During the first three weeks of July, we took our Money Makes Change Workshop online for the first time. 16 participants joined us from all over the UK (and beyond!) for three 90-minute sessions via Zoom, dedicated to exploring the connections between our faith and our finances. There was space for personal reflection, small group discussions, jargon-busting, sharing stories and exploring how we make decisions with money. The conversations were wide-ranging, covering our visions for a fairer world, the impact of our spending habits and how we can make a difference through ethical investing.
After the first workshop people said they felt “energised”, “curious” and “inspired”, and by the final session 100% of participants said that they either felt equipped to take action with their personal finances, start a conversation in their church or explore the programme resources and share them with others.
Journeying together with these groups (one met in the morning, one in the evening) over three weeks was a privilege. Thank you to those who joined us! We learnt a lot from each other and we hope this is the start of many more virtual conversations that inspire people to go on and take action. We have plans to run the workshop series again in November, and are busy thinking through how to adapt the content so that others could facilitate online conversations with their own churches and communities.