Heavenly Harmonies: All Saints Hertford

HeartEdge members All Saints Hertford are excited to announce a new monthly concert series, exploring well-loved classics of the sacred choral repertoire though word and song. Refreshments from 11.00 with a 45-minute concert from 11.15 to 12.00 noon. Free Admission with Retiring Collection in aid of Church Funds.

Each of the monthly concerts will have an appropriate seasonal theme:

• October 12th: Harvest
• November 9th: Remembrance
• December 7th: Advent
• January 11th: The Wise Men
• February 8th: Simeon & Anna
• March 7th: Lent and Passiontide
• May 9th: Eastertide
• June 13th: Pentecost and Trinity

To launch the series, they are delighted to welcome St Martin's Voices and Andrew Earis on Saturday 24th August when they will take their audience through the entire year.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

St Martin's Voices -  I Stood On The River Of Jordan.

Exploring the theology of HeartEdge

HeartEdge held an event at St Martin-in-the-Fields this week where a selection of HeartEdge branded books were launched. Andy Goodliff interviewed Sam Wells on themes addressed within ‘For Good: The Church and the Future of Welfare’, 'Incarnational Mission', ‘Who Is My Neighbour? The Global and Personal Challenge’ and ‘Liturgy on the Edge: Pastoral and Attractional Worship’. 

In recent months, a series of books have been published by Sam, often in collaboration, with others which set out key aspects of the theology that informs the design and practice of HeartEdge. As a result, several of these books carry the HeartEdge logo. These are books which speak into key issues and situations of our time in ways that have been described as timely, valuable and courageous. They are commended to us as richly challenging, deeply engaging and as being outstanding guides. Exploring their themes tonight therefore promises to be enriching on many levels.

Guiding us in our exploration of themes from the books was Andy Goodliff, the Minister at Belle Vue Baptist Church in Southend-on-Sea. Belle Vue were among the first churches to join HeartEdge and Andy subsequently explained the reasoning behind that decision in an article published by Baptist Times. In the article, Andy said that ‘HeartEdge feels different, in that it is practical theology, where the theology is not just a veneer, but running right through it.’ His interview with Sam enabled discussion of the theology that underpins the support and networking which HeartEdge offers, as well as providing the opportunity to listen to Sam talk about the theology of “Being With.”

A video of this interview can be viewed by clicking here.

“Who is my Neighbour?” The Global and Personal Challenge will have a further launch at St Martin's on 21 May at 7.00pm when Sam will chair an exciting panel discussion with Rabbi Shulamit Ambalu, Dr Megan Warner, Revd Richard Carter and Sam Ahmad Ziaee (who will tell the story of his journey aged 16 from Afghanistan to the UK). “This richly challenging and deeply engaging book merits careful consideration at a time when fear of the “other” threatens to overwhelm us. In simple terms its theme is migration but actually it’s about being human.” The Rt Revd Adrian Newman Bishop of Stepney. “This brilliant book addresses one of the most urgent questions of our time: how to welcome the strangers who come seeking a home with us.” Timothy Radcliffe. The event is free and open to all. Copies of the book will be on sale at £10. The Eventbrite link is https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/who-is-my-neighbour-the-global-and-personal-challenge-tickets-44409049663.

HeartEdge is a growing ecumenical network of churches and other organisations which are contributing to God's mission in the world by ministry with diverse, inclusive congregations that combines compassionate activities, commercial activities and cultural programming. HeartEdge members see all of these as missional and aim to integrate all four for maximum impact.

HeartEdge has been initiated by St Martin-in-the-Fields and the 4C's form the mission model that has been used here for the past 30 years. It is a model that is used by or which makes sense of the mission and ministry of churches throughout the UK and beyond. For that reason, churches Aberdeen to Amsterdam, Bristol to Birmingham, and all points in between including Dunfermline, Edinburgh, Hull, London, Norwich, Rochdale, Shoeburyness, Swaffham and Utrecht, among others, have already joined the network.

In addition to the Book Launch, HeartEdge has recently organised a well attended day on Churches & Commerce at St Martin in the Bull Ring and last week ran a consultancy day for HeartEdge member All Saints Hertford exploring options for developing their existing ministry. For Consultancy Days we gather a small hand-picked team of people from member churches to visit a specific church for a day, spending the morning seeing and hearing about their ministry, buildings and context, before using the afternoon to share stories of relevant experience and thoughtshower ideas and approaches which may be of use within that context. The church was grateful for the time and input of the HeartEdge group, all of whom added real value.There seemed to be several points during the afternoon at which ‘lights were coming on’ for particular people or for the church group as a whole, together with a range of ideas and responses that also emerged from the day. Further consultancy days are being planned for churches in Bristol, Redruth and Southwark.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carolyn Arends - Seize The Day.

Angels amidst the acetate

Paul Trathen will be leading a workshop on Angels amidst the acetate: Some glimpses of those we have entertained at the cinema as part of Entertaining Angels Unawares, the Exploring Prayer & Spirituality Day to be held on Saturday 29th September at All Saint's Hertford from 10.00am - 3.30pm.

Film is an allusive medium, well able to suggest realities just a little more subtle, mysterious and wonderful than the everyday. It is also a mass medium, telling accessible and powerful stories. This workshop - illustrated with a series of film clips - will explore iconography and narrative strands of a number of films and genres which might just glimpse the angelic …

There are accounts of the work and ministry of Angels throughout Bible and for many in our modern age that is where Angels remain - in history. Having had Angels captured by the

New Age spirituality that pervades society, the Exploring Prayer and Spirituality Day will seek to answer questions such as:

• If God used angels in the past, are they still here now?
• How do we understand and know Angels as part of Christian faith and practice today?
• What can we learn from Angels about the message of faithfulness and hospitality?

With workshops rooted firmly in the Scriptures, in the worshipping life of the church and in the teachings of our forebears in faith, the day has a range of Workshops to encourage exploration and delight in the calling that we should:

not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2)

The Keynote Speaker will be The Reverend Canon Pam Wise MBE, Vicar of All Saint’s South Oxhey.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John Tavener - Song of the Angel.

Everyday Icons (2)

Just back from Everyday Icons, a day organised by the Diocesan Initiative on Spirituality in the St Albans Diocese which was held at All Saints Hertford and was designed to provide new ways of seeing and new ways of understanding all that forms part of modern day living.

Worship was led by broken, a growing alternative worship community which gathers at St Mary’s, East Barnet on the second Sunday of each month. The opening worship focused on the diversity of the Body of Christ and the closing worship on calling out to Christ in the busyness of our lives. Richard Watson, a facebook friend, is the priest at St Mary's and led a seminar on Messy Spirituality at the day, so it was good to catch up with his news and to experience worship with broken.

The keynote speaker was Brian Draper who spoke about Spiritual Intelligence (the title and topic of his latest book). This is a term coined by Danah Zohar which builds on Daniel Goleman's work on Emotional Intelligence (EQ). Spiritual Intelligence (SQ) involves values and meaning and is the unifier of Intellectual Intelligence (IQ) and Emotional Intelligence. Brian unpacked his understanding and application of the term in an entertaining and apposite fashion before suggesting for icons of SQ in the alarm clock (awakening), the eye (seeing), the paint brush and palette (creativity), and the arrow (passing it on).

We uncovered several synergies between Brian's presentation and my own material in the workshop I led on praying through the everyday. The idea of ordinary objects such as clocks and paint brushes as icons of the divine was fundamental but we also linked our discussion of prayerful attention to Brian's story of feeling at one with his surrounding while running. I showed my Windows on the World photographs in talking of seeing everyday objects from fresh perspectives and looking for shapes, patterns and significance. I also shared the following developing meditation on prayer as attention paid:

Prayer is attention paid
noticing the beauty
and interest
of pattern
and content
in ordinary occurrence

Attention paid
is giving
and receiving –
giving notice,
interest, recognition
and receiving
the gift
of the world’s being

Being at
attention
is
alertness
readiness
preparation
intention
prayer

Being at-
tension
is
paradox
betweenness
standing in
the broken middle
receiving the
beauty and
terror of
the world’s being
praying
the generative words,
‘let there be.’

There was a real buzz about this day with excellent numbers attending and people really engaging with the material presented. Local churches have another event planned on similar lines as Ian Mobsby, Priest-Missioner with the Moot Community, will be leading an evening entitled New Ways of doing Old Spirituality at the Mayflower, Hertingfordbury on Friday 6th November at 7.30pm.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Staple Singers - Reach Out, Touch A Hand, Make A Friend.

Everyday Icons

We all know and recognise without thinking images and icons around us - from film and rock stars to shop logos and brand names - and now computer icons too. They are all around us and are so much part of our every day and everyday existence we never really think about them and the amount of ‘space’ they take up.

Sometimes we need help to clear away the clutter and image that presses in on every side and look with new eyes at all that we see and do. 'Everyday Icons' is a day organised by the Diocesan Initiative on Spirituality in the St Albans Diocese designed to provide just that, new ways of seeing and new ways of understanding all that forms part of modern day living.

Looking to the rich heritage that is ours, the workshops call on ancient traditions - from monastic to Celtic - to help us discover meaning in our every day and everyday life. At the end of the day, we want people to go away with tools for the journey that will inform and enhance the spiritual journey - the journey with God.

Brian Draper is the keynote speaker. He will be known to many from ’Thought for the Day’ as well as being a well regarded figure in the theological world where he has done much work to explore the interface between contemporary culture and Christianity.

I will be running a workshop called 'Stop! Don’t de-clutter it all: Praying through the everyday'. This will explore what we can do with all the ‘stuff’ that we find at the bottom of our handbags, briefcases or pockets? Keys, receipts, paperclips and more can be used as the basis for prayer. This workshop will help you find out how!

Everyday Icons: Finding God in everyday life is happening on Saturday 17th October 2009 from 10am - 3pm at All Saints Church & Richard Hale School, Hertford.

Worship will be by broken, a growing alternative worship community on the edge of London. broken are a community of people from a variety of backgrounds seeking to express and explore a 21st century spirituality rooted in the christian tradition. They gather at St Mary’s, East Barnet on the second Sunday of each month at 7pm and usually round off the evening with a drink before folk go their separate ways. They are an inclusive community, believing that unity can be found in diversity, that the sacred is sometimes found in the profane, and that life and light are to be discovered in that which is broken.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

alternative worship images.