Christian Science Lecturers

Lecturer preparation and organization

• Build a website for the lecturer as a landing place for their lecture information. We guide each branch church to look at the material, and the lecturer doesn’t have to send it out to each branch. Also, the materials are always available for further review.

• Maintain the lecturer's TripIT schedule (or other app) to house the details of each lecture, including flight, hotel, transportation details, lecture details, food options, etc. The app provides a logistical road map for each of the lecturer's trips. We triple-check the data is accurate before the lecturer’s trip begins.

• We customize a scheduling service to help book appointments, and we configure the service to send automated reminders of each meeting, including a zoom link, to the lecturer and all attendees. 

• We resend needed documents to the lecture chair one-week before the lecture: introduction, last minute reminders, etc. We also send a "thank you" email to the branch church following the lecture. 

• Most importantly, we stay happy, flexible, and wholly focused on the mission of the work, and seek to support the lecturer in whatever way they need.

 

Travel

• Book flights based on the lecturer’s recommendation and/or preferences. Each flight is chosen by the lecturer and emailed to us. We book the flight, choose the seat, etc - and make sure all expenses are included on the invoice.

• We can be attentive and metaphysically support travel when needed.

• We have helped to adjust travel plans if there is a weather (or other) issue that causes a delay or cancellation. For instance: a couple of times we’ve received a text from a lecturer on a plane whose next flight was delayed or canceled and we were able to find a new solution before they landed. This allowed their trip to keep going smoothly even though the flight, or airline etc., completely changed. 

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Accommodation, Transportation & Food

• Book hotel rooms based on the lecturers (or branch church's) preferences: proximity to the lecture location or airport, for example.  

• Book rental cars and/or work with the branch to confirm which church member will be providing transportation. For the rental car, we often ask them to choose one rental car company. If a church member is driving we make sure they have travel details and are in touch with the lecturer a few days before arrival.

• Provide addresses to the closest restaurants based on the lecturer’s food or restaurant preferences. 

• If desired, help the lecturer identify a flat fee for food-related expenses to be invoiced to the branch. Alternatively, we can give the lecturer a company credit card so we can include all related expenses on the invoice.

 

Communication with the branch church

• Intentionally maintain the open lines of communication between the lecturer and branch church, though hopefully those discussions can focus more on content and not repeated details. 

• Create invoices, or multiple invoices, based on the bookings, lecture fee, etc. Send the invoice(s) to the lecturer for verification before sending it to the branch church. 

• Make sure the branch has the right configuration for how the lecture will look in terms of furniture: a place for books and water, etc. 

• Make sure the branch tests out any A/V systems - such as the lav mic that might not have been used since last year’s lecture. 

• When the branch church has any question unrelated to content, we can be the first point of contact. If we haven’t learned the lecturer’s preferences, or aren’t sure how to answer, we reach out to the lecturer to confirm.

 

Publicity

• Work with the branch if they have publicity needs. This can mean anything from helping them find the BoL process to request it, to having our designer provide a new design with the lecturer's approval, to receiving a branch church's design and making sure the lecturer approves it.