Meeting together and sharing a cup of tea is a great way to celebrate an event or an experience with friends. But as your time together draws to a close, and you’ve laughed, perhaps shed a few tears and caught up on life, you are bound to hear a friend say, “We need to do this again,” or ”Why do we wait so long to get together?” or “Let’s do this more often.” If you establish a tea group, you can! Tea Groups can be formed to foster and cultivate friendship on a regular basis.
Perhaps the phrase, “tea group” scares you, or you don't drink tea..But…continue reading. You can be a coffee drinker and still participate. You can drink neither and still join the group! You don’t even have to serve an elaborate afternoon tea. You can serve a beverage and pastries, breakfast, brunch, or even lunch. It’s not about the event, whether it’s casual or fancy, or the menu or the beverage. Meeting as a group is all about the people and the spirit of the party. As a newcomer to an area, I was looking for friends. A tea group at my church provided an opportunity to meet women and make friends.
Establishing a tea group involves a few “musts” and all the women in the group must be on the same page for it to work. First, you need a coordinator. She is the one who is passionate about seeing that the group is organized and that meetings will regularly occur. She will organize the first meeting and women can determine if this is a commitment they can make. At your first meeting, decide that:
- The group will meet as a social event, not a book club or study group.
- It will be for women only—no children.
- It involves a commitment to meet on a regular basis at the same time; for example, the first Wednesday every month, or every other month, whatever fits the group’s schedules.
- You will meet in homes or at a restaurant. If you are meeting in homes, determine at this organizational meeting, who will host each meeting for the coming year.
- Give each hostess the freedom to express herself in ways that she is comfortable. One may enjoy preparing an elaborate afternoon tea; another may only have time for simple tea and pastries or prefer to host a brunch.
- You will limit the size of your group to a maximum of eight so that you can foster intimacy.
- Create a phone, address and email list for the group, so that the hostess can contact and confirm plans easily.
As you make plans, remember that your goal is not to impress each other, but to bless and encourage one another. Each meeting is a time to celebrate friendship and grow together as you invest in each other’s lives. As you continue to meet, every woman will say as she leaves, “I can't wait until we do this again. Who's hosting next time? ”
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