Preparation for Activity

• Read about Share the Plate programs in a 2003 UU World article.
• Read about some of the Share the Plate programs in Unitarian Universalist congregations. The following congregations have adapted their Share the Plate program during the COVID-19 pandemic:
  • First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee
  • The Community Church of Chapel Hill
  • Unitarian Universalists of Southern Delaware
  • Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix

Description of Activity

Work with appropriate leaders and committees in your congregation to start a Share the Plate practice in which the Sunday worship offering is regularly given to organizations or local community partners whose goals and values your congregation wishes to support. A Share the Plate practice provides rich opportunities for collaboration between the ministry or worship team and the social justice team in your congregation. Offer information about Share the Plate from the UU World article and suggestions such as these:

• Introduce Share the Plate with sermons and newsletter articles.
• Promote it as part of the congregation's social justice program, as a way to help the larger community.
• Select recipients that are not controversial or political.
• Provide information about the recipient agencies. Have representatives of those organizations speak to the congregation or host information tables after the service.
• Provide opportunities for people to volunteer time with the same agencies.
• At the end of the year, recap all the ways that sharing the plate has helped the congregation fulfill its mission.
• If you think there will be resistance, start small, with a percentage of the plate.