Disaster Response

Providing Chainsaw Training

LCMS Disaster Response equips LERT volunteers with chainsaw skills so they can better serve after a disaster.

Photography by Erik M. Lunsford

Following a natural disaster, people with chainsaw skills are in high demand. There are often trees that have fallen or been damaged that need to be cleared before other work can begin.

That’s why LCMS Disaster Response wants to equip Lutheran Early Response Team (LERT) members to provide this service safely and efficiently. For those volunteers who have completed LERT basic training and want to learn more, LCMS Disaster Response periodically organizes special chainsaw training sessions. This training covers personal protective equipment, injury prevention, how to buck and limb fallen trees, and more.

In 2021, LCMS Disaster Response produced a comprehensive manual for its chainsaw operators. The manual, which was primarily written by Joel Mathews of Mercy in Action Disaster Resources, based in High Springs, Fla., covers everything from chainsaw safety and maintenance, to how to use a chainsaw, to how to train and organize a LERT group.

“This chainsaw training serves to increase our dedicated volunteers’ capabilities and give them added capacity to extend mercy to those who haven’t the means or skills to perform this dangerous work in their communities,” said the Rev. Robert Wurst Jr., LERT volunteer manager for the LCMS, in a 2020 article about a “train the chainsaw trainer” event held at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Panama City, Fla. “LCMS Disaster Response is working to support our volunteers in the many ways they serve with Christ’s love.”

LCMS Disaster Response is an important part of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s efforts to bring the love and mercy of Christ to those in need. LCMS Disaster Response is funded through the generosity of contributors who give specifically to this work.

Learn More

Lutherans Engage article: Chainsaw Training Helps LERT Volunteers Share the Gospel After Disaster

Learn about upcoming trainings and deployments on the LERT website