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.

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.

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 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.

1. Go to “Events.”
2. Click “Create Event.”
3. Select public or private.
4. 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.

From your personal news feed, profile, or a page you administer:

1. Select the three dots (…) on the lower right side of the post block and from the menu click on the Watch Party option.
2. 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.
3. Click “Done.”
4. Add a fun post to share, then click “Post.”
5. You’ll see a message that says “Your Watch Party Is About To Begin.”
6. 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.

1. Click Write Post at the top of the group, then click Watch Party.
2. 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.
3. 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.