Serve Source Resource Library

The Serve Source Resources Library features the free disaster-response tools, guides, and templates we've created or sourced to equip churches, pastors, volunteers, and families. From ministry-focused disaster guides to step-by-step preparedness plans, these resources equip faith communities to respond with clarity, compassion, and confidence when crisis strikes. Whether you're building a church disaster-response ministry, preparing your family for emergencies, or strengthening community resilience, Serve Source provides trusted, experience-driven materials to help you lead well before, during, and after disasters.

Pastor's Playbook for Disaster Response Book Cover

The Pastor's Playbook for Disaster Response

v2.3 - 8-2026 - 55 Pages

With one mission in mind, many outreach-minded church and disaster response leaders have come together to shared knowledge, lessons learned, resources, communication pathways, and active partner organizations in an easy-to-understand format.

We call it the Pastor's Playbook

Church Leadership

Preparedness & Planning

Disaster Response Operations

The Church's Guide to Disaster Response Book Cover

The Church's Guide to Disaster Response

Disaster response starts with the Church. When crisis strikes—whether through storms, floods, fires, or other disasters—churches are often among the first to respond with compassion and care.

The Church's Guide to Disaster Response is a free, practical resource created to help pastors, outreach leaders, and volunteers build or strengthen a disaster response ministry rooted in purpose, relationship, and trust.

Church Leadership

Preparedness & Planning

Volunteer Management

Care in Crisis

Care in Crisis

Care in Crisis is a six-week outreach ministry curriculum designed to equip churches and organizations to provide compassionate, Christ-centered pastoral care in times of disaster and trauma. This practical training guides volunteers and leaders through understanding crisis response, trauma, grief, human needs, and cultural sensitivity—while offering clear frameworks for delivering both practical support and spiritual care. Ideal for disaster response teams, pastoral care ministries, and outreach leaders seeking to serve effectively in critical moments.

Emotional & Spiritual Care

Training & Safety

Pastors & Church Leaders

Peace in the Storm

Peace in the Storm

2026 v2 - 41 pages

Peace in the Storm: The Heart of a Serving Church Amid Disaster is a 12-week devotional designed to help churches cultivate a strong, unified, and mission-driven serve culture in the context of disaster response. Drawn from years of hands-on deployment and leadership development through Highlands Disaster Response, this resource blends biblical foundation with practical insight—equipping teams to raise leaders, strengthen community, expand the Kingdom, and respond to crisis with excellence. More than a guide for disaster moments, it is an invitation to build a church that is spiritually anchored, relationally unified, and ready to serve in every season.

Church Leadership

Volunteer Management

Emotional & Spiritual Care

Family Preparedness Plan Template Cover

Family Preparedness Plan

v5.1 - 20 Pages

Emergencies and disasters can strike at any moment, often with little warning. From natural disasters to power outages, having a well-thought-out plan is essential for ensuring your family's safety and well-being. Download this 20-page template to get started with your family emergency plan.

Preparedness & Planning

Families & Individuals

Churches & Faith-Based Organizations

Creating Your Volunteer Experience - Mercy Chefs

Creating Your Volunteer Experience - Mercy Chefs

2026 v1 21 Pages

Creating Your Volunteer Experience is a practical leadership guide designed by Mercy Chefs to help churches and organizations intentionally shape a healthy, engaging volunteer culture. Using a clear five-value framework—Safety, Compassion, Communication, Efficiency, and Celebration—this resource equips leaders to create environments where volunteers feel protected, valued, organized, and inspired. Ideal for ministry leaders, outreach teams, and nonprofit staff, this guide provides actionable insights to strengthen engagement, sustain momentum, and cultivate a spirit of service that multiplies impact.

Volunteer Management

Church Leadership

Disaster Response Leaders

Guide to Chainsaw Trailer Builds - Highlands Disaster Response

Guide to Chainsaw Trailer Builds - Highlands Disaster Response

2026 v1 9 Pages

Chainsaw Response Trailer Build is a design and equipment guide created to help churches and organizations develop a well-equipped chainsaw disaster response trailer. This resource provides detailed trailer specifications, storage layout recommendations, equipment lists, safety considerations, material lists, and vendor references—offering a practical blueprint for building a functional, organized, and deployment-ready mobile response unit. Designed for disaster response ministries, this guide equips teams to serve safely, efficiently, and with excellence in crisis environments.

Equipment & Logistics

Disaster Response Operations

Training & Safety

Level 1 Sawyer Training - Highlands Disaster Response

Level 1 Sawyer Training - Highlands Disaster Response

2026 v5 - 12 pages

This is the Level 1 Sawyer Training put together by Highlands Disaster Response. It will acclimate first-time volunteers to critical safety guidelines, and help them become familiar with using a chainsaw.

Training & Safety

Disaster Response Operations

Disaster Response Leaders

Level 2 Sawyer Training - Highlands Disaster Response

Level 2 Sawyer Training - Highlands Disaster Response

2026 v5 - 17 pages

Produced by Highlands Disaster Response, The Level 2 Sawyer Training equips experienced volunteers with advanced safety awareness, site assessment skills, and technical cutting techniques needed to operate effectively in disaster response environments. This training emphasizes personal responsibility, hazard identification, team coordination, limbing and bucking procedures, proper use of specialized cuts, and comprehensive chainsaw maintenance. Designed for sawyers serving in high-risk, post-disaster settings, this manual strengthens both technical competence and leadership capacity to ensure safe, efficient, and mission-focused operations.

Training & Safety

Disaster Response Operations

Disaster Response Leaders

Level 3 Advanced Sawyer Training - Highlands Disaster Response

Level 3 Advanced Sawyer Training - Highlands Disaster Response

2026 v5 - 23 pages

The Advanced Sawyer Training is a twofold development pathway—forming both highly skilled technicians and godly, faithful leaders. This training equips sawyers to shepherd their teams with love-centered leadership, modeling honor, empowerment, and vision in high-pressure disaster environments. At the same time, it prepares them to execute some of the most complex and safety-critical tasks a sawyer may face, including directional felling of standing trees, advanced hinge and back-cut techniques, wedge lift calculations, and rope-assisted operations. The goal is not only technical excellence, but the multiplication of servant-leaders who can safely lead teams while demonstrating the hope of Christ in the field.

Training & Safety

Disaster Response Operations

Disaster Response Leaders

Muck-Out & Flood Cleanup Volunteer Field Guide

Muck-Out & Flood Cleanup Volunteer Field Guide

2026-08-20 v1.4

Our Muck-Out & Flood Cleanup Volunteer Field Guide provides practical safety, cleanup, debris handling, drying, mold-prevention, PPE, and tool guidance for volunteer teams helping homeowners recover after residential flooding.

Church Leadership

Training & Safety

Disaster Response Operations

Disaster Response Property Assessment Form

Disaster Response Property Assessment Form

2026-08-20 v1.5

Our Disaster Response Property Assessment is a two-page field assessment form designed to help disaster-response teams document property conditions, identify safety hazards, determine work needs, estimate volunteer and equipment requirements, and prepare a property for appropriate crew assignment.

General Resources

Disaster Response Operations

Nonprofits & Community Organizations

Property Owner Agreement including Release and Waiver Example

Property Owner Agreement including Release and Waiver Example

2022-09-26 v1

A sample agreement for churches and disaster response organizations providing volunteer services on private property. It addresses property-owner authorization, assumption of risk, liability release, insurance, photography consent, property interests, indemnification, and disaster-related information sharing.

Legal & Risk Management

Pastors & Church Leaders

Ministry & Outreach Leaders

Minor Agreement & Waiver for Disaster Response Teams

Minor Agreement & Waiver for Disaster Response Teams

2022-08-31 v1

A sample parent or guardian agreement for minors serving with outreach and disaster response teams, including permission, risk, liability, medical consent, and photography provisions.

Church Leadership

Volunteer Management

Training & Safety

Adult Agreement & Waiver for Disaster Response Teams

Adult Agreement & Waiver for Disaster Response Teams

2022-08-31 v1

A sample adult volunteer agreement addressing risks, liability, medical consent, photography, and other considerations for volunteers serving in outreach and disaster response operations.

Church Leadership

Volunteer Management

Legal & Risk Management