First Universalist Church

How to Host Coffee Hour

1.  Sign Up!

• Invite friends or family members to co-host.
• Pick a Sunday that you’d like to host.
• Sign up by email, or put your name(s) on the sign-up sheet on the vestry bulletin board nearest the kitchen.

You can do steps 2 and 3 before worship service begins, so that you can attend the service—if you do this, please be in the kitchen an hour before the service.

2.  Make Coffee and Tea  The coffee takes 45 minutes to perk, it should be started, finished and put in airpots before worship service begins so that it's ready to serve as soon as people come down to the vestry.

A) Find coffee-making supplies:

• Coffee urn (one of the smaller ones): On shelf in front of kitchen window
• Airpots (5) (labeled for caffeinated, decaf, and hot water): Near dish-storage unit in the vestry
• Coffee (caf and decaf): On shelf in front of kitchen window

B) Make an urn of caffeinated coffee (45 minutes):

1. Fill a small coffee percolator with water to the 30-cup mark.
2. Put 1 3/4 cups caffeinated coffee grounds in upper basket, and secure the top.
3. Plug the percolator into the outlet.
4. Coffee is ready when the small light on the front of the urn lights up.

C) Preheat the airpots and boil tea water:

1. Boil a tea kettle of water on the electric stove (back burner for safety).
2. Pour about a cup of hot water into each of the five airpots.
3. Make sure there's plenty of water left in the tea kettle, and keep it hot for tea water.

D) Make two pots of decaffeinated coffee (15 minutes each):

1. Go to the small kitchen, near the offices.
2. Follow the directions posted on the wall behind the auto-drip coffee maker (use 1/2 cup coffee grounds for a full 12-cup pot).

E) When coffees are brewed, transfer them to the preheated airpots:

1. Dump hot water out of airpots.
2. Pour caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee and hot tea water into their respectively labeled airpots.
3. Set the tops of the airpots to the "closed" position.

3.  Set Up!

A) Find supplies (cupboards are labeled with their contents):

• Tea, sugar bowls (2), and cream pitchers (4): In upper cabinets to left of coffee makers
• China coffee cups (50): In upper cabines to right of vestry door
  OR Hot-liquid paper cups: In furnace room
• Blue mugs (10) and sign that invites visitors to use them: In upper cabinets to right of the vestry door
• Plates, bowls: (if food is being served) In upper cupboards
• Silverware: In cupboards to left of refrigerators
• Napkins: On counter to right of the vestry door
• Tablecloth (1): In lower cabinets to the right of the door to vestry
• Serving trays: Under stainless counters
• Milk or cream: In fridge

B) Fill four creamers with milk or cream. Put them in the refrigerator.

C) Set up a serving table in the vestry for coffee and snacks:

• Along the wall outside the kitchen
• Far enough from the doorways to allow good traffic flow
• Far enough from the bulletin boards to allow easy access

D) Put the following items on the serving table:

• Tablecloth
• China cups (or hot-liquid paper cups)
• Small dishes (paper or china), if food is being served
• A filled sugar bowl with spoon
• A sugar-substitute bowl
• Tea
• Extra spoons (for stirrers)
• Napkins

E) Position a square table between the two posts in front of the dish shelves for the Fair Trade Coffee sales.

F) Prepare food

• Arrange and cover all food items on serving trays
• Leave food in the kitchen until after the service, so it doesn't disappear early
• Jen McAdoo, RE Director, will add kid snacks and juice

Enjoy the service, but return to the kitchen when the last hymn begins, to attend to steps 4 through 6.

4.  Put Coffee, Hot Water, and Snacks Out  Just before church service ends, move the following items out to the serving table:

• Coffee — Switch the airpot covers to the "pour" position
• Hot water — Switch the airpot covers to the "pour" position
• Creamers
• Food

5.  Replenish anything that runs low  During coffee hour, keep an eye on things, and make sure if any supplies run low (coffee, cream, sugar, hot water, spoons, napkins, etc.), that they are replenished.

6.  Clean up

• Store, refrigerate or give away extra food and beverages
  Important: No food should remain in the open
• Gather cups and plates
• Clean off the serving table
• Wash, dry and replace dishes
• Make sure small kitchen is cleaned up

Thank you for thinking about volunteering to host coffee hour. You can do it for one or as many Sundays as you like.

To sign up, please email the church office.