Crisis and Emergency Management and Preparedness for the African-American Church Community: Biblical Application from a Theological Perspective
()
About this ebook
This work was conceived to help mitigate growing environmental and social concerns beyond traditional emergencies--such as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, severe weather, and power outages--imposed upon communities already strained by economic and social inequities. This book is designed to provide guidance on crisis and emergency preparedness by offering an example of how a church or similar institution may undertake the task of setting up an appropriate emergency planning structure for its congregation and community.
George O'Neil Urquhart
George Urquhart holds a DMin from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University. He is the pastor of the Plank Road Baptist Church and is Special Programs and Project Manager with the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Emergency Management. He is the author of a publication titled Personal Liability and the Willingness of Public Officials to Serve (1980). Pastor Urquhart and his wife Jeanetter Maxcean reside in a farm community near Waverly, VA.
Related to Crisis and Emergency Management and Preparedness for the African-American Church Community
Related ebooks
Who Will Care for the Orphan? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gospel, Sexual Abuse and the Church Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBreaking the Silence Within the Church: Responding to Abuse Allegations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhen Planets Become Stars: How to Set Up, Operate and Position an NGO in a World of Shifting Perceptions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Healer Messiah: Turning Enemies into Trustworthy Opponents Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ringmaster: A Clergy Guide to Funerals/Memorials/Wakes in the African American Tradition: Second Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfrican American Ministry Topics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Arc of Our Paths: Growing into Wholeness Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Pandemic Pastor: Leadership Wisdom For Ministry During Difficult Times Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLosing Ground: Reading Ruth in the Pacific Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConnect. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI'm Accepted: WALKing the Journey from Rejection to Freedom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReligion, Values, and Experiences: Black and Hispanic American Attitudes on Abortion and Reproductive Issues Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Empowerment Nuggets for Fulfilled Living Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDementia and the Church: Memory, Care, and Inclusion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAttachment and Sexual Offending: Understanding and Applying Attachment Theory to the Treatment of Juvenile Sexual Offenders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCounseling and Pastoral Care in African and Other Cross-Cultural Contexts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLeadership Development: Walk to Emmaus / Chrysalis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTo Do Justice: The Civil Rights Ministry of Reverend Robert E. Hughes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnveiling the Veil, Breaking the Silence: Domestic Violence in the Church Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReimagining Home: Understanding, reconciling and engaging with God's stories together Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCare for the Sorrowing Soul: Healing Moral Injuries from Military Service and Implications for the Rest of Us Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHomelessness in the Classroom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWounds You Can Not See: A Guide to Cultivating Risk and Resilience Among At-Risk Youth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSermon Nuggets: Topical Excerpts from a Lifetime of Preaching Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPolitical Trauma and Healing: Biblical Ethics for a Postcolonial World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDisruptive Christian Ethics: When Racism and Women's Lives Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hope Beyond Pandemic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bible Speaks On Mental Health and Personal Growth Issues: Helps For Hurting Christians And Christian Counselors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings9 Behaviors To Avoid When Seeking an Intimate Relationship Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Christianity For You
Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wild at Heart Expanded Edition: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Law of Connection: Lesson 10 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Lead When You're Not in Charge: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits with Lasting Spiritual Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Grief Observed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Enoch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Undistracted: Capture Your Purpose. Rediscover Your Joy. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Your Brain's Not Broken: Strategies for Navigating Your Emotions and Life with ADHD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5NIV, Holy Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Reviews for Crisis and Emergency Management and Preparedness for the African-American Church Community
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Crisis and Emergency Management and Preparedness for the African-American Church Community - George O'Neil Urquhart
Introduction
The Word Is Out: It Is No Secret
During my career and while surveying the community and environment from a disaster preparedness perspective, I sense an urgent need and detect a tremendous gap in the area of resources and skills among and within certain enterprises and institutions, and especially among and within most churches, where seemingly they are grossly unprepared to deal with a major emergency or disaster. We must heed the call to action and respond with appropriate action and wisdom of the heart. This is part of our being human. A psychiatrist once noted that being human means being confronted continually with situations, each of which is at once a chance and a challenge, giving us a ‘chance’ to fulfill ourselves by meeting the ‘challenge’ to fulfill its meaning. Each situation is a call, first to listen, and then to respond.
¹ Thus, one must always listen attentively and patiently to the voice within and respond accordingly.
Statement of the Problem
The project primarily deals with the subject of Crisis and Emergency Management and Preparedness for the African American Church Community. It is without question that all communities, including our churches, are vulnerable to any number of risks and threats—from natural disasters, human-made incidents, pandemic disease outbreaks, violence resulting from terrorism from abroad as well as homegrown within our neighborhoods, and the growing menace of localized cultural and social disorders. We need to be prepared, and the time is now! In this document, I will address emergency preparedness for all hazards (see the Glossary definition for disaster).
Problem Resolution
The specific focus and outcomes of this project will be to (1) highlight the risks that may affect Providence Park Baptist Church, the target community; (2) engage a planning model that focuses on awakening or awareness, encouragement, and equipping as a means of preparing the community for disasters and emergencies; and (3) develop an emergency plan for the target church.
The resident population served by the predominantly African American church demands and deserves specific attention to preserve the uniquely cohesive nature of the African American community, especially in these times of great challenge, stress, and vulnerability. While the project may ultimately have some validity beyond the specific confines of the target community, there is a shared hope among the immediate audience that the success of the endeavor may help mitigate growing environmental and social concerns beyond traditional emergencies—floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, severe weather, power outages—imposed on communities already strained by economic and social inequities.
Passion for Emergency Preparedness Ministry
My passion for this project was born out of a conversation I had with an emergency management colleague in 1984. The focus of the dialogue centered on the question: to what extent does human behavior contribute to natural disasters? We sought to make sense out of the question by looking at the physical makeup of the human anatomy, that is, from our understanding that persons give off positive energy and negative energy depending on one’s mood or the condition of the heart, the center of emotion. Human emotions and intentions, we concluded, combine to produce the motivating force that drives or manifests outward action, and by so doing creates energy and tension. That energy gives off heat and, thus influences one’s space and his or her surroundings. The environment created becomes positively or negatively charged depending on the motivating force. When energies collide—positive or negative—they create a stable or unstable environment. Stated in another way, the energy field of one person will be one such that another person either will be attracted to or will resist with an equal amount of energy—similar to the effect produced by a zone of good karma or bad karma. Tensions are created when individuals are at odds. Taken to another level or viewed from another perspective, positive and negative energies, when released in the environment, create static and form a mass that, when joined with the natural elements or forces of nature, create clouds. From our physics classes we knew that clouds have the potential to produce thunder, lightning, rain, or other forms of precipitation. Depending on the energy field or source, the atmospheric mass produced could be relatively small compared with normal cloud formations. What happens after that is anyone’s opinion. We knew that we were in unchartered waters by having such a conversation, however plausible the argument appeared to be. That line of reasoning was about the extent of a range of related questions that would pique our interest more than once. The notion that human behavior has the ability to affect the course of nature continues to engage my senses with uncanny inquisitiveness.
Being a person of faith then as now, and as to be expected during the course of my sojourn in the field of theology at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, I became very interested in the study of theodicy, that is, a search to answer the foregoing question or determine to what extent God deals with the presence of evil and ungodly acts in the universe. Often during my career in public safety and emergency management, and being confronted with the human dimensions of tragedy caused by hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and so forth, I was often asked and wanted to supply a reasoned answer to the question of why a given devastation occurred. As will be discussed later in chapter 3, it has been discovered that human behavior—though not without some suspicion—is a major contributor to the condition of the earth’s natural order of being by virtue of human enterprise in a business and industrial global world climate. While that finding may have some validity and may shed light on a subject that may elude the most ardent researcher, I knew it was an idea that would take me on a tangent far away from a pragmatic approach to emergency management and preparedness. Whatever the reasoning or source of disasters and emergencies, I knew that the appropriate and expedient thing to do was to embrace a practice as consistent as possible with the purpose of God working in and through the various ambiguities of human