The latest news of outbreaks of Swine Flu has once more reinforced to us all that we as the AGC family in Canada need to be prepared to respond with God’s grace and love in times of great need. To truly be ready to bless our communities we must first be ready to minister to our own church families as well.
We began two years ago to urge all of our churches to prepare. Below you will see bits and pieces that we have collected over the last two years. These will act as a link to the resources that you will need to be prepared to protect and to serve the communities in which we live.
Some key thoughts to consider:
- The senior leadership must take this seriously,
- Do it right and do it right away.
- Establish an Emergency Task Team (ETT) that can react to all sudden emergences, not just health.
- The ETT could include: health care professionals, administrators, those well connected in the community such as police, fireman, social workers, educators etc. These folk should have good communication skills.
- Appoint a point manager and an assistant in case of illness.
- Plan redundancy into your program; ie have multiple ways of communicating, information gathering, etc.
- Have a family plan, a church plan and a community plan
- Coordinate with Public Health and with other faith groups
There will be some challenges that will be specific to churches. More thought is needed to consider the following issues:
- How to minister to the church and community if public meeting places are closed
- How to continue to receive donations/offerings from the congregation
- How the church facilities will be used to serve the community
We need to hear from you. If you already have a plan in place, please send us a copy. If you have questions, or wish to contact other churches who have already formulated their plan, please call our office. Redeemer Bible Church in Niagara Falls has instituted a full Preparedness Plan, developed by Lois, as the church Parish Nurse, together with Roger the Church Administrator. They would be very open to share with you what it takes to get going.
That said much work has been done in Canada by the government and various faith groups. Below you will see work done by “Bridges of Love “. I have been a part of this discussion with Bridges Love and highly recommend what they are doing. Some detailed information on this group is below and attached.
In addition to the above Bridges of Love information, the other information below attached is a lot but it will get you motivated, informed and ready to get going. Please forward it to your Emergency Task Team, once established, so that they may use it to formulate your plan.
God bless you as you plan and prepare,
Yours in His service,
Dr. Bill Fietje
President
Church Preparedness Checklist Bridges of Love - pandemic preparedness
Pandemic Planning Checklist Pandemic Preparedness - Anglican Church Response
Pandemic influenza Family Plan - Pandemic Preparedness
Family Plan - Pandemic Preparedness PDF
Bridges of Love Ministry is dedicating the next two years as Coordinator for the Regional Faith Community Emergency Preparedness Coalition. The focus will be the Faith Emergency Preparedness Initiative, mobilizing the Christian Community to be ready to stand in the gap for any emergency but specifically for an Influenza Pandemic. We know to be ready for a Pandemic is to be prepared for any Emergency which might occur.
Our first responsibility is to be ready personally for ones family. If you would like a copy of a little pamphlet prepared by Public Safety Canada, on how to “Know the risks”, “Make a plan” and “Prepare a kit”, please let Bridges of Love know and we will mail out a copy. The Government is asking all individuals to be ready to care for their own needs, for at least 72 hours, so have kindly shared this information with us.
For more information, visit www.bridgesoflove.net or contact the Administrator, Marg Pollon at margpollon@bridgesoflove.net
The document entitled “Pandemic influenza” was written by Dr. Timothy Foggin, a medical doctor working in BC with community and faith groups to address Pandemic Preparedness.
Another good article to support church partnerships can be found at: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/faq/planningresponse/pr-0014.html.
International Centre for Infectious Diseases’ web site at www.icid.com/faith
Also see www.projectsafetynet.ca