![](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Community-Relationships-Cover-234x300.jpg)
Title: RFI Crisis Toolkit for Religious Institutions: Community Relationships
Author: Nathaniel Hurd, Nathan Berkeley, Katie Davern, and Matthew Hawkins
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: Institutional Governance, Communications, 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 Community Relationships module provides a roadmap to congregations, religious educational institutions at all levels, faith-based social service organizations, and countless other religious institutions for engaging with key members of their community as an exercise in being a good civic neighbor and for developing allies who will stand with them in times of crisis. Morally orthodox institutions are particularly at risk of being attacked at this time for their convictions on human sexuality, marriage, the intrinsic dignity of human life, the natural, God-given distinctions between females and males, and related matters.
While preparing for and navigating current threats through the building of strong community relationships may sometimes be challenging and even costly, such efforts also present an opportunity to strengthen a religious institution’s commitment to its religious convictions, identity, and mission.
Publication Date: November 2022
Suggested Citation: Nathaniel Hurd, Nathan Berkeley, Katie Davern, and Matthew Hawkins. “RFI Crisis Toolkit for Religious Institutions: Community Relationships.” Religious Freedom Institute, 2022.
Sign up to receive a link to download the RFI Crisis Toolkit for Religious Institutions: Community Relationships module. Links to download the Institutional Governance and Communications modules are also included.
(After you fill out the form, check your email. Each module will be available for download as a PDF.)
THE RFI BLOG
![Featured image for “RFI President Speaks on Religious Freedom and Depolarization at Notre Dame Summit”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DT-Speaking-at-ND-Religious-Liberty-Summit.jpg)
RFI President Speaks on Religious Freedom and Depolarization at Notre Dame Summit
![Featured image for “Religious Freedom Is Being Ignored This Election”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/UK-FCO.jpg)
Religious Freedom Is Being Ignored This Election
![Featured image for “Celebrating America’s Independence and First Freedom”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SparklerAmericanFlag-scaled.jpg)
Celebrating America’s Independence and First Freedom
![Featured image for “State Department Releases Annual Report Documenting Dire Global Religious Freedom Picture”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IRF-Report-Cover-2023.png)
State Department Releases Annual Report Documenting Dire Global Religious Freedom Picture
![Featured image for “RFI President David Trimble Talks Religious Freedom Week on Drew Mariani Show”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/RFWLogo_FullColor.jpeg)
RFI President David Trimble Talks Religious Freedom Week on Drew Mariani Show
CORNERSTONE FORUM
![Featured image for “Challenges to Religious Freedom in Iraq and the Critical Need for Action”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_3666.jpg)
Challenges to Religious Freedom in Iraq and the Critical Need for Action
![Featured image for “Public Bioethics & the Failure of Expressive Individualism”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/headshot.jpg)
Public Bioethics & the Failure of Expressive Individualism
![Featured image for “Religious Liberty in American Higher Education”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/031623-Jennifer-Lichter-002-e1682974563353.png)
Religious Liberty in American Higher Education
![Featured image for “Scotland’s Kate Forbes and the March of Secularism”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jerry-Li-Pic01.jpg)
Scotland’s Kate Forbes and the March of Secularism
![Featured image for “70 Years of Religious Freedom in Sweden: Prospects and Challenges”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Jacob-380-e1447190060158.jpg)