This document provides an overview of how religious literacy and competency among emergency managers can help build more resilient communities during public health emergencies. It discusses how faith communities can offer unique resources like comfort, hope, prayer services and advocacy. It also reviews key concepts like the disaster lifecycle and the roles of the Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster network in coordinating response efforts between government and nonprofit groups including faith communities. The goal is to educate about engaging faith groups as trusted partners before, during and after disasters.

1. 1
The Roles of Congregations in
Public Health Emergencies:
How Religious Literacy & Competency
Builds Resilient Whole Communities
January 23, 2019
Slide 1
Speaker
Peter B. Gudaitis, M.Div.

2. 2
Slide 2
A portion of the material within this course was developed for the Emergency
Management Institute (EMI) through a collaborative training partnership between
FEMA's Center for Faith-based & Neighborhood Partnerships, DHS Science &
Technology Resilient Systems Division, DHS’ National Center for Risk and
Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE) at the University of Southern
California (USC), the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CCRC), and the
National Disaster Interfaiths Network (NDIN).
Partial Content Credits – FEMA IS 505
Slide 3
FEMA Whole Community Framework
“We need to move away from the mindset that federal and state
governments are always in the lead, and build upon the strengths of
our local communities…”
“When disaster strikes, the initial services provided may not come
from government, but rather from churches, synagogues, mosques
and other faith-based and community organizations…FEMA is
working to improve our preparedness through the Whole Community
framework.”
“When the community is engaged in an authentic dialogue, it
becomes empowered to identify its needs and the existing resources
that may be used to address them.”
--W. Craig Fugate, FEMA Administrator (Obama Administration)

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Slide 4
Resilience & the Faith Sector
Resilience is the ability of a whole community to use its
assets and skills to strengthen human & organizational
preparedness as well as response capabilities and
capacity—including the faith sector.
In partnership with local, state, and national disaster
management, mental health and public health systems,
the U.S. faith sector is essential to improving America’s
ability to withstand, adapt to, and recover from crisises,
disaster and other adversities.
Slide 5
Relationships & Resources = Resilience
=

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Slide 6
Assets of Faith Communities in Disasters
• Mission to Serve: Help people cope and recover
• Trust: Moral authority and legitimacy
• Resources: Space, people, money, logistics, communications,
national affiliates, other capacities
• Knowledge: Language, cultural competency, and an intimate
knowledge of people and communities
• Networks: Reach beyond their own congregations into
larger geographical areas (houses of worship may serve
congregants from other neighborhoods)
• Programs: Human services, disaster volunteers
• Staying Power: Longevity in community recovery
Slide 7
Defining Religious Literacy & Competency
Religious Literacy
• A basic understanding of
the history, sacred texts,
beliefs, rituals, and
current manifestations of
multiple faith traditions
• The ability to understand
the intersection of
religious people and the
social, political, and
cultural lives of the larger
communities they inhabit
Religious Competency in a
Disaster
• Knowing how to navigate and
engage each faith community as
a trusted, knowledgeable, and
effective partner in a disaster
setting
One doesn’t need to become a
scholar of religion to improve
religious competency.
Aim for “a little of Column A,
and a lot of Column B”!

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Slide 8
The Key to Effective Engagement
• Religious literacy and competency is:
• Providing culturally and religiously appropriate disaster services
to the whole community
• Knowing and understanding the community where you work
• Understanding the needs, concerns, and missions of your
partners both locally and nationally
• Relationship building that is trustworthy and sustainable
• Being more effective in the field
• Religious literacy and competency is not:
• Checking the box
• Being politically correct
• Meeting so-called “inappropriate” needs
Resources Review
The Roles of Congregations in
Public Health Emergencies:
How Religious Literacy & Competency
Builds Resilient Whole Communities

6. 6
Slide 10
FEMA Emergency Management Institute: IS 505
Religious & Cultural Competency in Disaster
Religious and cultural communities
are key partners in building a
culture of preparedness.
FBOs also offer a wide variety of
human and material resources that
can prove invaluable during and
after an incident. Collaborating with
these vital community members will
allow emergency managers to
access a multitude of local
resources and ensure members of
the whole community can contribute
to disaster resilience efforts.
Slide 11
Using Faith Community Engagement Tip Sheets
More detail can be found in the Tip Sheets accompanying this course.
Engagement Best Practices &
Resources:
•LEADER Process: Creating
an Engagement Plan
•Cultural Competency Tips
•Resources and Tools

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Slide 12
Using Faith Community Engagement Tip Sheets
More detail can be found in the Tip Sheets accompanying this course.
Engagement Guidelines: Religious Leaders
• Buddhist Leaders
• Christian Leaders (7 tip sheets):
• Black Church Protestant
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
(Mormon)
• Evangelical Megachurch
• Latino Protestant
• Orthodox Christian
• Protestant
• Roman Catholic
• Hindu Leaders
• Jewish Leaders
• Muslim Leaders
• Sikh Leaders
Slide 13
FEMA Planning Guide: Engaging FBO & CBOs
Engaging Faith-based and
Community Organizations:
Planning Considerations for
Emergency Managers
• Strategies
• Methodologies
• Tools
• Resources

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© 2014 National Disaster Interfaiths Network and USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture
Be A
READY
CONGREGATION
26 Tip Sheets for
U.S. Religious Leaders
www.n-din.org
© 2014 National Disaster Interfaiths Network and USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture

9. 9
Be A
READY
CONGREGATION
Tip Sheet:
Children
& Disasters
Tip Sheet:
Active Shooter
© 2014 National Disaster Interfaiths Network and USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture
Be A
READY
CONGREGATION
PARTNER
Competency Guidelines
for Sheltering &
Mass Care
•Buddhist
•Hindu
•Jewish
•Muslim
•Sikh
© 2014 National Disaster Interfaiths Network and USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture

10. 10
Disaster Emotional
& Spiritual Care
Trainings
•Mental Health First Aid
•Psychological First Aid
•Spiritual Care Provider
•Disaster Chaplain
© 2014 National Disaster Interfaiths Network and USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture
Psychological First Aid
Field Operations Guide
For
Community
Religious
Professionals
© 2014 National Disaster Interfaiths Network and USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture

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RELIGIOUS LITERACY:
By Stephen Prothero
What Every American
Needs to Know –
And Doesn’t
© 2014 National Disaster Interfaiths Network and USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture
Overview of the U.S. Faith Communities and Disaster
The Roles of Congregations in
Public Health Emergencies:
How Religious Literacy & Competency
Builds Resilient Whole Communities

12. 12
Slide 22
Faith Communities As Part of Whole Communities
The role of religion in the lives of Americans:
• 83% of Americans are affiliated with a specific
religious tradition.
• There are approximately 345,000 congregations
in the U.S., compared to 105,000
schools/universities.
• 60% of Americans report first to their
religious leaders for advice and direction
after a disaster.
• 40% “trust” clergy as a whole
Slide 23
Religious and Cultural Diversity in U.S.
• The Immigration Act of 1965 brought a new wave of rapidly
changing religious diversity, though the U.S. has been multi-
religious since the colonial period.
• This brings social, cultural, ethnic, and linguistic diversity.
• That diversity exists in both rural and urban settings.
• Diversity means complex perspectives on government,
disasters, and disaster preparedness and response.
• U.S. is the most religious industrialized nation in the world.

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Slide 24
Generational Shift in Religious Identity
Public Religion Research Institute 2016
How will these shifts impact
the VOAD movement and faith
sector engagement in the next
decade or generation?
What are its implications when
considering local context?
Slide 25
Religious Identity: Context Matters
• Nearly 200 religious denominations, sects, and movements
in the U.S. from almost every major world religion
• 70% of Americans identify as Christian by Affiliation
– 36% Attend Worship Regularly (1 or more times per month)
• 6% of Americans identify as Non-Christian
– 2% Jewish (15% of New York City and 90% of Beachwood, OH)
4M in U.S. (40% of the world’s Jewish population)
– 1% Muslim (10% of New York City and 14% of Lewiston, Maine) – 2% by 2050
3.3M in U.S.
70% of U.S. Arabs are Christian
• 27% “Religious Nones”
– Over 34% in the Northeast and Northwest U.S.
– 3% Athiests
• 1.7M Native Americans from 567 First Nations (Tribes)

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Slide 26
Context: U.S. Religious Adherence Rates
Slide 27
The “American” Congregation
Most congregations in the U.S. are small:
• 90% of congregations have less than 350 participants
• Average = 75 regular participants
However, most adherents worship in large
congregations (over 350 participants).
• Just 10% of congregations have 350+ participants
but account for half of all U.S. adherents

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Slide 28
Shifting Live, Work, and Worship Lens
• People of faith may
live, work, and
worship in three
different geographic
areas.
• Any of these three
areas may impact the
recovery and
resilience of survivors
and communities.
Slide 29
Second Largest Religion by State

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Slide 30
Largest Non-Christian Tradition by County
Slide 31
Cultural Context & Competency

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Slide 32
Cultural Context & Competency
Slide 33
Religious Composition of Nebraska

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The Role of Faith Congregations in Disasters
The Roles of Congregations in
Public Health Emergencies:
How Religious Literacy & Competency
Builds Resilient Whole Communities
Slide 35
Disaster 101: The Lifecycle

19. 19
Slide 36
The Roles of Faith Communities
UNIQUE OFFERINGS:
• Comfort and Hope: In a disaster, religious leaders are trusted
caregivers to whom the majority of Americans turn for
assistance and support for healing. You can offer comfort,
support, clarity, and direction in times of crisis. You are in a
unique position to respond to people who are impacted by a
disaster because you are already trusted and in an established
leadership role and you bring a faith perspective to the
community’s need for meaning after a disaster.
• Prayer/Worship Services/Events
• The primary disaster role of religious leaders is to help
communities find meaning in crisis. Providing opportunities for
and leading prayer/worship services provides an essential
foundation for community recovery.
•
Slide 37
The Roles of Faith Communities
UNIQUE OFFERINGS Continued:
• Work with your partners to offer community-based worship
services and other healing events such as anniversary
commemorations. Target different audiences: youth, seniors, etc.
• Justice and Healing
• In all of your interactions, be a voice of reason and a “non-
anxious presence.”
• Use your connections with politicians and community leaders as
well as your present entities and community councils to:
– Provide expertise on particular needs of affected populations
– Provide religious and cultural guidance on, and assistance in,
expediting and implementing best practices, including funeral
and burial services
– Promote efforts to curtail disaster-related bias crimes

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Slide 38
The Roles of Faith Communities
Considering:
1) Religious Obligations
2) Expertise
3) National VOAD Expertise
4) Who is Asking?
5) One-Offs vs. Sustainability
U.S. Faith Communities and the VOAD Movement
The Roles of Congregations in
Public Health Emergencies:
How Religious Literacy & Competency
Builds Resilient Whole Communities

21. 21
Slide 40
Voluntary Organization Active in Disaster
National VOAD is an association of organizations
that mitigate and alleviate the impact of disasters,
provides a forum promoting cooperation,
communication, coordination and collaboration;
and fosters more effective delivery of services to
communities affected by disaster.
• National Members (64)
• State & Territory Chapters (56)
– Statewide Members
• Local COAD & VOADs (1000+)
– Local Members
• Affiliates
Slide 41
The VOAD Movement
• National movement
– National HQ, state chapters, local COADs
• Nonpartisan, nongovernmental, & nonoperational
• Leadership & voice of not-for-profit sector in disaster
lifecycle
• Capacity of national, state, & local members
• Emergency support function #6 (majority)
• Force multiplier
• 4Cs: cooperation, communication, coordination, &
collaboration

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Slide 42
National Standards
• Points of consensus
• Guidelines
• Example:
– Term: Emotional & Spiritual Care (ESC)
• Disaster Spiritual Care (DSC)
• Disaster Spiritual Care guidelines
• National VOAD Reference Guide: Light out Way
• Disaster emotional care (guidelines are in process)
© 2018 National Disaster Interfaiths Network and USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture
PETER B. GUDAITIS, M.Div.,
President, National Disaster Interfaiths Network
Executive Director, New York Disaster Interfaith Services
Chair, New York VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster)
Contributing Fellow, USC Center for Religion & Civic Culture
4 West 43rd Street, Suite 407
New York, NY 10036
pgudaitis@n-din.org │www.n-din.org