Resource Library

This planning guide is designed to help a congregation plan for a disaster, from taking inventory of physical and human assets to determining its niche in assisting vulnerable people in the larger community.

Mason Whitney, the Church Safety Warden at St. Gabriel the Archangel, reflects on the process of equipping the congregation to respond and establishing a church safety ministry.

Churches, families and individuals are encouraged to do their best to have supplies on hand that will come in handy during evacuation or while sheltering-in-place. Not all households can do this easily. This list outlines standard items to gather for your neighbors and friends in need ahead of a disaster.

Follow these steps to make a plan for disasters and put together an emergency kit for households. The checklist includes actions to take as well as items to buy or gather ahead of disasters.

A man walked into The Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest in the Upper East Side of New York City and began yelling threats. This individual went on to damage church property and set fire to two pews. In the aftermath, Church members needed to balance concerns about maintaining their open and welcoming identity and ensuring the safety for those who use their building. Here some reflections from

Young children (pre-K through 5th grade) can be particularly traumatized by the effects of a disaster. We can help them express and affirm their feelings of confusion, sadness, and anger while also reminding them how much they and all they love are still cared for by Jesus the Good Shepherd.

Despite community pressure to return to normal six months after the killing of seven students in a California college town, a visiting priest saw the need for a special liturgy of lament and healing. Her creative work led to a series of services throughout the diocese in response to gun violence.

This graphic depicts the disaster journey from impact to new normal and shows the order in which stages typically occur.

Maintaining Resilience During Uncertain Times is a training developed specifically to address individuals’ spiritual, emotional and physical needs during the global COVID-19 pandemic. This training is structured to be facilitated online using video conferencing and other digital tools, and can be adjusted to accommodate different levels of comfort with technology.

This worksheet provides definitions of the different stages of disasters: preparedness, impact, rescue, relief, short-term recovery and long-term recovery. Helpful to use during disaster preparedness workshops so that every person has a unified understanding of disaster terms.

This toolkit helps church and community leaders with planning ahead and taking steps to lessen the impact of potential disasters, particularly in places where people already face poverty and may lose the few resources or safety nets they have. Disaster resilience includes preparedness, mitigation and response.

Disasters take an emotional toll on each person to varying degrees, whether directly or indirectly affected. This graphic depicts the journey from impact to new normal and provides language for each milestone. Included is also a written explanation of what each stage of the life cycle of a disaster means.

Adapted from Episcopal Worship to Anchor Your Day, from St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Cypress, Texas, this resource outlines the step-by-step process of going Live on Facebook and provides advice on ensuring high video quality and as well as list things to avoid when broadcasting prayer services online.