Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

A Community Fellowship Project

The brainchild of Ms. Eileen Williams Sabry, a Bah�'� from New York City, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" is a great way to bring larger communities a sense of closeness. It fosters the development of new, and established friendships.

The object is to invite small groups of diverse community members who may or may not know one another to another community member's home for an intimate dinner and fellowship.

Preparation

First, you will need a coordinator for this project. At your next large gathering, find out how many of your group would like to host a small dinner party in their home for other members of your community. It's up to them to decide how many they can comfortably accomodate in their home. Ask them when and/or how often they would like to host the dinner.

The coordinator should ask the Local Spiritual Assembly (or community leader/s) for a full list of all community members which includes telephone numbers. Then, for each dinner/host/event, the coordinator should call and invite random members of the community and ask them if they would like to attend a scheduled dinner. If they are available for that date and time, tell them which address they are to go to with appropriate directions and the coordinators telephone number for emergencies or cancelations. them which home they are to go to, what date and time they are to arrive, etc.

It's a secret!

Oh, one more thing, each person invited is not to be told who else is invited. Also, each host is not to be told the names of the guests coming to dinner. For example, the host says, "I can have three over to my house for dinner," but the host will not know which three guests they are until they arrive. The guests can be told whose house they are going to, but not who the other guests are. Once the community dinners are underway, the coordinator will need to keep a list of who went where, so they can mix up the groups for the next time a dinner is hosted.

Unexpected Outcomes

Guests and hosts need to be given the telephone number of the coordinator who knows which house/dinner they are invited to. If any problem arises at the last minute and they are going to be late or unable to attend, depending on how much notice is given, the coordinator can then try to find another guest to attend in their place OR they can call the host and inform them of how many guests to now expect. This way the host still will not know who the guests are until they arrive.

This project went on in the New York City community for about a year and the response was great. Over 60 people participated. Some people hosted a dinner each month, some hosted once, and even those who were unable to host were offered a chance to be a guest.

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