Regional Gatherings Update
2020 was supposed to be our big year! We were planning to encourage and foster regional gathering across the U.S. and Canada like no other year, but then we all know what happened instead. So cancellation after cancellation followed. We shifted as a network to starting up regional WhatsApp groups and offering ongoing Zoom connection calls to encourage network members.
Behind the scenes our team has been working to develop a regional gathering toolkit and we wanted to share some of those things with you. All of this is quite fresh in our minds since we are currently making plans for the Pacific Northwest event to be held on October 24.
Before we go much further, it’s important to understand that we have been offering physical meetups in two basic categories: Regional Roundtables (Pacific Northwest, SW, NE including Canada, etc.) and North American Roundtables hosted in various cities that draw both American and Canadian-based network members.
We believe that regionals act to fulfill our mission in various ways:
to CONNECT people, churches, and organizations from a specific geographic region to one another and to helpful resources
to EQUIP people, churches, and organizations to effectively engage with refugees
to spiritually ENCOURAGE and STRENGTHEN participants
to DEMONSTRATE and GROW connection to the broader Refugee Highway Partnership community
Our formats in the past for regionals have generally drawn up to 100 participants from surrounding states and provinces near where an event is hosted, usually at a local church. But for 2020, with health and safety foremost in our minds, we are looking at other approaches:
a completely online half-day virtual event (using Zoom or similar platform)
a hybrid approach: several small group in-person gatherings that follow local Covid-19 related health guidelines, all connected to a larger virtual gathering
or other creative options that comply with local recommendations and best practices
What’s the difference between the North American Roundtable and a Regional Roundtable?
The North American Roundtable has been the RHP signature in-person event for over 10 years, meant to draw participants from across North America. It is several days long, with a diverse range of resourcing, inspiration, and connecting opportunities. The nature of it means that it requires a high commitment of time and money for participants to attend: most of the participants will be professionals (i.e. those working in the sector) or volunteers who live relatively close.
A regional roundtable (physical or virtual or hybrid) is meant to make the RHP accessible to people who could not afford the time or money to attend the North American RT. It requires a modest commitment of time (a half day during Covid time) and cost on the part of participants, so makes the RHP more accessible to people and churches who are interested in the cause and thinking about getting involved. It contains significant opportunities for collaborative partnerships to emerge in a particular region.
If you’re interested in hosting an RHPNA Regional RoundTable in your area, please contact us and we’ll help you get started.