-
Common Questions About Our Agency
-
-
Tags:
insurance,
coverage,
ministry
-
January 24, 2023
-
Coming to your area in 2023
-
-
Tags:
insurance,
coverage,
ministry
-
January 24, 2023
-
Kingdom Advancing Grant
-
-
Tags:
insurance,
coverage,
ministry
-
January 24, 2023
-
ACG Retreat in Kansas City
-
-
Tags:
insurance,
coverage,
ministry
-
January 9, 2023
-
Better Achieve Your Mission in 2023
-
-
Tags:
insurance,
coverage,
ministry
-
November 18, 2022
-
Our Team is Growing, Again!
-
November 10, 2022
-
We Want To Hear From You!
-
-
There are a lot of hats worn in any growing ministry – and we want to serve every one of them.
-
Tags:
insurance
-
November 10, 2022
-
Evaluate Your Ministry's Fire Safety Plan
-
-
With the holiday season right around the corner, it’s wise for ministries to evaluate their fire safety plan. Whether your ministry is hosting a holiday party, prepping treats for charity, or running a community kitchen, make sure you’re well-prepared with these tips.
-
Tags:
insurance,
property,
volunteer safety,
fire safety
-
November 10, 2022
-
Holiday Season Safety & Security: 3 Things to Plan Before Christmas
-
-
The holidays present unique opportunities and challenges for churches that aren’t typical during other times of the year. A lot of the ministries that I work with are seeing steady increases in attendance and are praying for a significant jump in Christmas service participation this year.
-
Tags:
insurance
-
October 26, 2022
-
October 2022 Blog: What is a 403(B)(9) Retirement Plan?
-
-
In this article, Brad Brown from Plan A Wealth Management gives a wonderful insight into why ministries might consider choosing a 403(B)(9) retirement plan.
-
Tags:
insurance,
property,
taxes,
retirement,
retirement plan
-
September 21, 2022
-
Inflation's Major Impact on Ministries
-
-
Tags:
insurance,
schools,
churches,
building,
property
-
September 21, 2022
-
Report Reveals How Students are Feeling About Their Safety at School
-
-
Tags:
insurance,
schools,
building,
property,
child safety
-
September 21, 2022
-
Top 10 Requested Forms
-
-
Tags:
insurance,
schools,
churches,
building,
property
-
September 9, 2022
-
School is Back in Session
-
-
As school is back in session, it’s important to make sure your school is equipped with the correct safety procedures. Thinking about your school’s physical security as a series of layers can help you find gaps in your plan. Transportation and volunteers are just two important aspects of your school safety plan to think about.
-
Tags:
christian schools,
back to school,
volunteer safety,
child safety,
transportation
-
August 17, 2022
-
Uvalde School Shooting Causes Ministries to Question Their Preparedness
-
-
If there is one thing I have learned over the last decade while working private security and as a sworn peace officer, the more critical the incident, the more likely change will come out of it. Much like a pendulum, an incident occurs, and everyone cries for change.
-
Tags:
church payroll,
finance,
IRS regulations,
paying employees,
tax code
-
August 17, 2022
-
Next Generation LEDs Performance, well beyond expectations
-
-
Updating the lighting in your worship center with LED can offer significant energy savings while improving overall lighting performance.
-
Tags:
church payroll,
finance,
IRS regulations,
paying employees,
tax code
-
August 17, 2022
-
Our Team is Growing!
-
-
We are so excited to welcome the newest member of the American Church Group of Colorado team, Lyndsie Glowinski.
-
Tags:
church payroll,
finance,
IRS regulations,
paying employees,
tax code
-
August 17, 2022
-
Does Your Ministry Need Cyber Insurance?
-
-
Churches are increasingly becoming targets for cyber criminals. The most common attack is by sending “phishing” emails where the perpetrator poses as someone familiar to the ministry staff (like a senior pastor, deacon, elder, or someone trustworthy) and requests some sort of response.
-
Tags:
church payroll,
finance,
IRS regulations,
paying employees,
tax code
-
July 15, 2022
-
Shepherding Ministries in a Time of Change
-
-
Anyone who turns on the news, flips through a magazine, or browses the web can see that American society and culture are experiencing rapid transitions. Some ministries have valid concerns that issues surrounding societal shifts may expose them to negative publicity, governmental scrutiny, or litigation.
The questions become: when and how can ministries operate within their deeply held religious beliefs when they may conflict with others’ rights?
-
Tags:
ministry,
insurance,
religious freedom,
protection