Activity time: 15 minutes

Materials for Activity

• Chalice, candle, and lighter or an LED/battery-operated candle
• A chime or a small bell
• 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 people into the circle. Sound the chime and invite participants into 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 acknowledgment of reaching a destination,

and the threshold of a new beginning together.

We light this chalice for the places we have been

and those where we have yet to go.

We light this chalice in gratitude for our time together,

that our lives may be better for it.

Go around the circle, passing the object (if you are using one) for each speaker to hold, and invite participants to say their name and to check in by sharing one question or challenge about money, spirit, and life that feels important to them at this moment.

Sound the chime to signal the end of the centering time.