[Church name]: Policy on after-hours crisis and emergency calls
Template version 2026-11-11. Replace every item in square brackets.
1. Purpose
This policy sets out who at [Church name] answers when someone calls or messages in a crisis or with an urgent pastoral need, in what order we call people, and what we do when nobody answers. Its aim is that no urgent call goes unheard and that no one is left to decide alone at 2 a.m.
This policy does not replace emergency services, crisis lines, mental health professionals or the law. It describes how our church connects people to them and to our own pastoral care.
2. Three kinds of call
A. Immediate danger. Someone says they or another person are in danger right now: a medical emergency, a fire, violence, a threat to a child, or a person who is about to harm themselves. Call 911 (or the local emergency number) first. Do not wait for a pastor to call back. Stay on the line with the person if you can, give the dispatcher the address, and then notify the on-call pastoral contact.
B. Crisis without immediate danger. Someone is thinking about suicide, has been hurt or abused, or is overwhelmed and frightened. In the United States, call or text 988 (the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline). In Canada, call or text 9-8-8 (the 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline). Both are listed as available 24 hours a day, every day. Offer the number, offer to stay with the person while they call, and notify the on-call pastoral contact.
C. Urgent pastoral need. A death, a hospital admission, a family emergency, a request for a visit or for prayer that cannot wait until the office opens. The on-call pastoral contact responds within [time, for example "one hour"].
If you are not sure which kind of call it is, treat it as the more serious one.
3. Who is on call
Primary on-call pastoral contact: [Name, role, mobile number]. Hours covered: [days and times].
First backup: [Name, role, mobile number].
Second backup: [Name, role, mobile number, for example a board chair or an elder].
Written permission is held on file from each person listed that the church may publish and use these numbers for this purpose. The list is reviewed every [three] months and whenever someone changes.
4. Escalation steps
Step 1. Safety first. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911 (or the local emergency number) before doing anything else on this list.
Step 2. Call the primary on-call contact. If there is no answer within [number] minutes, call the first backup. If there is no answer within [number] minutes, call the second backup. Leave a message each time saying only that an urgent call has come in and a number to return.
Step 3. If none of the three can be reached within [number] minutes, call [board chair or another named person], who decides whether to call a pastor from [a neighbouring church or denominational contact].
Step 4. While waiting, stay kind and plain with the caller. Say who you are and that you are connecting them to a person who can help. Do not promise that everything will be fine, do not give medical, legal or counselling advice, and do not try to be the one who solves it.
Step 5. Write down what happened in the call log (section 7) as soon as you can, even if it is at 3 a.m.
5. Children, young people and vulnerable adults
If a call raises a concern that a child or a vulnerable adult has been harmed or is at risk, follow our safeguarding policy, [name of policy], and the law in [province, state or country] about reporting. Do not investigate and do not confront anyone. Contact [local child protection authority or police] as the law requires and notify [safeguarding lead] the same day.
Learn what the law of your state or province requires of church staff and volunteers who suspect that a child has been abused, and write that duty here: [the duty, and who to call]. It differs from place to place, and some places make everyone a mandatory reporter.
6. Confidentiality and its limits
We treat what people tell us with care. We do not promise absolute confidentiality, because some things must be shared to keep someone safe: emergency services, the pastoral team and, where the law requires, child protection or the police. Anyone taking a crisis call says so honestly if the caller asks.
7. Call log
For every crisis or urgent call, record: date and time; how it came in (phone, text, voicemail, in person); first name and a number if given; which kind of call it was (A, B or C); who was told and when; what was done; who follows up, and by when.
The log is kept in [location]. Only [roles] may read it. Entries are kept for [period] and then [destroyed or archived] under our records policy.
8. Follow-up
The on-call pastoral contact, or someone they name, checks in with the person within [number] hours of the first call, and again within [number] days, unless the person asks not to be contacted.
9. Care for the people on call
Taking these calls is heavy. No one is on call for more than [number] consecutive days. After any serious call the person who took it is offered a conversation with [pastor, elder or another named person] within [number] days. The on-call rota is shared fairly.
10. Answering services and automated assistants
If our phone is answered by a voicemail greeting, a human answering service or an automated assistant, it must (a) tell callers in the first few seconds that it is not the pastor, and, for an automated assistant, that it is an AI; (b) give callers the emergency number and the crisis line for their country straight away when they describe danger or a crisis; and (c) never counsel, never promise confidentiality, and never promise a callback or a response time it cannot guarantee. An automated assistant does not hold a crisis conversation and does not decide what a caller needs. It connects the caller to people.
We know, and have written down here, exactly what each such service does and does not notify: [what it does, for example "emails the vendor" or "texts the on-call number"] and [what it does not do]. A service may not alert our staff at all, so our human on-call path in section 3 never depends on the tool. [Name the person who checks the voicemail, messages and call log, and how often.]
Our current greeting and any automated service are tested by calling them at least [twice a year] and after any change, and the results, including what each tool did and did not notify, are recorded.
11. Review and adoption
This policy is reviewed every [twelve] months and after any serious incident. It was adopted by [board, council or session] on [date] and takes effect on [date]. [Name, role, signature]
This template is a starting point. It is not legal, clinical or safeguarding advice. Have your board, denomination, insurer or legal adviser review it before adoption.