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Hosting an EventConversation & Cuisine events are hosted and organized by the home group itself. However, the home group also receives some help from church administrative staff who have been trained specifically for this ministry. This minimizes the workload for the home group in some key areas. Therefore, this section of the notebook is in two parts: Xenos staff assistance to home groups hosting an
event. Xenos Staff Assisting YouSeveral of the critical variables in hosting a successful event are the same for all home groups. Therefore, we have paid Xenos staff helping with these items so your group can focus on the organization of the event itself. Here are the items our staff will handle for you: Scheduling a discussion facilitator.E-mail us. It's easier this way! Just provide us with 2-3 of your preferred topics along with 2-3 dates and we'll do the phone work to line up a facilitator on a date that works for you. It not only is easier on you, this helps us. All scheduling must be done through our staff to ensure all groups have access to the variety of facilitators. More importantly, we do the much-needed follow-up work after the event. If the group handles the event independently without working with our staff, other groups who have waited longer for that facilitator will be unfairly delayed. Also, our staff is trained to help your group make the most of the event in preparations and in post-event follow-up. You will miss this valuable help if you work alone. Moreover, this ministry is partly funded by the Fiscal Support Team through our General Fund, and as such, is accountable to the church at large as well as the elders. We need to be part of each event to determine whether we are effective or changes need to be made. Post-event follow-upC&C events will not help a home group share God's love or message if you do not continue to develop friendships with the people you have met or invited to these events. Some groups become discouraged after events because they do not build closer friendships with people, somehow believing one night every three or four months should accomplished this. Our staff will be glad to help you “make the most of the opportunity” (Colossians 4:3-6). We have several ideas that we share with the group and with the group's staff consultant to enhance the impact of the event. Ministry AidThis ministry has been too effective over the last 8+ years to let money get in the way. These events can sometimes be a little costly (e.g.. a recent event from our group of 18 people cost us $20 per person. Naturally only home group members pay; we cover the cost of our guests. Add to that a baby sitter for the evening...). This is not a problem for many home groups, but others may find it difficult to do several nice events in a year. The Fiscal Support Team approved a budget item for ministry aid for groups doing events. $50 per event (if the group does two or more in a year) reduces the impact somewhat on the group. We see this as an excellent “investment” along the lines of Luke 16:9. Conversation & Cuisine notebookCertainly, you can come up with your own invitations and menus if you like; we are always looking for more ideas. However, our notebook has enough menus for a group to do an event every three months (many do) for three years without repeating the cuisine. The logistics of organizing an event have also been thought through and followed along easily from this notebook. >> 1 Hosting an Event |
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