Community Safety

Over the last week, I’ve attended two online trainings on the topic of community and congregational safety. The first was led by the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the US Department of Homeland Security and was intended for a broad audience, including houses of worship. The second was geared specifically to congregations. It was co-hosted by the UCC’s Faith Education, Innovation, and Formation Team (Faith-INFO) and the Liberating Lineages Collective, a small, interfaith group committed to “dismantling systems of white Christian dominance and contributing to movements that create a world rooted in safety, care, and abundance where all can flourish.”

You might be surprised at how similar these two trainings were.

Sure, there were differences in tone and mode of presentation. The latter was filled with grounding exercises and raised specific concerns about the potential for over-policing vulnerable people within faith communities. The former was more direct, laying out step-by-step instructions for policy creation and implementation. It also included several research-based tips and videos, including the “run, hide, fight” framework, now common in trainings for schools and workplaces. (This dramatized video with actors is a good introduction, if you aren’t familiar.)

But at the heart, there were a lot of commonalities. Both were striving to get ahead of potentially violent events by addressing root causes: isolation, loneliness, and lack of purpose or meaning. Both recognized the importance of what might be called “soft skills” in this effort. (See this handout from CISA on “the power of hello” for houses of worship.) Both recognized that while several approaches to safety will improve outcomes (education, engineering/design of spaces, and material measures), there is no perfect combination that will guarantee safety. And both, very wonderfully, paid close attention to including those with “access and functional needs” (CISA language for those who might need extra assistance due to language, mobility, disability, etc.) in the planning and practice of safety measures.

This topic has been on the minds of our trustees and Church Council for several years now, as we recognize that simply saying “that would never happen here” is not an adequate plan. We’ve discussed this topic in relation to Harvest Market, and this is a good time to remember that if a medical or other emergency takes place during Harvest Market, the best option is to call 911 directly; they will route the nearest responders to you.

In the coming year, we would like to take some concrete steps to forming more robust emergency preparedness plans as a church. If this is something for which you have a heart, experience, or training, please let me know. While the topic can undoubtedly be a heavy one, it is also an opportunity to reflect on and use UCU’s bountiful gifts of hospitality, organization, and discipleship—not only to protect what is dear—but to give hope where it’s needed.

Pastor Jen