In these challenging times, the resident population served by the predominantly African-American church demands and deserves specific attention in order to preserve the uniquely cohesive nature of the African-American community. While this work is specifically focused on one local church community, there is a shared hope among church members, clergy, civic and lay professionals, and the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology that this project will serve as a model for success beyond its local audience. This work was conceived to help mitigate growing environmental and social concerns beyond traditional emergencies–such as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, severe weather, and power outages–imposed upon communities already strained by economic and social inequities. This book is designed to provide guidance on crisis and emergency preparedness by offering an example of how a church or similar institution may undertake the task of setting up an appropriate emergency planning structure for its congregation and community.