Disaster Preparedness Plan for Cascade Hills Church, Columbus, Georgia

While churches, especially large churches, may consider themselves well-prepared for a disruption in normal activities, the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated churches’ lack of preparedness on multiple levels. This disaster as well as other natural or manmade disasters could disrupt normal functions of a church and seriously impede a church’s outreach to the community. This project defines the problem and delineates a plan for Cascade Hills Church in Columbus, Georgia. This study designs and implements an intervention by interviewing church staff members and by seeking the input of an expert in the field of disaster recovery. Results are measured by a tabletop exercise, which assesses the end users’ grasp of the concepts and the usefulness of the researcher’s conclusions. In aggregate, this study is not merely about maintaining church operations but about ministering to the larger community when the community needs the church the most. This study is designed for one specific church but may be applicable to other churches as needed