Hello again. Thank you for all of the great suggestions for evening programming on my last post! I’ve had a couple people in my local community recommend organizing a series of talks around creating a mutual aid network of some sort. The truth is that I am very new to this concept. I am curious if any of your congregations have organized mutual aid groups or efforts in your community, and what that looked like? Just trying to brainstorm right now. Thank you!

Hi everyone! I have been asked by my congregation to help vision and lead an evening fellowship program. Our congregation is comprised of mostly older folks, and therefore a lot of the fellowship programs happen during the day.

The main goal of an evening program, as I have interpreted it, is to act as a stepping stone for families/working people in the community who may be potentially interested in the UU church, but may be hesitant for one reason or another to attend a service. I lead a lot of community programming in my personal life and for my work, but I’m trying to come up with a way to not only make this appealing to younger people, but am also trying to reflect on what sort of social gathering is needed right now?

I do think people are seeking connection in a safe place. What will draw in those seeking a progressive and thoughtful spiritual community? It seems wrong to think of it from an ‘advertising’ point of view, but there’s a lot to compete with. People already have a lot on their plates, what sort of evening activity would offer something unique or different from what they may find elsewhere? I’m not trying to complicate something simple, but would love to hear some of your thoughts.