Title: RFI Crisis Toolkit for Religious Institutions: Communications

Author: Nathaniel Hurd, Nathan Berkeley, and Katie Davern

About: The RFI Crisis Toolkit for Religious Institutions offers practical guidance to help institutions prepare for, mitigate, and respond to crises while remaining faithful to their core convictions, identity, and mission. The Toolkit features three modules: Communications, Institutional Governance, and Community Relationships. Together they address threats to religious institutions from lawsuits, smear cam­paigns, hostile media coverage, adversarial legislation, aggressive government administrative action, and more. 

The Communications module provides a roadmap for congregations, religious educational institutions at all levels, faith-based social service organizations, and countless other religious institutions to re­duce their vulnerabilities to potential or current public relations threats. Morally orthodox institutions are particularly at risk of being attacked at this time for their convictions, words, and actions regarding human sexuality, marriage, the intrinsic dignity of human life, the natural, God-given distinctions between females and males, and related matters.

Planning a crisis response during a crisis is extremely difficult and hazardous. Preparing a strategy before a crisis hits—and diligently implementing that strategy during a crisis—can help religious institutions avoid basic mistakes and return more quickly to the important work of advancing their mission. This resource is intended to aid religious institutions in doing just that.

Publication Date: September 2022

Suggested Citation: Nathaniel Hurd, Nathan Berkeley, and Katie Davern. “RFI Crisis Toolkit for Religious Institutions: Communications.” Religious Freedom Institute, 2022.

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