Upload and Review Church Procedures

Use Procedures for the policies and response playbooks your security team needs during training and active service.

Upload only procedures that have been reviewed and approved by the appropriate church leadership, legal counsel, insurer, or governing authority.

Format a DOCX for chapters and navigation

Vigilant uses the semantic heading styles stored in the DOCX—not the text’s visual size or bold formatting—to build the procedure’s Contents panel. Apply Microsoft Word’s built-in styles consistently before uploading.

1. Open the document in Microsoft Word and open the Styles gallery or Styles pane.
2. Apply Heading 1 to every major chapter, such as Emergency Response, Medical Response, Communications, or Evacuation.
3. Apply Heading 2 to the main sections within each chapter, such as Initial Actions, Team Assignments, or Notifications.
4. Apply Heading 3 to subsections that need another level, such as Officer Responsibilities or Radio Message Format.
5. Apply the Normal style to instructions and body paragraphs. Use Word’s actual numbered-list and bulleted-list controls for steps and checklists.
6. Give every Heading 1–3 a short, descriptive, unique name. Repeated heading names can create duplicate navigation targets.
7. Review the Navigation pane in Word and confirm that chapters and sections appear in the intended order without skipped heading levels.

Only Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3 are included in Vigilant’s Contents panel. Heading 4–6 remain visible in the document but are not navigation entries. Making text larger, bold, or underlined does not turn it into a chapter.

Recommended chapter structure

• Document title: Emergency Response Manual. The separate Title entered during upload is what team members see in the Procedures library.
• Heading 1: Chapter 1 — Medical Emergency
• Heading 2: Initial Response
• Heading 3: First Responder Actions
• Normal: The instructions, responsibilities, and response steps for that subsection.

How the procedure viewer uses headings

• Heading 1 becomes a top-level chapter. Heading 2 is indented beneath it, and Heading 3 is indented one level farther.
• On wider screens, users can select an entry in Contents to move directly to that section.
• On smaller screens, the Contents sidebar is hidden, but the same heading hierarchy remains visible as users read the document.

Use conversion-friendly formatting

• Keep all essential instructions in the main document body. Avoid relying on headers, footers, floating text boxes, SmartArt, or decorative shapes for critical information.
• Use simple tables with clear header rows. Complex borders, merged layouts, and exact page positioning may not look the same after conversion.
• Create real Word hyperlinks instead of pasting unlinked URLs.
• Place images inline, compress large images, and add Word alternative text when an image communicates instructions.
• Use the same chapter pattern throughout the document so team members can scan procedures quickly during an incident.

Vigilant converts the DOCX into clean, responsive content. Exact fonts, colors, page breaks, margins, and other print-layout details may not be reproduced. Prioritize headings, lists, tables, links, and readable body text.

Check the file before upload

• Save the final file as .docx. Older .doc files are not accepted.
• Keep the file at or below 10 MB.
• Choose a clear upload Title that tells team members when to use the procedure.
• Confirm every intended chapter uses Heading 1 and every intended nested navigation entry uses Heading 2 or Heading 3.

Upload a procedure

1. Open Church Admin and find Procedures under Configurations & Tools.
2. Select Upload.
3. Enter the procedure Title.
4. Choose the approved file from your device.
5. Select Upload Procedure and wait for the upload to finish.
6. Select View All or open Procedures from the navigation.
7. Search for the Title and open the procedure. On a wider screen, confirm Contents lists every Heading 1–3 in the correct hierarchy. Select several entries and verify that each moves to the intended chapter or section.

Confirm access

• Confirm the roles that need procedures have permission to view them.
• Limit upload and deletion permissions to the leaders responsible for maintaining approved documents.
• Record a review cadence and replace outdated versions promptly.