Feeling Safe at Church: Staff Share Their Experiences

Ever wondered how safe your church staff feels when they're on the clock? The latest episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast serves up a compelling discussion on the significance of safety and security within our places of worship. As your host, Todd Rhodes, I'm here to walk you through eye-opening insights from the 2023 Church Staff Health Assessment, where 71% of church staff reported confidence in their church's safety management. But what about the remaining 29%? We're addressing the essential strategies to ensure every staff member can work with peace of mind, discussing everything from safety programs to emergency response plans. 

This conversation is a must-listen for anyone involved in church leadership or who cares deeply about the well-being of their religious community. We're not just talking about locking doors and installing cameras; we're exploring the vitality of communication and the nuances of advanced security measures. Discover how we can collectively foster a safe haven for both staff and congregation, as I share practical steps to support a secure work environment and stress the importance of being prepared for the unexpected. Remember, a church that prays together, stays safe together. Join us as we take this vital topic from the pulpit to the podcast.

Have questions or comments?  Send to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com

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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:07

Okay , so here's something I bet you haven't really even thought about how safe does your staff feel working at your church ?

Speaker 1 0:16

We're going to talk about that today .

Speaker 1 0:18

We're going to address safety of your staff and security concerns here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast . My name is Todd Rhodes . I'm one of the co-founders of chemistrystaffingcom and I'm very glad that you joined us today . Last year , we did what we call the 2023 Church Staff Health Assessment and we found that about 71% of church staff feels that their church handles safety issues , and it's something that we probably don't think about a lot in our churches , but the safety of our staff and the safety of our building are very important and they do feed into . We're talking about work environment this week on the podcast , and how safe staff feel for themselves and their families at your church is really important and it does contribute to work environment , so we're going to talk about that today . It's something that we don't often think about unless there's an issue in the news . There have been some pretty serious events at churches in the past few years that have to do with safety . Some of them have been handled very well . Some of them have been handled very poorly , but we want to make sure that each one of our staff feels safe , so we're going to talk about some strategies and some ideas to help your church staff feel safe . So , if you are a leader , this podcast will help you to put some of these strategies in place . If you are listening and you are a church staff member , hopefully this will be interesting to you as well , and there may be some things that you can do to help your church foster this atmosphere of safety .

Speaker 1 2:01

Okay , so first strategy is what are you currently doing to enhance any kind of safety programs that you have ? Do you have any safety programs ? Do you have a medical team on call during your services ? What do you have in place as far as building security , not only for your services on the weekend ? Do you have a security team ? But do you have different security things put into place in your facility and in your buildings during the week to keep your staff safe ? Have you implemented those teams ? Have you specialized training to run through a wide range of potential scenarios and I think we know what some of those scenarios are but even planning for things that may never happen , planning for them will help set your staff at ease and know that you're concerned about their safety .

Speaker 1 2:53

Maybe you need to equip your staff with some just some practical response strategies so that your staff knows , when something happens , what they're to do , and that it'll just help ensure that everyone feels well well prepared to handle emergencies . That's strategy . Number one is , if you don't have training programs or teams or anything related to safety right now , if you've just not thought about it , today is the day to start thinking about those things and putting some things on paper as far as security and staff safety and well-being and community congregational safety on the weekends . Strategy number two is the same thing Going through kind of what you're currently doing , maybe doing some drills , regularly assess and refine those emergency response plans , identify areas for improvement , update protocols as needed . It seems to me this is a side note that churches do . Either they either I don't know that you can go overboard , but seem to go overboard or just don't do anything at all . So I think there's a possibility to do both . But really what you want to do is you want to have a comprehensive plan that makes sense , that helps people feel safe . That's really what you need to do . Strategy number three , or idea number three just prioritize your open communication you need to so that , particularly with your staff I wouldn't do this on a Sunday morning in front of everybody , but so that your staff knows that you are concerned about safety , that they know that there are safety initiatives , that they know that there are clear guidelines for reporting any concerns , that they know that there are open discussions available so that staff can feel , if they feel unsafe in any situation , that they can share that experience and give some suggestions . So , open communication as we've said , communication is key in everything , just about every aspect of church . Health and staff well-being , and safety is absolutely one where you have to have really strong communication .

Speaker 1 4:55

Number four invest in advanced security measures . Sometimes you just have to allocate some resources . There are some very inexpensive and yet state-of-the-art security type systems . It's a lot cheaper than what it used to be guys and gals to go out there and to spend a little bit of money to get a stronger sense of safety in your building , to get a stronger sense of safety in your building , and so if you've not done any of that , with security systems and even some cameras in some public areas , that would be one way that you can help your staff to feel safe and regularly evaluate and upgrade these measures . Like I said , the cost of these has really gone down .

Speaker 1 5:36

You might think , todd , we're a church , we don't need to do that . You know what . You need to do that because you're a church . Sometimes because we all hear horror stories of outside things that happen , but also inside things that happen inside our churches . However , you can prepare for those things and be ready for those things through some security measures . That would be great .

Speaker 1 5:58

And then last thing is provide support and resources If you do have incidents or if there are some scares . Counseling services are immensely helpful , debriefing situations . If you have a situation in a service or a situation in a nursery or on a weekend or in the office during the week , debriefing those situations , offering support systems for any staff that may have been affected by any kind of safety concerns or incidents , is very important . You just need to ensure that everyone has access to those resources and whatever resources that they need to feel safe and supported and empowered in their roles . And this is one of those that it kind of just it kind of nips at you and you don't even . It comes out of nowhere and you don't understand . It just wasn't on your radar , but with 30% of the staff saying that maybe I've not thought about that either , but when you ask me , do I feel safe in my church role , in my church environment , in my office on the weekend , do I feel safe ? And three out of 10 people say that they don't or they're not sure . This is something that , as a leader , should demand a little bit of attention and a little bit of your time and resources to make sure that your staff and that your congregation feel safe . Creating a culture of safety and well-being in your church is it's really a sacred responsibility . It's really important , and if you can engage your staff in the process , if you can listen to their concerns and work together to create a safe place that has just the highest standards of safety and care , not only during the week but on the weekends , that's going to be a huge piece of making your staff feel safe and to making your staff feel like they're working in a work environment that really cares about them , and that's really important .

Speaker 1 8:01

Okay , if you have not taken the 2024 Church Staff Health Assessment , head over to churchstaffassessmentcom Right now . Take it . It'll take you about 10 or 15 minutes , it's absolutely free , but I think you'll find out some interesting things about yourself and it'll rate you on how healthy you are in seven key areas of church staff health . Again , it's all free . You can take it right now . It's available right now over at churchstaffassessmentcom . And , as always , I hope you join me , todd Rhodes again tomorrow right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast . Thanks so much for listening .