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Planning Your Disaster in Advance
I recently read a book called "The Unthinkable - Who survives when disaster strikes, and why" by Amanda Ripley. Since I live in a hurricane-prone part of the U.S., I thought it might have some good pointers. It turns out that there are many other storms of life where you could apply wisdom found in the book than just the occasional hurricane. Captain Sully, who successfully carried out the emergency ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River, offshore from Manhattan, New York City, on January 15, 2009, thus saving the lives of the 155 people on the aircraft would probably agree as well. You CAN plan your next disaster in advance.
Why is this relevant to a forum comprised mostly of musicians and worship team? Because while some ministers or other church leaders may have had a little exposure or training on handling a crises, that is not usually the case when it comes to folk like us. So here it goes...I'm going to pose some questions, and then let's see if the discussion can provide some insight.
The main points of the book, by the way, were:
Anticipate, Rehearse, Survive. You can't stop to think during a disaster.
So, What Would You Do if:
1. The electricity went out for the stage / platform area
2. The electricity went out for the entire building
3. An ice storm / other type of storm severely impacted the ability of people to move around before the
service.
4. An ice storm / other type of storm severely impacted the ability of people to move around during the
service.
5. Some one in the audience has a heart attack / gets violently sick during worship.
6. Some one in the audience becomes disruptive.
7. Some one rushes the platform and tries to grab the microphone.
8. There is a strong smell of smoke / signs of smoke when the worship set is in process.
9. A fire alarm is pulled while worship is in process.
10. A bomb threat is called into the office.
11. A strange device is found in the men's room during the service.
12. A call comes from the nursery that a child is missing.
13. A call comes from children's ministry that a strange man has burst into one of the rooms and is acting
in a threatening manner.
14. Someone finds 2 people in a compromising situation before / during the service. (Could be adult, could be teens).
15. A child comes out of Sunday School and says that someone touched them (in an inappropriate manner).
16. A news reporter and van suddenly show up outside the service.
17. The minister calls and his vehicle has been in an accident and he won't be coming.
18. The roof begins to leak and water is coming down on the stage / sound booth.
19. The bulb in the projector suddenly burns out.
20. The heating / cooling system stops working just as you start.
Why is this relevant to a forum comprised mostly of musicians and worship team? Because while some ministers or other church leaders may have had a little exposure or training on handling a crises, that is not usually the case when it comes to folk like us. So here it goes...I'm going to pose some questions, and then let's see if the discussion can provide some insight.
The main points of the book, by the way, were:
Anticipate, Rehearse, Survive. You can't stop to think during a disaster.
So, What Would You Do if:
1. The electricity went out for the stage / platform area
2. The electricity went out for the entire building
3. An ice storm / other type of storm severely impacted the ability of people to move around before the
service.
4. An ice storm / other type of storm severely impacted the ability of people to move around during the
service.
5. Some one in the audience has a heart attack / gets violently sick during worship.
6. Some one in the audience becomes disruptive.
7. Some one rushes the platform and tries to grab the microphone.
8. There is a strong smell of smoke / signs of smoke when the worship set is in process.
9. A fire alarm is pulled while worship is in process.
10. A bomb threat is called into the office.
11. A strange device is found in the men's room during the service.
12. A call comes from the nursery that a child is missing.
13. A call comes from children's ministry that a strange man has burst into one of the rooms and is acting
in a threatening manner.
14. Someone finds 2 people in a compromising situation before / during the service. (Could be adult, could be teens).
15. A child comes out of Sunday School and says that someone touched them (in an inappropriate manner).
16. A news reporter and van suddenly show up outside the service.
17. The minister calls and his vehicle has been in an accident and he won't be coming.
18. The roof begins to leak and water is coming down on the stage / sound booth.
19. The bulb in the projector suddenly burns out.
20. The heating / cooling system stops working just as you start.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jon on -
1. Play acoustic and sing really loud. 2. Same as #1. 3. Worship with who you have. 4. Same as #3. 5. Actually had this happen. The ushers were great and we had a medical professional in the service. Ambulance came but with no sirens. We then had a break in service and prayed. 6. Also had this happen. The pastor had a quiet talk with them and then the ushers took her out to the back until the end of service. 7. Have the tech turn off the mic. 8. Evacuate the building and call the fire department. 9. Same as 8. 10. Evacuate and have police investigate. 11. Same as 10. 12. Ushers start looking and police are notified. 13. Our Assistant Pastor is also a Sheriffs depute so he handles those issues. 14. If teens have a chat with the parents. If adults have some counseling done and admonishment. 15. Investigate with proper authorities. 16. Start singing our best stuff. 17. Have a longer worship set or have a Bible study lesson for sermon. 18. Evacuate the building and shut off electricity. 19. Had this happen. Congo sings what they know. 20. Suffer.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Frank on -
having doormen can dispell some of these issues (5,6,812,13,14,16,) he can handle those things
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Permalink Reply by Stevo on -
1. Go all acoustic that day. Just wing it basically.
7. Man, that's out there. Has this happened to anyone?
8. Keep playing until someone says not to.
9. Play until instructed to stop.
16. Every church should invest in a fire hose.
19. We have two, generally not an issue.
20. The show must go on.
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Permalink Reply by Carl Nelson on -
#7 did....the Sunday after Columbine some dude walked up to the front, took the mic and began berating the church to get involved in the schools. Scared the bagels out of us...he was dressed all in black. We didn't have a real good plan so we blew that one...but we were ready the next time. That's the purpose of this discussion. These things have all happened, but unless you process them in advance you won't be prepared..
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Permalink Reply by Stevo on
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So how did you handle the guy? I don't think there's anything un-Christian about tackling him.
S
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Permalink Reply by Carl Nelson on
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We handled it poorly. Basically we let the guy talk for 5 minutes then one of our staff went up and put his arm around the guy and sort of ushered him off. The point was we were un-prepared. Maybe that was the right thing to do, but it wasn't thought out in advance...In a TV show you can cut to commercial. In a live worship setting it's a little more difficult.
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Permalink Reply by Stevo on
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Yea, but I think you can spend a lot of time thinking up scenarios and "standard" responses. I wouldn't have thought to put this one in the book! Plus, I know at least 5 men in our assembly who would tackle him on sight - me being one of them.
But the ones about power outage and tornadoes and such are very practical to think about. Great subject.
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Permalink Reply by Syreeta Jayne on -
Good stuff to think about and be ready for...already had # 19 happen...we just switched our song list to songs the congregation would know.
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