Leader Resource 1: Letter to Panelists
Part of The New UU
Personalize and adapt this letter to fit your context. To determine the length of time each participant will have to speak, assume that twenty minutes of the panel's time will be presentation. For example, if you have 5 panelists, each will have 4 minutes.
Dear Panelist,
Thank you for agreeing to meet with The New UU workshop on [date] in [place]. We anticipate that the panel portion of the workshop will begin about [time], and last approximately 35 minutes. Our purpose is to introduce people who have been visiting our congregation to social justice activists within our congregation and the important work that each of you has done. Although the particulars of your work are important, it is even more important that participants hear you explain the link between your work and your faith. [List the specific panelists and the perspective each brings.]
We are asking panelists to talk about how their social justice work has informed their Unitarian Universalist faith and vice versa. Each panelist will have [amount of time] minutes to describe their experience. Following the presentations, the workshop participants will have fifteen minutes to ask questions of the panel. We encourage you to focus on your personal experience and to share what you wish you had known as a newcomer to a Unitarian Universalist congregation. You may learn something, too, from hearing the perspectives of others.
Again, we're very grateful for your participation. It helps to provide potential new members with a deeper and more developed understanding of our congregation. And you may even find folks who want to work with you!
Sincerely,
[Facilitators of the Workshop]