Activity time: 10 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
• Optional: Refreshments

Preparation for Activity

• Place chairs in a circle.
• Set a small center table with chalice and lighter.
• Write agenda for this workshop on newsprint, and post.
• Optional: Set out refreshments.

Description of Activity

Welcome participants. Sound the chime and invite participants into a moment of quiet reflection as you prepare to enter into a time of centering and sharing. Invite a volunteer to light the chalice as you share these words:

We light this chalice in the spirit of learning that calls us together,

for the commitment to become teachers for one another,

and in the hope that we may be open and ambitious

in the journey we continue together today.

Go around the circle, passing the object (if you are using one) for each speaker to hold. Invite participants to say their name and check in with a few words about one personal experience they’ve had with money since the last workshop. Sound the chime again to signal the end of the centering time.