CREATIVE IDEAS
Examples of Ideas Others Have Used in Their WOC Celebrations
Compassion Carnival
Encourage your children and youth to hold a "carnival" after Worship during your congregation's Week of Compassion celebration complete with games and booths, i.e. bean bag toss, golf putting station, 'how many beans in the jar' guess, kissing booth, dart throw, wet sponge toss, fishing pond use your creativity. Be extra creative and use the games to inform about the work of Week of Compassion. Set up a refugee tent and offer a simple meal of beans and rice. Add a table of baked goodies to auction, along with a framed copy of the WOC poster. Donate proceeds to WOC as a special contribution from your congregation's young people. Adapted from Central CC, Jefferson, IA
Use Week of Compassion Updates from the internet as news spots of WWOC, Radio Week of Compassion, for Minutes for Mission during the Sunday your congregation is observing Week of Compassion, or throughout the year. Adapted from Wyndholme CC, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Twin Pines CC, Lexington, KY, a congregation of 200 members, raised nearly $3000 for Week of Compassion by auctioning off more than 125 donated items, including a pool party, homemade sweets and handmade crafts. A special "Kids Bid Only" allowed the young people to participate fully in raising funds.15 chefs in the congregation entered their favorite chili dishes.
To strengthen its response to the Week of Compassion Offering, Simpsonville (KY) CC sells delicious homemade bread to members and friends during its Week of Compassion celebration.
Ask each household in the congregation to place an empty bowl on the family dinner table on January 1.Each day each member of the family contributes his/her pocket change to the bowl. On the last Sunday in February (or whenever your congregation receives the Week of Compassion Offering) each family adds the amount from the bowl of compassion to their regular WOC Offering. For an extra twist, figure the cost of the main meal per person and contribute that amount.
Encourage members to keep a record of all food costs for an entire month, i.e. grocery bills, restaurant receipts, snack costs, etc. Ask members to contribute a tithe (10%) of what was spent on food for the month to Week of Compassion.
For a monthly fellowship dinner, decorate the fellowship hall for an elegant meal (tablecloths, candles, background music). Have youth and young adults serve as waiters. Serve a simple and tasteful meal of rice, beans, bread and water. Urge diners to give to WOC the cost of a nice dinner out. This would also be a good opportun-ity to show a Week of Compassion video or invite a guest speaker to talk about WOC.
Cut a copy of the 2000 theme poster into as many pieces as there are households in the congregation. Several weeks before you receive the Week of Compassion Offering, send a piece of the puzzle to each household, along with a letter from the outreach committee. Remind them that they are a piece of the puzzle and it takes all pieces to make it complete. Place a "value" on each puzzle piece, i.e. if your goal is $3000 and you have 100 households, challenge each household to contribute $30 per piece.) Invite members to return their piece of the puzzle along with their offering. Using a bulletin board or other display, slowly piece your puzzle back together. Adapted from First CC, Hagerstown, MD
Send your creative ideas to Week of Compassion so we can share them with others.