Derek and I (Malcolm) and a number of other people have been having fun figuring out what our new Community Suppers might look like. Here’s what we’ve got planned so far.
DATES: The first Community Supper will be on Friday, October 6 and the second will be on Saturday, November 11. These will usually be on Friday evenings but not always. Put these dates in your calendar and cancel anything that might conflict. 😊
TIMING: We’re still debating the exact timing but it will probably be something like this: doors open at 5:30 pm; formal program starts at 6:00 pm; eating supper, listening to speakers, having conversations, and eating dessert until the formal program ends promptly at 8:00 pm; after that, plenty of time for jolly, informal hanging out for those that choose to linger.
ROOM LAYOUT: We’re planning on having long, rectangular tables, running from the back of Heilman Hall up to the stage. This means that everyone can sit with the people they came with and also be together at the same table with a larger group.
FOOD: Bring your own supper -- then we don’t have to worry about over-catering or under-catering, and people can manage their own food preferences and sensitivities. If you’d like to bring enough supper to share with others around you, that’s great but it’s not required. We would encourage people to bring a dessert to share. The church will provide some desserts, and coffee, water, and paper goods). BYOB.
CHILDCARE: For the October Community Supper, we are inviting people in 7th Grade and up to attend. We will not be providing childcare for this first supper. We would love to have as many parents attend as possible. We are happy to contribute $20 towards babysitting costs; please let us know if you would like help with that. In the future, we may be able to provide childcare for certain age groups. We might have one of the Community Suppers in a year be an all-ages supper. Stay tuned and let us know what you would like or, even better, let us know what you would like to be part of helping to make happen.
TOPICS AND SPEAKERS: We will have a wide range of topics and speakers at these Community Suppers to encourage thought-provoking, useful, and connecting conversations. The topic for the October Community Supper is “Artificial Intelligence from a New Church Perspective.” One of the things we’d like to do with these suppers is have people think about the topics in advance and send us any questions they have about the topic so that the speakers can address those questions, if they’d like. Please email us any questions you have about artificial intelligence from a New Church perspective.
If you’ve got thoughts, questions, or suggestions about any of this, please email derek.elphick@brynathynchurch.org.