SPDR is Finding Its Legs
by Rev. Libby Janes
Director, Synod Partnership for Disaster Recovery
Jump to - Adoptable Disaster Plan Now Available
Jump to - Supporting Neighbors Recovering from July 2026 Floods - (opens new tab)
All over the Synod of the Sun, new ministries are growing. There is a pulse of new energy, a spark of new imagination, and people of all ages and church sizes are practicing the ministry of preparedness. It's a practice of good stewardship, it welcomes people to worship safely together, and calls each of us to live into Christ's mission to love our neighbor.
There is a lot of good news to share about this ministry! And what has been most inspiring is hearing the ways churches have taken ownership and creative freedom to respond in the unique way God calls that congregation or that presbytery to serve. And observing these moments make this ministry truly a blessing.
Keep an eye out for a visit from Libby Janes at your fall Presbytery meeting. Everyone has a gift to share in this work, and we are calling anyone who loves to learn, and wants to join efforts with leaders from other churches, and may even have a special skillset, too. Retired military members, teachers, first responders, and social workers make great members. The person at church who is always calling to check on their neighbors. The person at church who takes good care of the building. Anyone who went on a mission trip years ago and wants to reengage that energy and compassion to respond to the great needs of our world after disasters.
These Presbytery Disaster Response Teams gather volunteers from around their presbytery once per month on Zoom to develop communication systems. These systems allow local churches to report disasters and enable the network to draw resources where they are needed. We also discuss new initiatives for disaster preparedness, trainings, and share information about available resources!
This disaster plan was based on a FPC Copperas Cove's Church Disaster Plan, and the guidance of Ruling Elder Jeff Hampton. This Mission Presbytery church of about 90 people has engaged pulpit-supply support in worship for a few years. Their church is located near a military base, and their membership is mostly active or retired military, including many families serving in the military who immigrated from West African countries.
Their disaster plan incorporated examples from Red Cross, FEMA, and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. They train their greeters, who also serve as their security team. Each week before worship, they give a brief overview of safety measures in place to preachers who provide pulpit supply. 25% of their members are CPR/AED trained every two years at a training the church hosts. They host twice-per-year church member safety trainings so people know where to evacuate or take shelter in the event of an emergency. FPC Copperas Cove is small, but mighty, and has a lot to teach our synod.
And so that's what they did! RE Jeff Hampton, retired army tanker and leader of FPC Copperas Cove's greeter/security team, has been traveling with me to bring their wisdom around the synod. Jeff and I joined CP Sharon Curry's Grace Presbytery Small Church Gathering on Zoom to teach FPC Copperas Cove's plan to small church leaders. [Here is that recording: Small Church Zoom Disaster Recovery - How to Prepare]
From there, we decided to make this plan adaptable by churches of any size. Your Church can designate a Disaster Coordinator, and build a team (even if this team is all four people of your church). This Template provides a central place for important contact information, and lists helpful emergency equipment to keep stored. It teaches you how to make a map (Jeff loves PowerPoint's Shapes feature) to identify where emergency equipment and safe shelter places are located. Step-by-Step your church can become disaster ready and have this plan resource to look back on.
I've added preparedness and response tips for various disaster types to this plan as I've encountered them. My sources have been National VOAD conference notes, resources from the Natonal Weather Service and NOAA, the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance National Respone Team training programs, and resources from city and county Emergency Managers.
There are always more disaster resources to be added, and your church is encouraged to update your Disaster Plan Binder with resources your City or County Emergency Manager gives you, or you find on the EM website or Facebook. My plan will keep evolving too, as I learn more about disasters and hazards, and I will share updates with SPDR regularly.
Our new Adaptable Disaster Plan resource was shared at the South Eastern Oklahoma Church Disaster Preparedness Workshop on Saturday, September 19th. Synod commissioner and Oklahoma Presbyteries' Disaster Response Team member, RE Fred Bray, and CP Melinda Hunt, invited Jeff and me to visit FPC Broken Bow to lead a disaster workshop. 16 local leaders, the country Emergency Manager, a 31-year Red Cross volunteer, and a representative from Oklahoma Indian Legal Services, met for a day-long workshop. We taught church leaders, many of whom were tribally affiliated, the new church disaster plan. The best part was hearing church leaders' stories about how their communities have responded to disasters in the past, their safety tips, and asking the Emergency Manager our questions.
Would you like this training in your area? Contact your Presbytery Disaster Reponse Team or Rev. Libby Janes, SPDR Director (libby.janes@synodsun.org) to learn more, and receive additional resources.
How to Support Church Neighbors Recovering from the July 2026 Floods
Updated story from July 2026 Floods
Pastors in three different presbyteries (Grace, Mission, and South Louisiana) after three different types of disasters (tornado, flood, hurricane) have told me clean-up buckets are needed quickly - within 24-48 hours - by pastors in disaster-affected areas. This has been an important unmet need voiced by our local churches because the supplies at Ferncliff take 1-2 weeks to ship out, and by then, larger organizations have already arrived a few days after a disaster. But pastors have urged me that these clean-up supplies are really needed, and scarce, in the first couple of days after a disaster.
Therefore:
The Synod Partnership for Disaster Recovery is working with presbytery teams from several presbyteries to pre-position disaster buckets in various churches around each presbytery. It's a manageable goal to move bucketswithin a couple of hours for immediate relief.
What's in a bucket and how does this Bucket Inventory initiative work?:
The bucket contents are standardized and that list of items can be found here
These buckets are stored by volunteer churches who have open closet or cabinet space, or a basement, where they are willing to store some buckets.
Each church will notify their disaster team how many buckets they have, where they are stored, and contact informationfor two leaders who have building keys and their church's permission to access the buckets.
When a disaster occurs - the presbytery or disaster team will have contact with the impacted church community. Once it is confirmed that ## of buckets is requested by the impacted community, the disaster team will coordinate with nearby bucket-storing churches to coordinate volunteers to bring ## of requested buckets to the impacted church. Also, any church storing buckets may support a local need by sharing buckets with members of their own community at any time—we just ask that they update the presbytery/disaster team with the remaining bucket count in their inventory.
After a disaster & buckets are distributed - the Presbytery Disaster Team will collaborate with churches to confirm even distribution of buckets to prepare for the next need.
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