For Coordinators

The role of the coordinator

If you have volunteered to coordinate Lent Event in your church, school or local community, we thank you! We hope you have fun and derive satisfaction from your involvement.  Please review our Coordinators Guide.

Your main role is to PEP your church community

• Promote Lent Event – before, during and after Lent.
• Encourage full participation – to make the best use of the resources available.
• Process donations – to make sure as much money as possible makes it to the Lent Event projects.

You may wish to ask someone to share the role with you, especially if you are part of a large community. In particular, we have found that the processing of donations is often handled by another volunteer. This year we have separated the finance instructions into a separate Donation Processing Guide. If you are not looking after the collection of the money, please pass the Finance Guide to the person who is helping you.

Promoting Lent Event

Promotion is vital to the success of Lent Event in your church or group. Please use the promotional materials provided to motivate as many people as possible to become involved.

People will be influenced by your energy and enthusiasm – excitement is contagious! So 'talk up' Lent Event wherever you can. Maintaining interest leading up to and during the 40 days of Lent is important. We all live busy lives, so gentle reminders and making the Lent journey and materials live in your church or group will pay dividends.

Following are some suggestions as to how you can promote Lent Event. Please see the Time Line, for suggested dates for using the materials provided.

• Promotional DVD/video lasting 5 minutes. This is a brief but powerful outline of why Lent Event is so important and how it works. Use this as aprt of a presentation to your group when introducing Lent Event.
• Press Releases (1, 2 & 3) for inclusion in your church notices/newsletter in the three weeks leading up to Lent Event.
• Three scripted Announcements (A, B & C) to be given during worship in the three weeks leading up to Lent Event.
• Posters to be displayed on notice boards and in church foyers.
• Brochures containing donation envelope. Distribute these to the congregation with the order of service or through home groups/small groups/bible study groups.
• Use the Prayer Book in the church notices during Lent  and/or incorporate them into 'Prayers for Others.' Dowload the FREE prayer book here or order a bound copy online.
• Ask people how they are coping and encourage participants to support each other in prayer and conversation. During Lent Event people open up to others about their own habits and how hard it is to break them.
• Invite a member of the congregation to give a short talk during worship about what they are experiencing/ learning from their journey.
• Leave brochures in an accessible place during the Lenten period. Encourage anyone who missed the Lent Event Commencement/ Dedication, or who needs an additional brochure, to take one.
• If appropriate, encourage the community to give something up as a body – for example, biscuits after worship. This is a reminder to the whole community of the individual sacrifices being made as well as a statement of the group commitment to Lent Event.
• Share feedback through your church notices/ newsletter.
• Encourage your community to visit the Lent Event website.

Remind your community that they are sharing the experience not only with each other, but also with every other Lent Event community. In 2008, your group will be joining some 400 groups running Lent Event.

The Lent Event Timeline 2008

The following timeline is intended as a guide for promoting and running Lent Event. Of course, you can be flexible with some promotional and closure dates to suit the needs of your church/group.