How to Plan a Church Potluck

Planning a church potluck menu is rather easy. The main thing to remember is to cover the basic food groups, drinks and dessert.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A hungry imagination.
• A theme.
• Pen and paper.
• Knowledge of how many people to be served.
• Knowledge of how many people will provide the food.

1. In a way it helps to be a little hungry when planning a potluck menu, because you won't typically forget any details. Determine how many people the potluck will serve, and how many people will be bringing food. Write this down. Then decide what your menu will be. Write this down. It's the execution of the menu that will help to determine the success of the potluck. The size of the church should also determine how you will set up your menu. For example if your church has a membership of 200, you can typically expect that @ 150 will stay for the potluck. (Some folks just like to go home). If your church only has a membership of 25, typically everybody will stay after for the fellowship that a small church brings.

2. For larger congregations of 75 or more, the menu should be set by you, the coordinator, so you don't end up with a lot of broccoli and only two chicken items. A larger church should be able to provide the plates, napkins, flatware, drinks, dessert and ice.
   
   For smaller congregations, typically families are asked to bring their favorite dishes, including dessert, just to make a larger portion so there is enough to "share". Singles are asked to bring plates, napkins, flatware, drinks, and ice.

3. For larger churches, the menu should reflect the season of the year. For example, during late spring/summer a soup and salad theme should be used. For fall/early winter a hearty, not heavy, menu should be considered, such as chili, cornbread, and salad. During the months of winter/late spring is when you bring on the casseroles, mac and cheese, and patties with gravy. Regardless of the time of year, desserts are easy: cookies/brownies are the rave with kids, cakes and pies are a treat for all and if your church has the capacity for storage-ice cream!
   
   As I stated in STEP 2, for a smaller church, just have everyone bring their favorite dish. Usually, their are family favorites that cover every item on a typical menu-entre', vegetable, bread, salad, dessert and drink.

4. Once you have selected the menu, for larger churches, using the first or last name initials can assist with how you organize it. For example, to execute the chili and cornbread menu, make a bulletin announcement or have a phone committee person call individuals with last names beginning with letters A-M, and ask them to bring chili, cornbread, and dessert. Have the others with last names beginning with letters N-Z bring chili, salad and drink.
   
   For smaller churches, refer to STEP 2. It would be wise for the potluck coordinator to write down what the families are planning to bring, just in case there are any questions about the menu.

Tips & Warnings

• Smaller churches should have success with only one potluck coordinator.
• Larger churches would probably benefit with several coordinators helping each other by taking turns choosing the menu.
• Keeping it seasonal helps with continuity, because members know what to expect month by month, so it is easier to remember. For example, you wouldn't want to eat a cold salad on a day when your teeth are chattering.

[Hanserd]

on 1/17/2008 Thank you, this has been very helpful.Actually I was pretty much on target, but was glad to have the back-up!