One of the most important steps that will make your church a safe haven for your community is your risk management strategy. After all, if your church is not equipped to deal with rainy days and worst-case scenarios, it will be of little assistance to others in the same situations.
Here is how to develop a risk management strategy step-by-step for your church.
First of all, assess the points of potential hazard and conflict.
You understand better than anyone the hazards of ministry. You must consider any hazards that may cause damage to property, illness or injury, or even death. Assess the risks of each of these situations and estimate their probability. This may be a great time to employ the services of a risk management specialist if you have trouble quantifying certain situations.
Second, analyze your current risk control measures.
What risk control measures do you already have in place? Do you have the financial footing that is necessary to put anything that is missing into place immediately? Can your ministry sustain itself with a certain amount of risk? All of these are personal questions as well; however, you will best be able to make decisions if you put all of these questions in writing to look over with your inner circle.
Third, communicate any and all new risk management controls to your employees and volunteers.
Everyone should be on the same page when it comes to any risk management implementation that is new. This is the time to update the terms and conditions manual of your ministry. If you do not have one of these, it is time to write one. Everyone should know exactly how to protect themselves and the ministry while on duty.
Fourth, make sure that you are reviewing the performance of your employees when it comes to your new risk management strategies.
Enforcement is key, as any policy that is not being enforced is virtually useless. Be sure that you have either personal guarantees that risk management strategies are being followed or you delegate these responsibilities to a trusted subordinate who understands the importance of risk management.