Email Templates

Recruiting Sources Participants

Template: Recruiting Sources Participants

Google Doc: Original

When to Use

Sent in February over the name of the ministerial staff lead to current and past WS Sources participants, inviting them to consider facilitation and to recruit participants for the next cohort.

Template Text

Hi _______________

Can you believe we've finished another year of Wellspring at Foothills? Over 1/5 people at Foothills have now been through this remarkable program.

I am filled with curiosity as to what listening to your inner teacher has generated in your life, where you feel this work of inner formation is learning you (and I bet you are too!).

We are beginning to recruit for next year's Wellspring Cohort and we need your help on two fronts:

  1. Wellspring Facilitators -- We are on the lookout for 4-6 facilitators for Wellspring Sources next year. If you are feeling the call to go deeper into your wellspring experience and give back this is for you. Get in touch with [WSLT contact name] ([email]) if you want to learn more and if you are in, make sure to fill out the Serve Form (Wellspring Facilitator will reveal itself once you select Adult Spiritual Deepening).

  2. Next Cohort Recruitment -- We know that the best way to recruit the next cohort is for you to do it for us! This may seem like we are passing the buck, but 1:1 personal invitations from Wellspring Grads are the most effective ways to get the right type of people in the program.

So here's what we need you to do:

  1. Make a list of three people who need Wellspring (remembering they should have been around Foothills for a bit and participated in some of our adult programs or small groups before)

  2. Write each of them a note -- share one reason you loved the experience and a specific reason why you think they would too. Invite them to chat about it sometime in the next two weeks to answer any questions.

  3. Don't forget to share the link to the Wellspring page. Applications will be open soon near the beginning of May!

Thanks in advance for your help in this; truly, it makes a difference.

Many many thanks and gratitude to you all,

in faith,

Rev. Sean

on behalf of the Wellspring Core Team ([current WSLT member names])

Customization Notes

See Also

Recruiting Second-Year Participants

Template: Recruiting Second-Year Participants

Google Doc: Original

When to Use

Sent in April to WS Sources grads when a second-year offering is planned. Needs to be tailored to the specific program being offered. See UU Wellspring for program descriptors.

Template Text

Dear Wellspring Sources Alumni,

Did you find your first year of Wellspring meaningful?

Are you looking for a space to do more inner work to deepen your own sense of creation and creativity?

You are invited into Wellspring [PROGRAM NAME], a year of [PROGRAM DESCRIPTION] to start the tiny revolutions of connection and resistance in our personal lives, our Unitarian Universalist communities, and the world.

You can find more details about the program here: [LINK TO PROGRAM DESCRIPTION ON UU WELLSPRING SITE]

The group is forming now, with the intention of beginning in September and meeting bimonthly on a day and time to be determined by the group. This group also will be self-facilitating, meaning each participant will share in facilitation responsibilities.

If you would like to be a part, please contact any member of the Wellspring Leadership Team as soon as possible.

Warmly,

The Wellspring Leadership Team

[WSLT member names and email addresses]

Customization Notes

Welcome Letter 1 - The Basics

Template: Welcome Letter 1 - The Basics

Google Doc: Original

When to Use

Sent by facilitators to their group as soon as the group has been set up in PCO. This is the first of two welcome letters. Follow with Welcome Letter 2 five to seven days later so as not to overwhelm.

Template Text

Dear friends,

With great anticipation, we welcome you to UU Wellspring - Sources!

UU Wellspring - Sources is a nine-month Unitarian Universalist program of spiritual deepening and connection. Our hope is that over the course of the next ten months we will deepen our individual spiritual lives and our connections to one another through an intentional program of daily spiritual practice, spiritual companionship, study and reflection, and online small group meetings.

Meetings We will meet [room location] on [day and time]

Here are all of our meeting dates: [facilitator, please list all dates here]

Please put all of the dates in your calendars now so that you can protect the time.

Retreat Our opening retreat will take place from 8:30am-12pm on [DATE] at Foothills Unitarian Church at 1815 Yorktown Ave.

Materials For the Retreat:

Some "to do's" before the retreat:

Additional materials for reflection: We will be writing again in a week or so with additional materials for reflection as you prepare for our retreat.

Finally and importantly, please watch this short video on respect since we will be introducing ourselves using our pronouns:

It will be so good to be together as we learn to listen deeply to our stories and reflect on what is most important in our lives.

With great anticipation of our journey together,

[Facilitator(s) name(s) and contact information]

Customization Notes

See Also

Welcome Letter 2 - More Information

Template: Welcome Letter 2 - More Information for Exploration

Google Doc: Original

When to Use

Sent 5-7 days after Welcome Letter 1 so as not to overwhelm. Contains deeper preparation materials including Circles of Trust orientation, spiritual direction information, and the full book list.

Template Text

Dear friends,

As we prepare for our UU Wellspring - Sources retreat on [DATE], and for our group to begin soon thereafter, we are reaching out with some materials to explore to help get oriented and grounded in Wellspring.

Though this email looks long, the videos are quite short and manageable. Please set aside a few periods of time between now and our retreat to engage with these materials and reflect using the journal prompt. Your retreat experience will be richer for it.

Circles of Trust

Parker Palmer shares a foundational rule for Circles of Trust and UU Wellspring groups: "No fixing, no saving, no advising, no setting each other straight." The rule is simple, but abiding by it is hard work for people accustomed to straightening each other out as a way of life.

"So what do we do in a circle of trust? We speak our own truth; we listen receptively to the truth of others; we ask each other honest, open questions instead of giving counsel; and we offer each other the healing and empowering gifts of silence and laughter."

-- Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer, p. 116

Circle of Trust Videos:

Journal Prompt: What are the hallmarks of a circle of trust? According to Parker Palmer, what is the soul, and what can we do that might inhibit or welcome the soul? What are the obstacles to living an undivided life?

Spiritual Direction

UU Wellspring encourages all participants to have a spiritual companion while in UU Wellspring. There are several ways to accomplish this, which are laid out in the following video. We will discuss this more during the retreat.

Video:

Journal Prompt: What interests you about meeting with a spiritual director? What do you wonder about that might be an interesting topic to discuss with a spiritual director?

Required and Optional Books for Sources

Read as Much as You Can Before the Retreat:

Optional (referred to throughout the program):

Read Before Session 14:

Read Before Session 18:

NOTE: We have many of these books in our Foothills library in room 221. The books in the curriculum are also generally available through the UUA Inspirit bookstore or through your favorite online or local bookseller. If you are unable to purchase books and cannot find them at the library, let us know.

Finally, we are including this reminder to watch this short video on respect since we will be introducing ourselves using our pronouns:

With great anticipation of our journey together, [Facilitator(s) name(s)]

Customization Notes

See Also

Second-Year Group Assignments

Template: Second-Year Group Assignments

Google Doc: Original

When to Use

Sent in May/June to second-year enrollees communicating their group assignments. Needs tailoring to the specific program offered.

Template Text

Dear Wellspring [PROGRAM THEME, e.g. "Creators"],

After careful consideration of all the preferences of the [NUMBER] individuals who asked to participate in UU Wellspring "[PROGRAM NAME]," we are pleased to inform you of your group assignment.

You and the other recipients of this email are in the [Group Meeting Day, Time and format -- virtual or in person].

In the next couple weeks, the church office will build your group in the church Planning Center Online (PCO), which will enable you all -- as a self-facilitating, leader-full group -- to communicate with one another, schedule your meetings, and record attendance so our collective community can have an accurate measure of our faith-deepening engagement. The full "[PROGRAM NAME]" assignments and session plans will be unlocked for you later this summer.

As next steps to take now, you are encouraged to:

If there's anything more we can do to support you on this next phase of your Wellspring journey, please let us know.

In faith,

The Foothills Wellspring Leadership Team

([WSLT member names and Rev. Sean])

Customization Notes