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
• Optional: Refreshments

Preparation for Activity

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

Description of Activity

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 the spirit of imagination that calls us together,

for the commitment to become collaborators together,

and in the hope that we may be sensitive and courageous

in the journey we extend farther today.

Go around the circle, inviting each speaker to pass the object (if you are using one) to the next. Invite participants to say their names and check in by sharing something they’ve witnessed since the last session that made them feel inspired or hopeful about the power of money to make a difference in people’s lives.

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