Watch party resources
What’s a Watch Party? An opportunity to invite your circuit (and congregation) to watch the livestreamed opening and closing service with you.
We’re giving you ideas and guidelines, but how your party looks is ultimately up to you. Use some of the ideas, all of the ideas, or come up with your own ideas. Keep in mind this is a time to celebrate, to introduce LWMS Convention (and mission work) to those who may never have been able to attend a convention, and to gather with those who are regular convention attendees. All are invited!
Because of our current circumstances, we have come up with ideas for you for a Plan A, B, and C. However, these various versions of a watch party can also happen simultaneously, or some may not be able to happen at all, depending upon your region’s current social distancing guidelines. We encourage you to go ahead and plan a full-on party understanding that you may have to switch plans or scale back a bit. Please make certain you are abiding by your local government’s COVID-19 guidelines. By doing so we obey our Lord’s command to respect those he puts over us, and in our concern for keeping everyone safe, we serve each other.
All of these ideas will work for the opening watch party intended to happen at the LWMS circuit level, as well as for planning the closing watch party to be hosted by LWMS reporters for their own congregation members.
Taste and See Watch Party – Plan A
Opening Service June 27 – 11 a.m. CT (circuit officers host)
Closing Service July 11 – 6 p.m. CT (reporters host)
To gather together as a circuit to watch the opening service livestream, we suggest choosing a congregation that has the largest facility in your circuit in order to make social distancing easier. If you are a wide-spread circuit (travel time over an hour required), you may want to consider two or three centrally located congregations.
Keep apprised of social distancing requirements and plan accordingly. You may need to prepare your venue a few days before your party since this may require arranging tables far enough apart and setting up chairs for fewer people at each table, putting tape on the floor to mark proper social distancing space, and posting signs to help people remember to keep their distance.
Test your venue’s internet capabilities. Make sure you have everything you need to connect to the Taste and See website and you are able to connect to all the links. Need help with that? Find a tech savvy person to help you. It’s a great way to invite someone new to get involved.
This is a party (not a business meeting)! Plan to decorate and have food. What’s a party without food? Food could be continental breakfast, brunch, or lunch before or after the service, or a potluck. It’s totally your call and dependent upon your time zone! Be creative, but keep it simple and fun!
Set up displays for Befriend A Mission, Send One Sister, and circuit and international mission projects. This is one more opportunity to introduce people who may not be involved with LWMS to what we do.
Provide a “Playbill” of the Taste and See activities that will happen during the next two weeks after opening service.
This is a fantastic opportunity to invite ALL women & even men in your congregations to “taste and see” what LWMS and WELS Missions is all about. Invite them all! As soon as possible, e-mail the “save the date” jpg, available for download on this webpage, to your LWMS circuit reporters and ask them to share it with their congregation also via e-mail. Once you have your location and time set for the opening service watch party, e-mail the watch party pass invitation to your circuit congregations. Download the jpg, drop it into a Word or Pages document and add a text box indicating where the party will be held and at what time. Save it as a PDF and e-mail to your guest list.
Taste and See Watch Party – Plan B
Your local government’s COVID-19 guidelines may require that you can gather in small groups only. You may have to get a little creative depending upon that maximum number. With this version of a watch party, circuit officers and reporters each host a small group at their church or in their home with a few friends and family.
Remember this is a party! Food, decorations, and displays will make it festive. Get others to help you with this. Decorate with an LWMS and Missions focus. Think of all the countries and cultures in which we have missions as a creative springboard. Keep the focus simple and fun. Don’t stress about doing something grandiose.
Taste and See Watch Party – Plan C
Opening Service June 27 – 11 a.m. CT (circuit officers host)
Closing Service July 11 – 6 p.m. CT (reporters host)
Some of us may live in regions with strict Safe-at-Home guidelines still in place and may have to create a virtual watch party. This plan is a great stand-alone option where necessary or can be added to your Plan A or B parties for those who are not able to physically attend your party.
What is a virtual watch party? Facebook offers a Watch Party feature that allows its users to simultaneously watch Facebook videos together. Their streams are synced so that people can comment and react in real-time. You can create a Facebook Watch Party from your News Feed or timeline, in a group, on a page, or from any video you’re watching (but you’ll need to be an administrator or editor to start a Watch Party on a business page).
Create a Facebook post to let people know that you are hosting a Watch Party. See below: “Create a Watch Party Facebook Event.”
You could arrange to have a Zoom video conference following the services to talk about the upcoming Taste and See events. Send that link ahead of time via email to the people with whom you want to Zoom after each service.
Plan a give-away by asking the virtual watch party attendees to post on your Facebook wall their favorite part of opening service. Put all the names in a drawing. The winner gets sent the gift. There are lots of great gift ideas in the LWMS resource catalog on the website. (lwms.org)
Creating a Watch Party Facebook Event
Creating a Facebook Event will invite people from your list of friends to your upcoming Watch Party event whether it will be only virtual or in person. You can do this through your personal profile or your circuit page if you are an administrator for the page. All who are invited can respond with, “interested, maybe going, or going.
- Go to “Events.”
- Click “Create Event.”
- Select public or private.
- Add details:
- Event Name: LWMS Opening Service Watch Party.
- Event Type: Will this take place on line or in person?
- Event Format: If online event is selected, a link to the Taste and See webpage can be posted.
- Location: Online or add a church address if in person.
- Description: Remember this is a PARTY not a business meeting.
- Set start and end times.
Starting a Facebook Watch Party
From your personal news feed, profile, or a page you administer:
- Select the three dots (…) on the lower right side of the post block and from the menu click on the Watch Party option.
- In the search bar that pops up to add a video. You’ll want to search “Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society (LWMS)” and select the livestreaming video.
- Click “Done.”
- Add a fun post to share, then click “Post.”
- You’ll see a message that says “Your Watch Party Is About To Begin.”
- Once you’re in the Watch Party, you can add friends to watch with you.
From a group:
From your News Feed, click Groups in the menu and select your group.
- Click Write Post at the top of the group, then click Watch Party.
- Click Add Video to search for an additional video to add, or click a category. You can also click Add to Queue next to any videos to add to your Watch Party.
- To add group members to your Watch Party, type their name and click Invite. Any people you invite will receive a notification that they’ve been invited to join. When someone joins, you’ll see their profile picture in the bottom left of your screen.
Taste + See
This first-of-its-kind event will combine the very best of Taste of Missions and LWMS Convention to provide all WELS members an opportunity to be an important part of gospel outreach occurring in our synod.
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