Crisis Communications Course for Churches

Bad news sells. Tragically, churches can too often be a source of bad news, with stories of scandals, abuse or culture wars a devastating reality today.

If a negative story about your church is published by the media or shared online, it can be seen by potentially thousands or millions of people, causing great damage. People may leave your congregation, it could hamper your relationships in the local community, and it could affect your efforts to evangelise as trust is diminished.

That’s why it’s so important to be prepared. And it’s why we’ve created this free crisis communications course for churches.

The Calm in the Storm crisis course is produced by Jersey Road PR, based on our 13 years of experience in supporting churches and Christian organisations through reputational crises.

This online course gives church leaders a foundational understanding of good crisis communications and helps them apply it to their own church situation – from guidance on how to prevent a crisis, to how to respond effectively and repair the damage if a crisis hits.

Who is the course for?

The course is for church leaders wanting to know how to safeguard their church against a reputational crisis and how to lead it through a crisis if it does happen.

While the course can be taken by individual leaders or as a group, it is important to have crisis planning input from across the leadership team, and the course aims to facilitate this.

This course does not replace existing denominational or network crisis strategies. Instead, it is designed to complement these by giving individual churches a foundational understanding of good crisis communications, including encouraging them to identify when they should involve their national leadership or seek additional professional support.

What does the course involve?

There are five modules, each including a series of short videos – a total of around 90 minutes of video content.

The videos are accompanied by a downloadable workbook with practical guidance and a series of exercises to help church leaders apply their learning and produce their church’s own bespoke crisis plan. Leaders are encouraged to watch each module and then complete the relevant section in the workbook.

How much does it cost?

We’ve made this course available for free to support churches.

How can I access the course?

The Calm in the Storm course is available now. Your can sign your church up below – we’ll send you an email to give you access.