SCHOOL of WORSHIP ENRICHMENT (SoWE)

HOST PARISH INFORMATION SHEET 2.0

Your parish is the host for the upcoming SoWE event. This form brings information regarding steps you will need to follow and questions you will need to answer for us at the Worship office. Fill in the tables and answer the questions on pages 1-2 and return to cw@wels.net by the due date listed on the 1.1 Welcome sheet. You can print pages 3-4 and pass these on to the people who may be able to help with those duties in your parish.
		Pages 1-2: To be filled in by pastor
		Page 3: Bulletin announcements
		Page 4: Room / signage information
		Page 5: Food preparation

LODGING IN YOUR AREA
	Please send us information on hotels in your area, especially any that may offer discounts to your parish or WELS members. If you are hosting a large SoWE with people traveling a distance to attend, you may be able to negotiate a special rate. Hotels closer to the church are preferred. 

HOTEL NAME	ADDRESS	PHONE	RATES 	DIRECTIONS TO CHURCH	

					

RESTAURANT INFORMATION (optional if you’re close to lots of options):
NAME	ADDRESS	FOOD TYPE: FAST OR SIT-DOWN	LOCATION FROM CHURCH	

				

HOST PARISH DETAILS
	List the persons helping with the SoWE in your parish. It may be advantageous to assign different hosting duties, such as refreshments and meals to an organization, reproduction of forms to a secretary, room set-up to a janitor or someone familiar with the property. If you do not have a church secretary, consider asking for a volunteer for SoWE details.

NAME	ASSIGNMENTS	PHONE	EMAIL	
	MAIN CONTACT PERSON			
	FOOD PREPARATION			
	ROOMS / SIGNAGE			
	SECRETARY			
	SURVEY TALLYING			

CCLI number:                                                     OneLicense number:                 

HOST PARISH WORSHIP INFORMATION

NOTE: Worship services in the host parish are led by SoWE presenters. Sunday morning worship will be a communion service even if you do not normally offer communion on the SoWE weekend. We will use the new Common Service [Divine Service I from CW: Supplement, and from CW:New Service Settings (CW:NSS)] unless we discover that most attending parishes already use this regularly. 

Please answer the questions below to help us with the service planning process:
•	What is your worship service schedule?
•	What’s the custom for preservice music? (How long? Bells or chimes before welcome or first hymn?)
•	Which version of the Lord’s Prayer do you use? 
•	Does your congregation own the CW boxed hymn accompaniments?
•	Does your congregation own CW: New Service Settings? 
o	If yes, what editions do you have: pew, electronic, accompaniment?
o	If pew edition, how many copies?
o	What songs have the choir and / or congregation sung from the Common Service, and, if the congregation has sung them, how familiar are they? 
•	Does your congregation own CW: Supplement? 
o	If yes, what editions do you have: pew, electronic, accompaniment, guitar?
o	If pew edition, how many copies?
o	What songs have the choir and / or congregation sung from Divine Service I (same as Common Service from CWNSS), and, if the congregation has sung them, how familiar are they? 
•	How much time is needed for receiving the offering? (List time for each Sunday service)
•	How much time is needed for communion distribution? (List time for each Sunday service)
•	If you usually use only 1-2 ministers for distribution, may we increase this to 4 for the SoWE weekend?
•	What's the custom at the closing of your service: no hymn, one stanza, full hymn?
•	What's the postlude custom? (ex. use ushers, length of time)
•	Are Bible classes or Sunday school offered on Sunday mornings? What time do they start?
•	Is it a problem if this service – really a special occasion – runs longer than 70-75 minutes? (Some churches with multiple services have so little parking that they can’t have services overlap too much.)
•	Is a piano available in the church or choir area, or can one be moved there? If you have a balcony, is a piano or electronic keyboard available there? Is a piano also possible in another part of the church, or is there room for one if musicians lead Compline from a front corner of the main floor (or choir area)? 
•	If you have a pipe organ: what is your tuning schedule? Should we consider an extra tuning or touch up tuning before the SoWE? Are piano and organ playable together – in tune with each other?
•	Do you have handbells?
•	Do you have a member who might ask about borrowing some percussion instruments from a local public high school (if no WELS HS is nearby)? – 2-3 timpani, suspended cymbal, wind chime, congas or djembe drum, tambourine, hand drum, triangle. Please provide email and phone contact info.
•	Do you have adequate space in the balcony or choir area for a larger than normal choir, plus brass quartet, timpani, and suspended cymbal?
•	Do the acoustics of the church necessitate using a microphone for a soloist? What do you usually do?
•	Do you have a long range worship plan that includes hymn selections for the Sunday we are with you? We will consult that and use the chart to avoid hymns you have on other Sundays nearby. We might make some changes based on instruments (descants, brass arrangements) or special choir use. If you have a plan, send a copy with a few weeks on either side of the SoWE weekend.

The worship office will prepare the needed quantity of worship folders for each of the services held during the SoWE unless you have the ability to do so. You should prepare your own announcement page(s) to distribute with the worship folders (or by other means). 

Please answer
•	Do you have equipment that prints clearly (including music staff lines) and is considered good quality?
•	Does your equipment accept 8.5 x 14 inch paper?
•	Does your equipment accept 11 x 17 inch paper? (Both computer printer for printing a master, and copying equipment.)
•	Does your equipment fold and saddle stitch? (Staple down the center.)

BULLETIN ANNOUCEMENTS YOU CAN USE

The times listed below are standard SoWE times. If the agenda is modified for your site, be sure to check these times. 

If you have a regular Saturday evening service, we will try to use your regular time to avoid confusion. You might still want to publicize that the Saturday evening service will be different than Sunday morning, and it will not include communion.

If we discover that most parishes already know the Haugen Morning Praise, we modify it – using a different psalm and a substitute for the Te Deum.

Worship leaders from various WELS parishes are gathering on the weekend of _________
In addition to the regular Sunday morning worship, a special service will be held as part of the School of Worship Enrichment.
... Anyone is welcome to.......Prayer at the Close of Day Saturday evening at 5:45. This quiet and reflective service is a simple way to end the day [begin the evening], resting our days activities with our Lord.

You are also welcome to invite member to the SoWE opening service held on Saturday, date

Worship leaders from various WELS parishes are gathering on the weekend of _________.
In addition to the regular Sunday morning worship, a special service will be held as part of the School of Worship Enrichment.
... Anyone is welcome to.......Morning Praise (Haugen setting from CW:NSS), the opening service of the SoWE weekend Saturday morning at 8:30.  

ROOMS / SIGNAGE
	
MAIN ENTRANCE / REGISTRATION AREA:
Two tables (8’ or larger) are needed near the entrance where participants will enter when arriving. It is best for these tables to be in the plenary presentation area. The Worship office will provide you with folders (1 per participant), name tags, pens,  and markers. We will also send CDs from WELS national worship conferences and DVDs for interested participants to purchase. Place these items on these tables before Friday evening. Items for sale go on one table, SoWE folders and other items go on the other table.

PRESENTATION AREA:
	We prefer an area that accommodates tables and chairs for all participants. A cafeteria can be used for this, as well as for meals, as long as presentations do not hinder meal prep and meal prep does not disrupt presentations. Presentations should be in the church only if it is the only or best option, but note taking is easier if participants are at tables.

	ITEMS NEEDED IN THE PRESENTATION AREA ARE:
•	Piano: Should be in tune. 
•	A sound system or quality boom box capable of CD playback. 
•	Podium or solid music stand for the presenters.
•	Microphones with speakers if a sound system is not installed (unless the room does not need a microphone and expected attendance is under 40).
•	Reliable internet access – for possible use in presentation. If secure, what is access key?
•	Projector and screen for PowerPoint.
Please indicate:
-the system is installed in the presentation room / or portable 
-audio can be patched into presentation room’s sound system / or cannot

BREAK-OUT AREAS:
	The agenda calls for break-out groups (by parish), one on Saturday afternoon and two on Sunday afternoon. An ideal arrangement is tables (for writing) with seating around the tables (for seeing each other during discussions).
	If these rooms are used by other groups or classes in your congregation, please inform them of our schedule and the use of these areas that weekend.

SIGNAGE:
	It’s good for people to know where they are to go from the minute they arrive. A group or school project might be to have the following signs made for the weekend.
•	SoWE parking (if the church has large or more than one parking lot)
•	SoWE registration (the first place participants go when they arrive.) See “Registration Area” above. It’s also good if the morning food and beverage could be set up in or near this area.
•	SoWE breakout rooms. Place a sign next to the door of the room where congregations will go for break-out groups. This sign needs to be visible when the room door is open or closed. These signs can be large print on 8.5 x 11 inch paper with the church name and city.
•	If the facility is large, provide maps of locations where worship area, break-out rooms, and restrooms are located. Place these maps on the table along with SoWE materials.
•	Signs in hallways or stairwells are helpful directing participants where specific areas are located.

FOOD PREPARATION

It’s convenient to eat certain meals on site. This keeps people from having to travel and possibly return late after the meal. Two meals are required to be at the church.

Saturday breakfast: Donuts, muffins, fresh fruit (bananas, apples, oranges), coffee, juice, bottled water. It is also fine for a host congregation to prepare a more extensive breakfast.

	Saturday lunch:	Sub sandwiches have worked well. They can be prepared ahead of time, or have participants make their own if space allows for two or more serving lines. Often a church organization is asked to prepare meals, but a local sub-sandwich shop in the area can be used if you prefer the catered method. Other food to serve is fresh fruit, raw vegetables, chips, and desserts. Many churches have asked ladies in the host congregation to donate bars, cakes, and cookies that can be served through-out the entire weekend for meals. Beverages for meals should be coffee, milk, bottled water, soda (regular and diet).

Not all hosting congregations have hosted Sunday lunch but it is recommended.

	Sub-sandwiches again are fine, but here are some ideas that have worked well at other SoWE’s: lasagna or spaghetti with salad and garlic bread, chicken dinner, casseroles, or potluck.
Breaks

	Try to have break food set up near the presentation / workshop area. In this way participants will have access to it when needed or on the way to a break-out session. Items that work well are fresh fruit, cookies, coffee, bottled water, soda (regular and diet). Please assure that coffee is also available for afternoon breaks.

Participants or congregations are responsible for paying for meals. The best way to handle food purchases and payments are:
•	Each congregation will inform the Commission on Worship office with the number of SoWE participants from their congregations.  The C/W office will forward the total count to the host congregation in order for them to plan/purchase items accordingly.
•	The host congregation purchases what they need to serve meals and snacks. Keep all receipts and mail to the C/W after the SoWE is completed.
•	All participants or congregations (including the host) will pay C/W for meals when invoiced based on the participation figures submitted. Any changes in attendance need to be submitted to the C/W office following the SoWE.
•	C/W office will reimburse the host church for any costs incurred for hosting the SoWE.  Receipts must be turned into C/W in order to get reimbursed.