Living God's Future Now - w/c 27 June 2021

 

'Living God’s Future Now’ is our mini online festival of theology, ideas and practice.

We’ve developed this in response to the pandemic and our changing world. The church is changing too, and - as we improvise and experiment - we can learn and support each other.

This is 'Living God’s Future Now’ - talks, workshops and discussion - hosted by HeartEdge. Created to equip, encourage and energise churches - from leaders to volunteers and enquirers - at the heart and on the edge.

The focal event in ‘Living God’s Future Now’ is a monthly conversation where Sam Wells explores what it means to improvise on God’s kingdom with a leading theologian or practitioner.

The online programme includes:

• Regular weekly workshops: Biblical Studies (Mondays fortnightly), Sermon Preparation (Tuesdays) and Community of Practitioners (Wednesdays)
• One-off workshops on topics relevant to lockdown such as ‘Growing online communities’ and ‘Grief, Loss & Remembering’
• Monthly HeartEdge dialogue featuring Sam Wells in conversation with a noted theologian or practitioner

Find earlier Living God’s Future Now sessions at https://www.facebook.com/pg/theHeartEdge/videos/?ref=page_internal.

Regular – Weekly or Fortnightly

Tuesdays: Sermon Preparation Workshop, 16:30 (GMT), livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/theHeartEdge/. Please note there will be no Sermon Preparation workshop on Tuesday 6 April.

Wednesdays: Community of Practitioners workshop, 16:30 (GMT), Zoom meeting. Email jonathan.evens@smitf.org to register.

Fortnightly on Mondays: Biblical Studies class, 19:30-21:00 (GMT), Zoom meeting. Register in advance: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMrcOmgrTgsHt2ceY7LepLhQYqQxS1G1ix9 2021 dates - Gospels & Acts.

W/c 27 June 2021

Sunday

Theology Group - Sunday 27 June, 19:00 (BST), Zoom. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/theology-group-tickets-155515644479. The St Martin-in-the-Fields and HeartEdge Theology Group provides a monthly opportunity to reflect theologically on issues of today and questions of forever with Sam Wells. This month Wendy Quill of the St Martin' PCC will be chair and be asking questions about Jesus, racism and anti-racism.

Tuesday

Sermon Preparation Workshop: Tuesday 29 June, 16:30 (BST), livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/theHeartEdge. Discussion of preaching and the lectionary readings for the coming Sunday with Sam Wells and Sally Hitchiner.

Wednesday

Community of Practitioners workshop: Wednesday 30 June, 16:00 (BST), Zoom meeting. Email jonathan.evens@smitf.org to register. A gathering for church leaders, lay and ordained, with opportunities for reflection on experience and theology.

Thursday

Creation Care Course - Week 3: Living Climate Change – Stories from Melanesia: Thursday 01 July, 16:30-18:00 BST, Zoom. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/4-week-creation-care-course-tickets-145829458837?fbclid=IwAR0GX9eziBXIu-maafuP_nAMtoHRdbBthqoV9J-PI83mpQ_Yq46SftYMfb4. The environment is God’s gift to everyone. In this 4-week Creation Care Course, we will provide you with vital information about climate change, its impacts on people, and reflect on our role as Christians in taking practical climate action. Week 3: Living Climate Change – Stories from Melanesia, we will learn about the effects of climate change on people and draw upon examples of climate impacts and human responses in Melanesia.

Coming Up

Mission Summer School: 12 - 16 July 2021

Engage more deeply with the theology of mission and explore how it relates to your own practice.

Register at https://bit.ly/3pHkwWE

Programme

• Input structured around the four Cs of Commerce, Culture, Congregation and Compassion.
• A mix of teaching and conversation with leading scholars and practitioners including Dupe Adefala, James Butler, Andrea Campanale, Revd Heather Cracknell, Professor Maggi Dawn, Revd Jonathan Evens, Rev Richard Frazer, Shannon Hopkins, Revd James Hughesdon, Zaza Lima, The Ven. Rosemarie Mallett, Professor Anthony Reddie, Dr Cathy Ross, Rachel Summers, Revd Dr Sam Wells, and Revd Erica Wooff, among others.
• Workshops to engage with the themes and issues presented.
• Encounters with churches, organisations and projects (HeartEdge and Fresh Expressions) to get a hands-on feel for how it works out in practice including: American International Church, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, Forest Church, Notre Dame de France, Sacred Space Kingston, St Barnabas Ealing, St John’s Waterloo, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St Paul’s Marylebone, and The Table Southall, among others.

A week aimed at practitioners wanting to engage more deeply with the theology of mission and explore how it relates to their own practice. Also for those already studying providing an opportunity to be immersed in the theology and practice of mission.

Structured around the four Cs of Commerce, Culture, Congregation and Compassion from the book ‘A Future Bigger than the Past’ by Sam Wells, each morning Sam will teach on each of those areas providing the framework for the day. Participants will encounter churches/groups/organisations with a particular focus on the day’s theme. This might include viewing activities, meeting people involved, hearing testimonies from the work, and engaging with some of the challenges and complexities involved.

Each evening we will invite to people to be part of a conversation about the theme of the day. We will open-up these conversations about practice and theology to include participants in discussion. The evening programme is also offered as a stand-alone strand for those unable to join the main summer school.

The mission summer school comes from partnership between HeartEdge and St Augustine’s College which provides in-depth and experiential engagement with the theology and practice of mission.

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Linda Perhacs - Winds Of The Sky.