Crisis Response: Lessons from Asheville Christian
When organizations face seasons of uncertainty, disruption, or loss, effective crisis response is neither accidental nor purely reactive. It is shaped long before a crisis arrives and revealed most clearly when the unthinkable becomes reality. Over the past several years, Asheville Christian Academy has learned—sometimes painfully and sometimes profoundly—that faithful crisis leadership rests on three foundational commitments: Posture, People, and Preparation.
- Posture shapes how we see the moment we are in.
- People remind us why our response matters in the first place.
- Preparation determines how well we are able to respond when clarity is scarce and pressure is high.
Together, these three commitments form a framework for crisis response that is steady, faithful, and wise—one that seeks to honor God, safeguard mission, and serve others well when disruption interrupts normal life and familiar plans fall away.
Posture
Being prepared for the unthinkable is, at its core, a posture. It is not a posture of arrogance or self-reliance, but one of humility, dependence on God, and a clear understanding of mission and calling. Crisis has a way of clarifying what is truly essential and revealing where our confidence has quietly drifted from trust in God to trust in our own competence.
Over the past twenty-four months, Asheville Christian Academy has walked through an uncommon concentration of disruption and loss: a natural disaster that reshaped campus and community, legal challenges requiring precision and discretion, unexpected leadership transitions, the death of a recent alumnus, the loss of a beloved employee, and an unexpected fire in a perimeter building. Individually, each of these circumstances would have been significant. Together, they formed a season that demanded restraint over reaction, clarity over emotion, and resolve over fear.
These experiences underscored a critical truth: crisis rarely arrives in a single form. More often, it comes through multiple doors—environmental, operational, organizational, and always deeply personal.
In the summer of 2024, before there was any sense of what lay ahead, the leadership team updated the school tagline to “Christ in Everything.” At the time, the change felt intentional but modest. In hindsight, it has proven to be God-appointed. That simple statement became a theological anchor for how the community would walk through each crisis. Faculty, staff, and leaders quickly embraced it, integrating the phrase not only into their work, but into their personal ministry within the school. With a simple shift in focus came a profound shift in the posture of their hearts.
In seasons of crisis, when events move beyond our control, the first and most faithful response is not action but humility. Humbling ourselves before God and renewing our dependence on Him becomes essential. Viewing circumstances through a Christ-centered lens does not deny the weight of heavy moments; rather, it acknowledges them without surrendering to fear or reactivity, because hearts have already surrendered to the sovereignty of Christ.
People
One of the clearest lessons learned through crisis at Asheville Christian Academy is this: people matter most. Buildings can be repaired. Schedules can be rewritten. Strategic plans can be revised. But the heart of a school is its people—and in the wake of Hurricane Helene, that truth became unmistakably clear.
In the immediate aftermath of the storm, as soon as a few leaders were able to reach campus, the priority was not facilities, academics, or logistics. Attention turned first to accounting for people—beginning with every member of the faculty and staff, and then every one of the school’s families. The devastation Helene brought to the region was evident, and the greatest concern was not what had been damaged, but who might be hurting.
Through a variety of communication channels and countless hours of coordination, the team was able to confirm the wellbeing of 100% of faculty, staff, and families within four days of the disaster. While there was deep gratitude that there were no life-threatening injuries within the community, it quickly became apparent that many had suffered significant loss: homes damaged or destroyed, vehicles lost, personal belongings gone, and lives deeply disrupted.
In response, a core team formed with a singular purpose: to help anyone in need. In the early weeks that followed, and through God’s provision, the community witnessed extraordinary acts of care. Homes were found for those without shelter. Vehicles were secured for those who had lost transportation. Immediate personal needs were met for families starting over. None of this happened because of policies or systems alone; it happened through the sacrificial generosity of people within the community who stepped forward without hesitation.
Even more humbling was the response from beyond Asheville Christian’s walls. Support poured in from across the country and around the world. From schools—many within the CESA community—the academy received significant direct support, including more than $550,000 in financial gifts. North Carolina sister schools, in particular, came alongside not only financially but physically: sending teams, bringing food, and showing up at temporary campuses. Their presence lifted the spirits of teachers working tirelessly in displaced classrooms and was a tangible reminder that the school was not alone.
Crisis has a way of stripping away what is secondary and revealing what is foundational. For Asheville Christian Academy, God’s favor was often expressed not through immediate answers, but through people—sent at the right time, with the right resources, and the right encouragement.
Preparation
Much of leadership is preparation—preparation for initiatives leaders pray will flourish, and preparation for crises they pray will never occur. Preparation can give confidence, and sometimes even a false sense of security, until reality unfolds in ways no plan could have fully anticipated.
By mid-morning on September 27, the team knew there would be some impact to the riverside campus. What they could not imagine, especially with communication cut off, was the extent of what had occurred. On September 28, when the head of school was finally able to pick up three colleagues and make their way to campus, the devastation across the region became clear. There was no cell service, no landlines, no power, and no passable roads in large portions of western North Carolina. In that moment, many carefully constructed plans slipped quickly through their fingers.
Unsure of what to do next, the group did what God’s people should always do first: they gathered to pray for wisdom, peace, protection, and for their people. As prayer concluded and they began to assess the damage, an older gentleman in a safety vest approached, introduced himself as Mike, and simply said, “I’m here to help.” He represented a commercial remediation company staged outside the disaster zone to respond immediately. He walked the buildings, offered safety guidance and practical advice, and even suggested what to say to other vendors if the school chose not to move forward with them.
After walking every flooded building and the destroyed athletic facilities, it became clear that waiting was not an option. There was no way to deliberate, no way to contact the Board, and no ability to obtain traditional bids. Local contractors were devastated themselves, and communication remained impossible. The decision was made to begin remediation immediately.
Ordinarily, an executive team would not act so quickly—essentially committing to a multimillion-dollar effort with no clear end in sight. Yet what followed confirmed God’s provision. Within a week, the campus architect arrived. Shortly thereafter, a rebuild contract was in place. Less than three weeks after the storm, every piece of drywall needed for reconstruction arrived on campus—even before power and water were fully restored. Academic committees, rebuild committees, trusted vendors—people kept showing up, each at the right moment, with the right expertise.
One hundred and one days later, the school community came home—battle weary, scarred, and grateful, yet deeply dependent on the Heavenly Father.
So how do you measure the success of preparation for something you could never have imagined? Not by the strength of the plan, but by the strength of relationships, both vertical and horizontal. Any plan, whether for growth or crisis response, must be formed with a clear understanding of dependence on God and on His people.
Holding Loosely in Crisis
In the wake of what Asheville Christian has experienced—loss layered upon loss, uncertainty following stability, and moments when plans were rendered powerless—the community has been reminded of a hard but holy truth: everything gripped most tightly is often what the Lord asks us to place back into His hands.
The invitation to fellow leaders and friends is simple: Hold loosely. Hold loosely to outcomes, timelines, buildings, budgets, reputations, and even well-crafted plans. Not because these things do not matter—they do—but because they were never meant to be ultimate. Faithfulness does not guarantee predictability. Instead, faithfulness is often learned most deeply when certainty is removed.
And in that place of surrender, Asheville Christian Academy has found not loss, but grace.
Dr. Jason Putnam serves as Head of School at Asheville Christian Academy, where he has been part of the community for over twelve years. Before his appointment in 2024, he spent a decade as Chief Financial Officer, guiding strategic initiatives in finance, operations, and governance. With more than twenty-five years of nonprofit leadership experience—including service alongside Rev. Dr. Billy Graham—Dr. Putnam brings a deep commitment to mission-aligned stewardship and organizational health. He holds degrees from UNC Asheville, Western Carolina University, and Liberty University, and is a SHRM-SCP and Van Lunen Fellow. A lifelong Asheville resident, he and his wife, Amanda, enjoy life outdoors with their three sons.
Amber Roth is Head of Finance and Operations at Asheville Christian Academy, where she leads financial stewardship, facilities, and organizational management. With over 20 years of experience in property, construction, and operational leadership, she transitioned from the for-profit sector to independent schools nine years ago. Her work focuses on strategic planning, governance, and institutional sustainability. Amber holds degrees in accounting from UNC Asheville and Colorado Christian University and is pursuing a master’s in employment law at Arizona State University