October fills the church calendar — fall festivals, trunk-or-treat in the parking lot, chili cook-offs, hayrides and harvest dinners. These events are some of the best outreach you'll do all year. They also bring more strangers, more kids and more activity onto your property than almost any Sunday morning.
Is the event covered by your church policy?
Most church package policies cover church-sponsored events on your premises, but the details matter. Read for exclusions on hayrides, inflatables, animals, and events held off-site. If you're hosting something unusual — a bounce house, a petting zoo, a tractor-pulled wagon — call your agent before the flyer goes out, not after someone gets hurt.
The exposures that cause claims
- Parking lot trunk-or-treat: moving cars and running children in the same space. Block traffic flow completely before kids arrive.
- Hayrides: falls from wagons and riders on public roads. Use rails, low speeds, a trained adult driver and a second adult on the wagon.
- Inflatables: wind and overcrowding. Require the rental company's certificate naming your church as additional insured and follow their wind limits.
- Food: chili and bake-sale items prepared in home kitchens. Label common allergens and keep hot food hot.
Volunteers and outside groups
Your volunteers are the backbone of every event. Make sure your policy includes volunteers as insureds, and that your abuse prevention policy applies to every volunteer who works with children — including at the festival. If an outside group or vendor runs part of the event, get their certificate of insurance and a signed agreement.
A ten-minute insurance review before your fall events is cheap insurance against a story nobody wants to tell.
This material is for general information only. Coverage depends on the actual policy language, and availability varies by carrier.