We know as a pastor or church business manager, you have a big job filled with stress. But we hope you take the time to read this blog. Your ministry may be at risk, and we have solutions. CMI can help you develop a simple yet effective risk management plan for your ministry. Here is where we would start.

Every good plan needs an outline:

Accident Prevention: Are your sidewalks well lighted, dry, and covered with non-slip material? Are walkways and doors kept free of obstructions? Are parking lots safe? Is playground equipment maintained?

Security: Have you considered developing  a security team? Churches are soft targets and having a group of training people might reduce security risks.

Crisis plan: Do you have a plan in the event of a severe weather or other natural event?

Childcare: Do you use a paging or other system to ensure children return only to authorized parents? Do you do a background check on all of your workers and volunteers?

Fire Protection: Does your church have a fire alarm system and fire extinguishers readily available? Are your fire sprinklers maintained?

Transportation: Does your church own vehicles that are well maintained? Do you use volunteer drivers? Do they have adequate insurance? Are they trained to drive large vans or buses?

Counseling: Does your church (or the individual counselors) carry professional liability insurance? Do you have a policy that covers counseling activities?

Finances/Payroll: Are dual signatures required for all checks above small amounts? Are all church credit cards properly maintained and regularly checked? Are at least two people present when offerings are counted? Does your church file the appropriate tax forms for all employees, including W-2s and 1099s?

Volunteer Selection and Training: Does your church thoroughly screen volunteers who will be driving church vehicles or working with children? Do you supervise volunteers and train them in their responsibilities?

Church Employees: Do you have up-to-date hiring policies? Do you provide ongoing training? Do you have a sexual harassment policy? Do you purchase employment liability insurance?

Our team has helped clients overcome complex insurance and risk management challenges that include: casualty, property, executive liability, human capital, crisis management and claims consulting.

Tags: Christian Insurance, Church insurance, northwest risk insurance, oregon church insurance, Risk Management

This entry was posted on April 21, 2014 at 5:10 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Posted in Church Risk Church Safety by Scott Stuart Comments Off on Do You Know Your Churches Key Risk Areas?