Training

Preparing hearts and hands to serve with understanding and compassion.

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When crisis strikes, training makes the difference.

Crisis doesn’t wait for the right time. It can hit a neighborhood, workplace, or family without warning. Christ In Action training equips everyday people—pastors, leaders, and volunteers—to step in with confidence, skill, and compassion, offering the “emotional first-aid” that brings hope in the midst of trauma.

Cross and heart icon representing Christ In Action’s focus on equipping volunteers to respond to crisis with calm and confidence.

Confidence to Respond

Step in with calm and clarity when crisis hits.

Praying hands icon symbolizing the spiritual encouragement and hope volunteers bring to people in crisis.

Spiritual Encouragement

Bring Christ’s love and hope into hard moments.

Church building icon representing families, churches, and leaders prepared through Christ In Action training to meet needs during disaster recovery.

Prepared Communities

Families, churches, and leaders equipped to meet needs.

Radiant cross icon illustrating Christ In Action’s mission to multiply impact by equipping believers to share the gospel wherever they serve.

Multiplied Mission

Equipping believers to share the gospel wherever they are.

Training not only prepares — it multiplies the mission.

Faith-Based First Responders logo featuring distressed black typography within an octagon, representing Christ In Action’s national training program equipping believers to serve with compassion and competence in crisis.

Faith-Based
First Responders Training

In times of crisis, the Church is called to be the first to bring hope. Christ In Action’s Faith-Based First Responders (FBFR) program was created to equip believers to answer that call—uniting churches and individuals across denominational lines to serve with both compassion and competence wherever disaster strikes.

Born out of a 2006 request from the White House to mobilize faith-based responders nationwide, FBFR has grown into a powerful movement of trained volunteers who embody the love of Christ in action.

Through nationally recognized courses, participants learn how to meet physical, emotional, and spiritual needs when communities are at their most vulnerable—offering presence, prayer, and practical help that remind survivors they are not alone.

Christ In Action volunteers comforting a woman during crisis response, showing compassion and emotional support through faith-based disaster relief training.

FBFR: Equipping You for Crisis Response

Christ In Action’s training is internationally recognized and biblically grounded, equipping everyday people to meet crisis with both skill and compassion. Each course builds confidence and spiritual strength, preparing pastors, church leaders, and volunteers to offer what we call “emotional first-aid.” Together, these courses form a pathway that prepares and multiplies responders for ministry in the hardest moments.

  • Be ready when a crisis strikes.This one-day seminar equips you to respond with confidence and compassion—helping you prepare, mobilize, and serve your community when it matters most.

    View Upcoming Trainings →

  • Learn how to support others through life’s hardest moments. This two-day course provides practical tools for offering emotional care, restoring stability, and fostering hope.

    Serves as one of the prerequisites for the Chaplain Commissioning Program (CCP).

    View Upcoming Trainings →

  • Strengthen your ability to care for others in times of crisis. This two-day course blends pastoral care and crisis intervention to help you offer spiritual guidance and emotional stability when it’s needed most.

    Serves as one of the prerequisites for the Chaplain Commissioning Program (CCP).

    Prerequisites: Level I.

    Request Upcoming Dates →

  • Step into lay chaplaincy. This two-day accelerated course introduces the heart and practice of chaplaincy—equipping you to offer presence, prayer, and pastoral care in churches, communities, and on deployment.

    Serves as one of the prerequisites for the Chaplain Commissioning Program (CCP).

    Prerequisites: Level I and II.

    Request Upcoming Dates →

Note: Training is encouraged but not required to serve with Christ In Action. Volunteers are always welcome to join us on deployment or at headquarters.

What to Expect at a Training

From preparedness to chaplaincy, every course equips you to serve with skill and share the hope of Christ.

Instructor teaching icon representing Christ In Action’s Christ-centered trainers who equip volunteers through engaging, real-world instruction.

Engaging Instruction

Learn from certified, Christ-centered trainers with decades of real-world experience.

Hands and lightbulb icon symbolizing the practical skills and real-life role-play exercises volunteers practice in Christ In Action training.

Practical Skills

Practice role-plays and scenarios that prepare you for real-life crisis moments.

Bible and cross icon illustrating Christ In Action’s biblical foundation, equipping volunteers to bring Christ’s love into crisis situations.

Biblical Foundation

Every lesson is rooted in Scripture, equipping you to bring Christ’s love into hard places.

Certification ribbon icon showing that Christ In Action training provides nationally recognized credentials trusted by ministries and communities.

Recognized Certification

Walk away with nationally recognized tools trusted across communities and ministries.

Every training is an opportunity to grow in skill and spiritual strength. Be ready before crisis strikes.

UPCOMING TRAININGS & EVENTS

  • Christ In Action team member in a red sweatshirt taking notes at a desk during a ministry event, with a whiteboard in the background labeled “Camp Hope.”

    Christ In Action Midwest Base Launch Event

    October 23, 2025 | Eau Claire, WI

    7:00 PM CT

    Celebrate the launch of Christ In Action’s Midwest Base. Join us for fellowship and hear how God is moving through CIA to bring hope across America.

    Info & Registration
  • Instructor in a red shirt teaching a Christ In Action training session to a classroom of volunteers seated at tables.

    Level I: Assisting Individuals in Crisis (AIC)

    October 24-25, 2025 | Eau Claire, WI

    8:30AM - 4:00PM CT (8:00AM Check-in)

    Learn the fundamentals of “emotional first-aid.” This interactive two-day course equips participants with proven techniques for crisis communication, intervention, and care using the SAFER-R model.

    INFO & REGISTRATION
  • Christ In Action instructor in a red shirt talking with participants during a Disaster Preparedness Seminar classroom session.

    Disaster Preparedness Seminar (DPS)

    November 1, 2025 | Ellsworth, ME

    8:30AM - 4:00PM CT (8:00AM Check-in)

    Be ready before crisis hits. Learn how to care for your family, prepare your church, and create a plan to serve your community when disaster strikes.

    INFO & REGISTRATION
  • Christ In Action instructor in a red shirt talking with participants during a Disaster Preparedness Seminar classroom session.

    Disaster Preparedness Seminar (DPS)

    January 31, 2026 | St. Louis, MO

    8:30AM - 4:00PM CT (8:00AM Check-in)

    Be ready before crisis hits. Learn how to care for your family, prepare your church, and create a plan to serve your community when disaster strikes.

    Info & Registration
  • Instructor in a red shirt teaching a Christ In Action training session to a classroom of volunteers seated at tables.

    Level I: Assisting Individuals in Crisis (AIC)

    March 20-21, 2026 | St. Louis, MO

    8:30AM - 4:00PM EST (8:00AM Check-in)

    Learn the fundamentals of “emotional first-aid.” This interactive two-day course equips participants with proven techniques for crisis communication, intervention, and care using the SAFER-R model.

    Info & Registration
  • Instructor in a red shirt teaching a Christ In Action training session to a classroom of volunteers seated at tables.

    Level I: Assisting Individuals in Crisis (AIC)

    June 5-6, 2026 | Reading, PA

    8:30AM - 4:00PM EST (8:00AM Check-in)

    Learn the fundamentals of “emotional first-aid.” This interactive two-day course equips participants with proven techniques for crisis communication, intervention, and care using the SAFER-R model.

    Info & Registration

“So that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

– 2 Timothy 3:17

3 Simple Steps to Get Trained

Training is simple, practical, and designed to prepare you for real-life ministry.

Step 1

Choose Your Course

Pick the training that fits your season — whether it’s preparedness, crisis intervention, or chaplaincy.

Step 2

Get Equipped

Attend a 1–2 day course packed with practical skills, biblical insight, and hands-on application.

Step 3

Put It Into Action

Use what you’ve learned to care for neighbors, serve your church, and bring hope on deployments.

See Upcoming Trainings

The Impact of Training

  • Portrait of Gloria Harding, business owner from Haymarket, VA, who shares how Christ In Action training helped her team respond with compassion after COVID.

    "Christ In Action’s training for our Tranquility Day Spa team was truly a game-changer after COVID. The skills and insight we gained helped us better understand how to respond with compassion in every situation."

    — Gloria Harding, Business Owner, Haymarket, VA

  • Portrait of Lori Warfel, school teacher from Lancaster, PA, who says Christ In Action’s training prepared her to respond with confidence and care in daily life.

    "This training is by far the most practical, helpful training that I have ever received. As a teacher, a soccer coach, and just as a friend and neighbor, I have unexpectedly found myself in many conversations when I needed to use this training. This training has allowed me to be ready at any moment to confidently and compassionately be the hands and feet of Jesus to help people when they need it most."

    — Lori Warfel, School Teacher, Lancaster, PA

  • Portrait of Rev. Chris Cooper, ministry leader from Charlotte, NC, recognized for his praise of Christ In Action’s training that equips church leaders to serve effectively.

    "CIA’s FBFR equipped and prepared dozens of our leaders and lay leaders. The training and ongoing practice sessions we have, inspire us to be of service once called to deploy. We appreciated the comprehensive training and preparedness from the CIA team."

    — Rev. Chris Cooper, Chief Ministry Officer, The Park Church, Charlotte, NC

  • Portrait of Tammy Bowen, school counselor from Culpeper, VA, reflecting on the impact of Christ In Action’s training in her professional and spiritual growth.

    “The CIA training is hands-down the best training that I have ever attended as a counselor, and it outweighed all the classes that I took in graduate school.”

    — Tammy Bowen, School Counselor, Culpeper, VA

Every Training Multiplies the Mission.

Get equipped to bring Christ’s love into moments of crisis.

VIEW UPCOMING TRAININGS