Start with a plan.
Do some brainstorming. Get some ideas on paper, and then organize those thoughts. āFlesh outā the ones that make sense, and cross off the ones that donāt fit, are not workable, or are not helpful right now.
Who (are the members)? Mothers in the parish. Also, who will help you run things, or run the meetings if you are not able to? Who are your leaders (or how will you find/choose leaders)? Will it be the same leaders for every meeting, or will members take turns providing service for the group?
What? You answered this one well: āA fellowship, with a faith-supportive environment, and a focus on Christian outreach and community service, with monthly meetings and planned social activities including the children and families.ā
(This is a great place to start, but you will need to add more detail for your own use as you go, such as: what kinds of outreach and service projects? How will they be funded? What social activities? etc. Brainstorming will come in handy here, too.)
When? Monthly - date/time? When will you have social activities?
Where? Where will you meet? If not at a regular location, how will you get the information about the next meeting to members who are not at the current meeting or to prospective members (parish bulletin, phone tree, word of mouth, email, etc.)?
**How? ** How will you get the word out to moms? How will you fund projects and activities? How will the group meetings run? Think about an ideal meeting, and write down a detailed description of it. Would you begin each meeting with a prayer? Would you have social time before or after the meeting, or is the whole meeting āsocial timeā? During the meeting, what would you like to see happening among the members? How can you facilitate, encourage, or guide that to fruition? You might even describe your own role, the role of a leader/volunteer helper, and the role of a member
You may need to answer these questions for some specific areas, as well. For example, will you provide child care during meetings (or for planning meetings)?
If so, you know what and when, but still need to ask: who (obviously, for the membersā children, but will there be an age range?), where will it be, who will provide it, and how will that be organized (is there a youth group or other parish organization that could help out)?
That should give you a place to start. If you want (name removed by moderator)ut from members, then have a Planning Meeting for interested moms, and go over these questions as a group (be sure to take notes and/or have another person take notes). If ideas are really flowing or a lot of moms show up, you may need more than one Planning Meeting. If no one shows up, then generally that means either there is not enough interest for a group, or everyone is already busy during the time you chose for your meeting and were not able to attend (possible schedule conflict).
HTH!
