Kentro Principles of Welcome & Learning

Attendees of Kentro activities commit to the following principles:

• Give and receive welcome. We want to create a hospitable learning space.
• Be present as fully as possible, even when there are doubts, questions, fears, resistance, etc.
• What is shared during the event is by invitation not demand. You do not have to share more than you are comfortable.
• Speak your thoughts and experience in ways that deeply respect other people’s thoughts and experience.
• Share your experience, but refrain from trying to “fix”, save, convince, advise, or correct others experience in discussion times.
• Try to engage in conversations with honest, open questions instead of counsel or correction.
• When things get difficult, turn to wonder. If you feel judgmental or defensive, ask yourself, “I wonder what brought them to this belief?”, or “I wonder what my reaction is teaching me about myself?”
• Trust and learn from the silence, the voices of others, and the voice of the Holy Spirit. Pay attention to what each can teach us about ourselves, others, creation, and God.
• Maintain deep confidentiality. If/when thoughts, questions, or experiences are shared in a discussions, do not pass them along to others without permission.
• Be prepared to leave the event with “unfinished business”. Our hope is that you will learn many things during the event, but also that you would be invited to deeper searching and learning.

~ Adapted from Circles of Trust® Touchstones,  www.couragerenewal.org/approach