Team up! It takes more than one person to make a Guest at Your Table
program a success. Have a team leader, and share the tasks. The UUSC
Local Representative can be responsible for communicating with the
church through articles and announcements. The minister can
coordinate the Guest at Your Table worship service, while the
director or minister of religious education can work with the RE
teachers to make Guest a memorable experience for children. Be sure
to talk with your youth leaders about how to make Guest special for
youth and young adults, too. In many churches, the church
administrator works with the UUSC Local Rep to collect the Guest
boxes and complete the Tally Sheet.
When working together to organize Guest at Your Table, be clear
about your purpose. Guest at Your Table is an opportunity to begin
the congregation’s connections to UUSC, which can blossom throughout
the year. It’s an opportunity to introduce projects to the
community. You can develop deeper connections and real involvement
throughout the year. UUSC can help with resources such as
eWire, the
Human Rights Defenders action list, and our annual
Justice Sunday.
Be creative! While it can feel very efficient to have a regular
program that you follow each year, some surprises can be very
important for keeping the community engaged and involved. It’s good
to try new things each year. UUSC can help. The other sections in
this web page are full of ideas tested by UU congregations.
Easy ways to increase your Guest at
Your Table totals
Celebrate! Guest at Your Table is an opportunity to celebrate
the awards your congregation has been honored with for your levels
of UUSC membership and giving. Include your awards in your
presentations and articles about your Guest at Your Table program,
as you encourage members to help build an even stronger support base
for UUSC.
Round up! Encourage all of the members of your congregation
to round up their Guest donations to the nearest dollar. Fifty cents
might not seem like much of an increase, but when every household in
your congregation rounds up 50 cents, it makes a huge difference.
Imagine if every household in each of the hundreds of congregations
participating in Guest at Your Table did the same!
Earmark your
collections for Guest at Your Table either on one Sunday, or for a
whole month.
Help everyone become a member. Consider helping to spread the
memberships. Has one family given a donation that could be enough
for their membership and to purchase a membership for a child, youth
or friend?
Set goals
Some congregations set donation goals for each RE class. They tie
the goals to different things the children like to spend their money
on. Create a reward system for the class or classes that give or
raise the most for their Guests.
Tie donation goals to things we might take for granted, things that
many people struggling for basic human rights must work hard to
have:
- Healthy, regular meals
- Medicine
- New clothes
- Technology: computer, stereo, TV, microwave, cable, Internet
- Utilities: water, electricity, heat
- School supplies
- Entertainment: CDs, concerts, museums, zoos
Send personal thank you notes to each contributor, plus give
recognition in your newsletter.
Order materials in time for your program
Please be sure to order your materials no later than four weeks
before your planned date of Guest box distribution. You are welcome
to contact UUSC at orders@uusc.org to ask about the status of
your materials order. Materials and shipping are free of charge.
UUSC will ask that congregations pay for rush shipments.
For your congregation's website:
- Post a variety of readings and quotes.
- Provide specifics on how Guest money can be used.
- Include short announcements and newsletter articles.
- Remind people that checks must be made out to "UUSC".
How to use the "I had a Guest at my table" stickers:
- Hand them out to children at the opening and/or closing service(s).
- Stick them on people's clothes when they hand in their box.
- Put them on the Order of Service at closing of in-gathering.
- Use them to creatively decorate your Guest box display.
- Use them for your Guest at Your Table/UUSC membership thermometer
(you can find more on this later in this document).
- Use them on a world map to designate where your Guest donations
will make a difference.
If your congregation has come to see you as "The UUSC"
- Allow others who are passionate about social justice and about
UUSC to speak on behalf of the organization, especially while
running the program.
- Connect stories to what your congregation is really doing for social
justice.
- Open and close the program at a time that best suits your
congregation.
- Most congregations find best results when they hand out boxes before
Thanksgiving, and collect them after January 1.
