Workshop 7: Imagining a Transformed World

Beautiful orange sunset over a deep blue ocean. — Tapestry is Sunsetting

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Part of The Wi$dom Path, Adults: Money, Spirit, and Life

In This Section

Introduction
From The Wi$dom Path

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. — Margaret Mead Material deprivation and economic inequality persist, even in a world of abundance. This workshop invites participants to think of persistent…
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From The Wi$dom Path

Activity Minutes Opening 10 Activity 1: Surviving and Thriving 15 Activity 2: Understanding Financial Interdependencies and Complexity 15 Activity 3: The Microcredit Revolution 20 Activity 4: Faithify and Other Crowdfunding 25 Faith in Action: A Faithify Experiment Closing 5 Alternate Activity 1:…
Spiritual Preparation
From The Wi$dom Path

Set aside a time to reflect on economic interdependencies in your life and community. Consider how your well-being is connected to other people and institutions: If you have a regular source of income, what circumstances enabled you to have regular income? If not, what enables you to get by…
Opening
From The Wi$dom Path

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Chalice, candle, and lighter or an LED/battery-operated candle A chime or a small bell Newsprint, markers, and tape Optional: An object to pass from speaker to speaker during discussion…
Activity 1: Surviving and Thriving
From The Wi$dom Path

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Paper and pens or pencils Preparation for Activity Reflect on times in your life when you have seen or experienced economic inequality and/or inefficiency. Prepare to briefly share your reflections….
Activity 2: Understanding Financial Interdependencies and Complexity
From The Wi$dom Path

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 1, Seeking Out Root Causes Handout 1, The Southside Neighborhood Case Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Write “Southside Constraints and Needs” on a sheet of newsprint, and post. Read Handout 1, The Southside…
Activity 3: The Microcredit Revolution
From The Wi$dom Path

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Computer with Internet connection and a digital projector, screen, and speakers or a large monitor Newsprint, markers, and tape Optional: Handout 2: The Microcredit Revolution Preparation for Activity Decide whether you will introduce microcredit…
Activity 4: FAITHIFY and Other Crowdfunding
From The Wi$dom Path

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Computer with Internet access, digital projector, and screen Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Explore the Faithifyintroductory video. Write on newsprint and post the stated purpose of Faithify or project the…
Closing
From The Wi$dom Path

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED/battery-operated candle Taking It Home handout Copies of Singing the Journey, the supplement to the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook Preparation for Activity Find Hymn 1017, “Building a New Way,” in Singing the…
Leader Reflection and Planning
From The Wi$dom Path

Make a time for reflection and discussion with your co-facilitator after the conclusion of the workshop. Consider these questions: What worked well in this workshop? How can these elements or approaches be repeated or amplified in the future? What was most challenging? What could be done to make…
Faith In Action: A FAITHIFY Experiment
From The Wi$dom Path

Materials for Activity Your congregation’s mission statement Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Make copies of your congregation’s mission statement. Review Activity 4, Faithify and Other Crowdfunding, and related materials. Become familiar with the requirements for listing a…
Alternate Activity 1: Resilience Circles
From The Wi$dom Path

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 3, Resilience Circles Newsprint, markers, and tape Paper and pens Optional: Copies of the UUA hymnbook Singing the Journey Preparation for Activity Read and copy Handout 3, Resilience Circles. Label three sheets of newsprint “Learning,”…
Alternate Activity 2: Ujamaa, Cooperative Economics (45 minutes)
From The Wi$dom Path

This activity is appropriate if your group includes people who celebrate Kwanzaa. It invites participants to explore the ways in which Ujamaa, cooperative economics, the fourth principle of Kwanzaa, calls people to creative, interdependent economic models.
Taking It Home: Imagining a Transformed World
From The Wi$dom Path

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. — Margaret Mead In this workshop we began to imagine how people and systems can work more creatively and effectively together to serve the well-being of a greater…
Handout 1: The Southside Neighborhood Case
From The Wi$dom Path

The setting is a neighborhood on the south side of a major American city. The average household income in the city is nearly $100,000 per year. However, nearly one-third of the population lives on less than $25,000 annually, approximately the same percentage that lives below the poverty line. The…
Handout 2: The Microcredit Revolution
From The Wi$dom Path

Excerpts from “The Microcredit Revolution,” by Dorothy May Emerson, UU World, March/April 2005, pp. 33-38. We hear a lot about the growing divide between rich and poor. We might get the idea that the situation is hopeless, that we are doomed to live in an increasingly divided world. But there is…
Handout 3: Resilience Circles
From The Wi$dom Path

Adapted from What Is a Resilience Circle? — An Overview published by the Resilience Circle Network, a project of the Institute for Policy Studies Program on Inequality and the Common Good. Used with permission. A Resilience Circle is a small group of ten to twenty people that comes together to…
Leader Resource 1: Seeking Out Root Causes
From The Wi$dom Path

Excerpted from “Efficient Solutions Address Only Symptoms; Addressing Root Causes Requires Changing Power Imbalances” from the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) Social Sustainability Resource Guide. Used with permission. There is much debate about distinguishing between…
Find Out More
From The Wi$dom Path

Microfinance Unitarian Universalist Association, Thi… about Microfinance webpage. Grameen Foundation, which has articles about microfinance and about projects in different parts of the world. Microfinance Fund Starter Kit, First Unitarian Society, Madison, WI. Jonathan Morduch,…

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Workshop 7: Imagining a Transformed World

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