The Bible tells us not to be afraid. That God will protect us. The Bible also tells us to be prepared. In South Florida, one of the things we need to prepare for are hurricanes. So, how do we prepare the church? Here are a few of the most frequently asked questions:

1. At what point do we close the church?
During the 2004 hurricane season, Session decided that if our area is given a "Hurricane Warning" status, the church offices would close to allow employees to prepare the church. If a "Hurricane Warning" is in effect on Sunday, services will most likely be canceled. The feeling was that if the authorities asked people to finalize preparations and then to eliminate all unnecessary trips, it would be prudent to follow their directives.

2. Is the church in any physical danger?
We are fortunate that when the original building was built, and each subsequent structure after that, they were all built with great skill and craftsmanship. The Sanctuary has withstood many storms and sustained damage only twice. Once in the late 1960s and most recently in Wilma.

3. What does the church need to do to prepare?
Over the last ten years or so, we have made changes and improvements to limit both our chance of damage and our need for preparedness. We have replaced the lightweight playground furniture with heavy, cemented in pieces that cannot blow away, the large windows in the front of the Sanctuary were recently replaced with hurricane resistant, small missile impact windows, many of the items located outside that could pose danger have been removed. All the windows in the office building as well as around the preschool area are hurricane resistant. Our roof was completely replaced and updated to current building standards in 2007.
Our preparedness now boils down to bringing in what could possibly become airborne debris and securing data(more on that in a minute).

4. What areas are not protected?
The only windows that are still vulnerable are the jalousie windows in the second floor of the CE Building.

5. What about the stained glass windows?
The tall stained glass windows are covered with a 1/4" clear plate glass. It is not an ideal situation, but it does provide some protection. To have shutters made for them would be tens of thousands-or perhaps hundreds of thousands- of dollars. They would also be extremely difficult to install when a storm approaches. Roll-down shutters would also be impractical from a cost and maintenance standpoint.
The stained glass and the CE Building are the two areas where we really trust God. Over the years we have lost only one section of stained glass. That was in Wilma.

6. What about all the computers, electrical equipment and data?
This is the area where the most preparation takes place. Due to the construction of the buildings, for the most part our computers are protected and there is little chance of water damage. However, if the approaching storm appears to be potentially severe enough, we take all the desktops and put them in the conference room in the center of the Administration building.
During Wilma, we learned an unfortunate lesson with our sound booth. The only stained glass window that was damaged was the one behind the sound booth. The mixing board sustained water damage. We now cover that area with plastic.

As to our data, we know how important this is. Not only the church financial data, but all the members' contribution data, school tuition data, etc. The following procedures are taken to ensure that in the event of a serious disaster, we can be back up as quickly as possible:

• A full backup of our server is made to an external hard drive. This drive is then wrapped in plastic and placed in the vault that is bolted to the floor in the center of the Administration Building.
• A second back-up is made and transported off-site
• A third backup of just our membership and financial records is made, compressed and uploaded to a virtual storage server. In the event of a major disaster our database provider, Automated Church Systems, can take this backup copy and host it on their servers in North Carolina. This will allow us to be operational very quickly while we go through the rebuilding process.

7. Where can I get news and status updates pertaining to the church?
Any  information will be available here on the website.

8. Is there any way I can contact members?
If we have a current email address on file, you can set up a user account on our online database. Click here for directions. From there you can search member phone numbers and call anyone you may be concerned about. There are many advantages with this online database. Not the least of which is total security and complete accessibility from anywhere in the world provided you have an internet connection.

9. When will things return to normal?
When the local authorities cancel the "Hurricane Warning" advisories, leadership will make appropriate assessments and decide how next to proceed.

10. What can I do?
Pray. Pray that God protects us. Not just the church, but the whole area. There are many people in this area who do not have the blessing of a building that is as secure as ours. Preparations for these folks can be full of anxiety and fear. Before, during and after a storm are the perfect times to minister to people less fortunate than we are. Ask yourself "Who is my neighbor?" and "How can I help them?" When it is all over we will be looking at how we can be Gods hands and feet to reach out to those who are hurting or in need and how you can join us.

Most storms will pass us by with little or no damage and we can be back up and running as soon as possible.