It was the day after Thanksgiving and I received a call while out of town spending time with family. It was one of the pastors on my staff and he said, "We just got a pretty significant accusation about our student pastor. If it's true, it's huge." 

Our student pastor was somewhat of a legend in our town. He'd been a star athlete, was well loved by our staff and congregation, and even occasionally preached on the weekends. Our student ministry was crushing it as a result of his leadership. 

My first thought was, "There is no freaking way." But I knew it was our responsibility to jump in and figure it out. 

Over the next ten days, we spent 18+ hours a day investigating these claims. We talked to the victim, the accused, many potential witnesses, investigators, the local prosecutor, and even a polygraph examiner who conducted two tests to help us find the truth. 

In the end, we had to terminate his employment, write a press release, explain our decision to hundreds of teens and parents, care for the victim and her family, while managing our own shock, grief, disappointment, and anger.

That's one example that illustrates several others I've experienced, and scores I've navigated with other organizations. They are all different, but there is one thing that is consistent--you almost never see a crisis coming. I worked for an organization where a former volunteer youth leader was arrested by federal authorities for possessing child pornography. Another time a staff member "no one would ever expect" was found embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars. And the stories are abundant of senior church leaders who have been discovered in affairs, sexual abuse, alocohol dependency and abuse of power. 

No two crises are the same. But there are things you can do when you get the unexpected call and it seems like your world is crashing down around you. This list is by no means exhaustive nor will apply to every situation -- but these are important early reminders:

1. Be diligent and timely in your communication. Without information, people make up stories and believe what they hear. Leaders should promptly acknowledge the situation, providing as much information as possible without violating privacy laws or confidentiality agreements. It's important to establish a consistent way to communicate about what you know, when you found out, what you are doing about it, and what comes next. 

2. Own what you need to own. Transparency during a crisis is crucial for church leaders. It is impossible to keep someone from doing wrong if they are bent toward it. But leaders must be truthful about the nature and extent of the crisis. If mistakes were made, it's important to admit them and outline the measures being taken to prevent similar occurrences in the future. This can help to rebuild trust and demonstrate accountability. There is usually something to be learned from every situation which will make it less likely to happen again. Sometimes this is overlooking warning signs. Sometimes it is a lapse in good processes.

3. Get someone from the outside to do an investigation. It doesn't matter how equipped your board or leadership team is to do their own investigation--we live in a day when institutions are de facto mistrusted. Whether it is true or not, your church or organization will be assumed to have a self-protective conflict of interest. 

4. Seek legal counsel. A crisis is a lot to manage. There are risks you may not be aware of. You don't want to deal with lawsuits, financial penalties, personal liability, criminal charges, the loss of your tax exemption status, or other risks on top of everything else because of how you mishandle the crisis. Make sure you have good legal counsel who can help you avoid any missteps.

5. Think twice before holding a town hall with an open mic. Sometimes it makes sense to hold a public meeting of sorts with key leaders, staff members, or an entire congregation. But do not have an open mic. An open mic gives license to the weakest, least mature, most verbally damaging individuals to filibuster and take over (trust me...I've made this mistake!). There are ways to answer questions that don't risk a forum turning into yelling and screaming. Gather input ahead of time and curate the questions to provide answers to the most-often asked. Create an FAQ on your website. Send out an e-mail with answers. Give people a person they can talk to and share their concerns. 

6. Don’t say what you don’t know. The fact is, you don't know what you don't know. It might be tempting to say, "Only one person was abused" not knowing that others may surface once it goes public. You might want to say, "We just found out about this last week and acted as soon as we heard" when you may discover later that one of your leaders was told and didn't report it. Only say what you know.

7. Do the hard work of restoration. After the initial shock subsides, the truth is established, and decisions are made--there are still victims who are suffering. Many times they are forgotten. Restoration takes years. Many times it is done best through professionals, but it's important that you as the leader of the organization continue to stay tuned in to the work that is being done. At one organization I worked with, they were still doing the incredibly hard work of restoration with victims more than five years after the initial scandal. 

8. Take time to reflect, but then move forward. At some point, you will be on the other side of the crisis. This may take months, it may take a couple of years. But you will get to a point where you've gathered the facts, finished the investigation, done what you can to help the victim(s), and made institutional changes to minimize the chance of a repeat in the future. At that point, it is time to move forward. Some will not be convinced and will want to continue to look in the rearview mirror. Don’t wait until 100% of the people are ready to move forward. As a leader, it is your job to lead through the crisis and then to begin to again lead your organization into the future. 

9. Stay healthy personally. Leading through a crisis will be among the most taxing and difficult things you ever do. In addition to managing the crisis, you are also managing the disappointment and anger of your team or congregation--all the while dealing with your own emotions. The "HALT Principle" says we are most susceptible to self-destructive behavior when we are Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired. You will likely experience several of these simultaneously when leading through a crisis. Protect yourself. Stick to your healthy practices. Lean into your trusted relationships with authenticity. 

If you were forwarded this article because you are in the middle of a crisis, I am so sorry. You didn't ask for it. You didn't cause it. You didn't sign up for this part of leadership. You have some tough days ahead of you. It's going to be harder and last longer than you can imagine. The damage is going to be worse than you think and the sleepless nights are going to be numerous. But know this -- our God is a healer, a restorer, and a comforter to those who are broken. He will give you the strength you need and lead you to trusted voices who can help you get through this season. 

If I can help share more learnings from my experience, or connect you with trusted and experienced legal counsel, schedule a call or send me an e-mail.