(5 minutes)

Materials

• Small worship table
• Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED battery-operated candle

Preparation

• Set the chalice on the worship table.

Description

Gather the group in a circle. Invite each person in turn to say their name and pronouns, and, if they wish, to share anything that has come up for them as they thought more deeply about their own leadership story or their “What Is My Faith?” creation. Ask a participant to light the chalice as you or another participant read these opening words by Victoria Safford:

We are bound by covenant, each to each and each to all, by what theologian Rebecca Parker calls “freely chosen and life-sustaining interdependence.” The central question for us is not, “What do we believe?” but more, “What do we believe in? To what larger love, to what people, principles, values, and dreams shall we be committed? To whom, to what, are we accountable?”

Repeat the second part of the quote, starting with “The central question for us…” Invite participants to reflect for a few moments on these questions.