Arrow Leadership International Ministries

Rapid Response Team

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Division of Leadership Services: Rapid Response Team

The chairperson of the board has just put down the phone. The call was from a local newspaper seeking information about the Executive Director of the mission agency he has volunteered with for years. The Executive Director has been charged by the police for sexual misconduct, and the police are now releasing his name seeking information that might reveal other victims.

How is this chairperson, a volunteer with a full time job and family supposed to respond to the accusations? What steps will he and the board of directors now be taking? How do they, or can they care for the victim(s) of this misconduct? What do they do with the executive director? How do they handle the media, the police, staff, other volunteers and donors? What are the leadership, legal, spiritual, and communication skills and obligations that will be required of him and the other volunteer board members, and senior staff members of the mission in the coming hours, days and months? What happens if they get it wrong?

After 18 years of experience working with leaders in churches, mission, para-church and other Christian organizations, the team at Arrow Leadership has seen its fair share of “rapid response situations”. These can range from moral indiscretions, to physical ailments, to criminal behavior (finances, sexuality, etc.) on the part of a staff member or key volunteer, or to conflict that threatens to tear a board apart. How church or ministry leaders respond to the media, to legal challenges, to victims, and to their stakeholders in the first days or weeks often determines the effectiveness of the ministry for years, even decades to come!

As a result, Arrow Leadership has developed a Rapid Response Team. This group of specialists provide immediate phone support, in person consultation, and referral to top legal, leadership, spiritual, and counseling support. Trusted advisors can be made available almost immediately, providing not just an individual or two, but an entire team of specialists focused on the various elements of any crisis: Legal challenges and requirements; providing support and care to all involved; effective communication with the staff, congregation, the board, and the wider community (including media); and responses with appropriate leadership, restraint, vision and most importantly, prayer.

Is this resource affordable? We asked ourselves this same question. We then reviewed countless situations of crises where organizations relied not on experience, but on their own limited resources. Based on the ongoing and eventual cost of such decisions, we have watched as organizations have floundered, churches have closed, and communities have lost valuable resources. As a result, we know that while a team of specialists responding to a crisis quickly is not cheap, the Arrow Leadership team has determined that yes, in fact, this service is both critical and essential. In the long run it also becomes incredibly affordable! How can we not afford to offer this essential service?

Who is a part of this team?

• Leaders with experience in denominational discipline and restoration
• Counselors with experience working specifically with Christian leaders and church/ministry crisis
• Conflict resolution specialists
• Lawyers with experience in church legal issues
• Prayer team members with gifts in discernment

Contact us for confidential, immediate response: leadservices@arrowleadership.org