HeartEdge: Making room for Christ through Advent

 

Making room for Christ through Advent

This Advent, HeartEdge invites individuals, families, and communities to pause, reflect, and make space. Heartbeat of the Incarnation brings together three distinct but deeply connected Advent resources designed to help us live into the mystery of God with us – Emmanuel – in ways that are hopeful, and rooted in everyday life.

Weekly Group Study THE ADVENT HEARTBEAT COURSE

The four-week Bible study series is written for small groups, churches, and HeartEdge communities. It can be used during Advent or in the weeks leading up to it. Each session explores a key theme of incarnation and belonging:

• Saying ‘Yes’: Making Space in a World of Scarcity
• The Womb as Holy Ground: Finding God in Hidden Places
• The Cost of Love: Mary’s Labour, God’s Compassion
• Birthing Christ Today: Church on the Edge

Daily Reflections 25 DAILY ADVENT WONDERINGS

The day-by-day journey through Advent draws inspiration from the mystery of pregnancy and the hidden development of Christ in the womb. Each day includes:

• A reflection grounded in the developmental stages of pregnancy
• A wondering
• A reflective action – inviting heart, mind, and body to prepare room for Christ

This is more than a countdown to Christmas. It’s a call to transformation, to slow down and notice where Christ is already gestating in our midst – especially at the edges of our lives.

The books are available at £10 Please email heartedge@smitf.org to order with details of a postal address and HeartEdge will post and send an invoice with details of how to pay by BACS.


HeartEdge in Urban Communities - A Course of Discovery
A New Course for Urban Churches Exploring the HeartEdge Model

Are you part of a church in a town or city or suburb ? Do you long to see your local church thrive at the heart of your community—while staying faithful to your calling and context?

This new course has been created especially for urban churches, inspired by the HeartEdge 4Cs model of church . Compassion – Culture – Commerce – Congregational with a foundational trust in the God of Abundance.

This flexible and beautifully illustrated course can be run:

• As a one-day event or over six 90-minute sessions or two half -days
• Online or in person
• Led by local leaders or HeartEdge staff

Who is the course for? Clergy, lay leaders, Church Councils and church members – accessible to all denominations

What does it cost? HeartEdge are inviting a contribution of £10 from each participant to include a course book plus the on-line preparation session for the leader(s) and an on-line session at the end for practical advice on following up the ideas that emerge. However grants are available if such charges are a problem. They do not want a shortage of money to be a barrier to taking part.

For more information contact heartedge@smitf.org


HeartEdge in Rural Communities - A Course of Discovery

This seven-session course is designed to help rural churches explore the HeartEdge principles developed by Sam Wells: compassion, culture, commerce, and congregation.

It begins with an introduction to the foundational concept of abundance, encouraging participants to move beyond a mindset of scarcity and embrace God’s overflowing grace.

Each session focuses on one of the 4Cs, offering biblical reflections, practical examples, and open discussions to inspire creative approaches to ministry.

The course culminates in a session that ties together the insights and actions from the previous weeks, followed by a reflective gathering several months later to evaluate how ideas have developed in practice.

This course equips rural churches to recognise and celebrate the unique opportunities and gifts present in their contexts, encouraging collaboration and innovation.

It is offered to churches with a ‘donation’ of £10 per participant. (Subsidies are available if this is prohibitive.)

This will provide an online session to introduce the course and explain how it runs. And a further online session at the end to offer advice on how to develop the vision that emerges from the course.

For more information or to order copies of the book please contact Sian or Andrew Yates on heartedge@smitf.org

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Bernadette Farrell - Christ, Be Our Light.