Instructions for Family Group Leaders
Instructions for Family Group Leaders
Contact your Family Group members:
The Carlisle Church Board originally prepared a Sunday dinner gathering so you could meet one another and choose leaders for your group. The Church Board will also tell you about how we hope you will do some planning to:
- share opportunities and responsibilities for helping with worship during your two months (non-consecutive)
- express care for people in your family group
- arrange other times to gather
Each House Group has a budget for a House Group mailing. Some people on your list will be unable to participate or will not want to participate. It is valuable to simply make contact with people through a phone call or a letter. If, in a phone call, it sounds like someone is quite uninvolved, you could invite them to an upcoming event or special service. You could ask them if they have questions about the life and work of our church. You could ask them if they are receiving the Newsletter. If they seem very disinterested, please contact the Minister for a follow-up contact. If you sense that your contact is ill or burdened in some way, you may ask if they would like to have a visit from the minister. If so, let the Minister know as soon as possible. (Phone: 905-689-8630
or email: minister@carlisleuc.ca)
Organize people to fulfill the monthly responsibilities:
Planning should begin at least a month ahead of time. The House Group Leader is not expected to do the tasks; you are to help organize your Family of volunteers. If someone gets sick and cannot fulfill their volunteer responsibility, they could ask another member of their Family to fill in for them or they should contact their Family Group Leader.
***names of the people offering their time for roles can be printed in the bulletin so please let Janet or Rev. Diane know your plans for the month or each week by Wednesday.
Find another person(s) to be Family Group Leader for the next year:
Family group leadership will be self-generating. Your term of office is up to you. One way of working this out may be to have two Family Group Leaders with one rotating off each year so that there is always one ‘new’ and one ‘experienced’ leader.
Family Group Responsibilities and Opportunities:
- Get to know the members of your family group
- Create a brief biography of each member
- Welcoming Elder on Sunday morning
- Greet and usher on Sunday morning
- Read scripture
- Read “Minute for Mission”
- Light and extinguish the Christ candle
- Prepare or serve communion (usually the first Sunday of the month, Christmas Eve, Easter)
- Host refreshments following worship (make coffee, tea and juice)
- Supply cookies for coffee hour
- Host a congregational monthly luncheon
- Offer to help decorate the sanctuary for seasonal worship
- Operate the laptop and projector during worship
Other Ways Your Family Group might contribute:
- Visit or send a card to say “hi” to those in your Family Group who are unable to come out to church or who are experiencing illness or bereavement
- Drive someone to church
- Think of a way to get to know the children or youth on your list
- Offer to do something on the Property or caretaker’s “to do” list
- Plan a social gathering, i.e. a pot luck supper
- Find a way to recognize and say ‘thank you’ to someone at the church
- Send group news to be included on the church website or newsletter
- Offer to provide snacks for a youth/confirmation/children’s activity
- Imagine possibilities and act on them!
***two Family Groups may wish to work together on a special project