wfn.org | [LCMSNews] Grant funds crisis-management training

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	November 5, 2004 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 80

	Communications gets grant for crisis management

	Teams from five districts and the Synod's International Center
have been trained or are being trained for crisis management, thanks to
a $32,283 grant to the Board for Communication Services from Thrivent
Financial for Lutherans.

	"It is very important that the LCMS have a carefully
thought-through plan to deal with crises that affect the organization,"
said Rev. J. Thomas Lapacka, the board's executive director.

	Lapacka defines a crisis as "any event that disrupts or has the
potential to disrupt the mission and ministry of the church with the
threat of disaffecting its members and damaging the church's good public
reputation."

	He said such events could be sudden, such as fire or a natural
disaster, or "smouldering -- a crisis in formation" -- for instance,
cases of misappropriation of funds or sexual abuse involving church
workers.

	Lapacka said the crisis-management training involves a one-day
seminar and half-day "drill" which helps those in training deal with a
hypothetical crisis.

	The training, according to David Strand, director of public
affairs for the BCS, "involves such topics as the sources and kinds of
crisis most likely to strike the church, the realities and dangers of
dealing with crisis, setting up a crisis team and command center,
identifying key audiences among stakeholders, developing messages for
those audiences, and working under pressure with the media."

	So far, Lapacka said, training has been completed or is in
process at the Synod's International Center in St. Louis and in the
Northwest, Southern, Mid-South, New Jersey and Indiana districts.

	"This is all still very new," Lapacka said, adding that he
expects other districts to "express interest in training teams."

	"Crisis-management training is like an insurance policy,"
Lapacka said. "You may be reluctant to invest in one before something
happens, but the payoff makes it worthwhile when an accident happens."

	****************************************

	If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release,
contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org or (314) 996-1231,
or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org or (314) 996-1230.

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