Tapestry of Faith: Signs of Our Faith: A Program about Being UU Every Day for Grades 2-3

Alternate Activity 2: Leadership in Action - Sharing the Plate

Preparation for Activity

  • Ask worship leaders how a project is chosen to share your congregation's offertory. If possible, arrange for the children to nominate a project.
  • Schedule with worship leaders a time when children can support a special offertory by making posters or a giving a presentation in worship about the project for which funds are sought. Gather information about the project and why it is important, and plan how you will share the information with the children.

Description of Activity

Children support donating the plate to an organization that does good.

Many congregations donate a portion of their plates to non-profit organizations providing a service to the community or working for justice. Children can support this in different ways.

One way is to engage children in choosing recipients of the offertory. Can the children nominate an organization to receive the plate, perhaps one that helps children or is partially staffed by young people? If the children's nomination is chosen, arrange for participants to make a short presentation in the worship service that features this collection. Help participants craft short statements about why they chose the organization and what good works the donations might help to fund. Thank the congregation for being generous.

Children can also promote the plate-sharing. For example, engage them to create a large collage of all the organizations the congregation has helped in this way. Obtain photos online or from brochures and magazines. Write the names of the organizations and the amount of money donated to them, and display the collage in a public congregational space. Point out the children that the collage acknowledges the congregation's generosity and its stewardship of the local (or global) community, and encourages people to feel good about their giving to others.