humbler church Bigger God w/c Sunday 27th March 2022

 Welcome to our exciting HeartEdge programme for 2022. We hope you will be able to join us, whether at online events or at our in-person events around the world. You can find all our events on our website — and if you're a HeartEdge partner, you can upload your own events through the members' area.

Last year, we launched Living God's Future Now, an online festival of theology and practice. We hosted workshops, webinars, spaces to gather and share ideas, lecture series, and more. This year, we're continuing our programming with a new theme — humbler church, Bigger God.

HeartEdge is fundamentally about a recognition of the activity of the Holy Spirit beyond and outside the church, and about a church that flourishes when it seeks to catch up with what the Spirit is already doing in the world. There was a time when church meant a group that believed it could control access to God – access that only happened in its language on its terms. But God is bigger than that, and the church needs to be humbler than that. Kingdom churches anticipate the way things are with God forever – a culture of creativity, mercy, discovery and grace – and are grateful for the ways God renews the church through those it has despised, rejected, or ignored.

We hope this reflects the lessons we've learnt from the past year: still trying to live God's future now, re-imagining our faith and our calling as a Church in a changing world. Thank you for joining us for the journey — we can't wait to see what this year brings.

Church History course: 19.45 (GMT) Monday 28 March- Christendom; love it or hate it, you need to deal with it. This course provides an introduction to and an overview of church history. If we are to see a humbler Church and a bigger God, we need to deal with the history of the Church to understand where we are now, and why? Ruth Gouldbourne has been a Baptist minister for more than 30 years, ministering in churches in Bedford, London and Cheadle Hulme, as well as being a tutor at Bristol Baptist College. An Associate Fellow of Spurgeon's College, she is also Senior Research Fellow of IBTSC Amsterdam, and a Research Fellow of Bristol Baptist College. Register here.

Sermon Preparation with Sally Hitchiner and Sam Wells: 16:30 (GMT) Tuesday 29 March, livestreamed here. Sam Wells and Sally Hitchiner discuss Sunday's readings and offer practical tips on preaching.

Community of Practitioners workshop: 16:00 (GMT) Wednesday 30 March, Zoom meeting. Email jonathan.evens@smitf.org to register. This is a space for practitioners, lay and ordained, to reflect on theology and practice. Each week, we alternate between 'Wonderings' and discussion of a work of theology. Book to be read is ‘Improvisation’ by Sam Wells. 'Wonderings' help us to reflect and pray on what has stood out for each of us in the last week. Newcomers are very welcome.

Faith in the time of the ‘new normal’: Session three - Same boat or same storm?: 31st March 7:15pm. Register here. A series of Lenten conversations hosted by The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education. This series aims to help congregations and house groups reflect on how Christians may understand the changes we’ve been through as a society, and the new ‘place’ we may be entering. It will draw on and introduce participants to resources from the tradition and offer them some tools for reflection to carry forward towards Easter. Sessions will take place on Thursday evenings during Lent and will be streamed live from the Queen's chapel to groups gathered online. Resources will be provided for the weeks where there are no hosted sessions.

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St Martin's Voices - Gloria.

humbler church Bigger God w/c Sunday 13th March 2022

Welcome to our exciting HeartEdge programme for 2022. We hope you will be able to join us, whether at online events or at our in-person events around the world. You can find all our events on our website — and if you're a HeartEdge partner, you can upload your own events through the members' area.

Last year, we launched Living God's Future Now, an online festival of theology and practice. We hosted workshops, webinars, spaces to gather and share ideas, lecture series, and more. This year, we're continuing our programming with a new theme — humbler church, Bigger God.

HeartEdge is fundamentally about a recognition of the activity of the Holy Spirit beyond and outside the church, and about a church that flourishes when it seeks to catch up with what the Spirit is already doing in the world. There was a time when church meant a group that believed it could control access to God – access that only happened in its language on its terms. But God is bigger than that, and the church needs to be humbler than that. Kingdom churches anticipate the way things are with God forever – a culture of creativity, mercy, discovery and grace – and are grateful for the ways God renews the church through those it has despised, rejected, or ignored.

We hope this reflects the lessons we've learnt from the past year: still trying to live God's future now, re-imagining our faith and our calling as a Church in a changing world. Thank you for joining us for the journey — we can't wait to see what this year brings.

Church History course: Augustine towers over us all – 19:45 (GMT) Monday 14th March. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/church-history-course-tickets-280175220627. This course provides an introduction to and an overview of church history. If we are to see a humbler Church and a bigger God, we need to deal with the history of the Church to understand where we are now, and why? Ruth Gouldbourne has been a Baptist minister for more than 30 years, ministering in churches in Bedford, London and Cheadle Hulme, as well as being a tutor at Bristol Baptist College. An Associate Fellow of Spurgeon's College, she is also Senior Research Fellow of IBTSC Amsterdam, and a Research Fellow of Bristol Baptist College.

Sermon Preparation with Sally Hitchiner and Sam Wells - 16:30 (GMT) Tuesday 15th March, livestreamed here. Sam Wells and Sally Hitchiner discuss Sunday's readings and offer practical tips on preaching.

Community of Practitioners workshop - 16:00 (GMT) Wednesday 16th March, Zoom meeting. Email jonathan.evens@smitf.org to register. This is a space for practitioners, lay and ordained, to reflect on theology and practice. Each week, we alternate between 'Wonderings' and discussion of a work of theology. Book to be read is ‘Improvisation’ by Sam Wells. 'Wonderings' help us to reflect and pray on what has stood out for each of us in the last week. Newcomers are very welcome.

Faith in the time of the ‘new normal’: Session two - Living in the tension: 17th March 7:15pm. Register at https://form.jotform.com/212773252401043. A series of Lenten conversations hosted by The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education. This series aims to help congregations and house groups reflect on how Christians may understand the changes we’ve been through as a society, and the new ‘place’ we may be entering. It will draw on and introduce participants to resources from the tradition and offer them some tools for reflection to carry forward towards Easter. Sessions will take place on Thursday evenings during Lent and will be streamed live from the Queen's chapel to groups gathered online. Resources will be provided for the weeks where there are no hosted sessions.

Shut In Shut Out Shut Up: Disability & Church: Intersectionality- Mental Health: Friday 18th March, 16:30 GMT. Register here at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/shut-in-shut-out-shut-up-tickets-275653155007. Intersectionality is a way of describing how social categories (eg disability, race) combine to create overlapping systems of discrimination or disadvantage. In this 4th series of Shut In, Shut Out, Shut Up we explore the intersectional experience of disability and neurodiversity, gender, mental health, sexuality, race and poverty. What are the key issues in the context of faith? What are our calls to the church?

Music and Liturgy for Easter: Saturday 19 March, 11:00 – 12:00 GMT, Sacred Trinity Church, Chapel Street, Salford M3 5DW. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/music-and-liturgy-for-easter-tickets-275772501977. Andy Salmon (North West Co-ordinator of HeartEdge and Rector of Sacred Trinity Church) will give tips about creative liturgical resources for Easter whilst Andrew Earis (Director of Music at St Martin-in-the-Fields) and the Manchester HeartEdge Choral Scholars will share musical resources to help freshen up your Easter experience. We will be broadcasting on Zoom but people are also welcome to come in person.

Theology Group: Sunday, 20 March, 19:00 – 20:00 BST, zoom - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/theology-group-tickets-248745844517. 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. Each month Sam responds to questions from a member of the congregation of St Martin-in-the-Fields who also chairs the session and encourages your comments and questions. In March the chair will be Jonathan Evens, who will be exploring with Sam the extent to which we can be co-creators with God.

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Larry Norman - The Tune.

humbler church Bigger God w/c Sunday 27 February 2022

 

Welcome to our exciting HeartEdge programme for 2022. We hope you will be able to join us, whether at online events or at our in-person events around the world. You can find all our events on our website — and if you're a HeartEdge partner, you can upload your own events through the members' area.

Last year, we launched Living God's Future Now, an online festival of theology and practice. We hosted workshops, webinars, spaces to gather and share ideas, lecture series, and more. This year, we're continuing our programming with a new theme — humbler church, Bigger God.

HeartEdge is fundamentally about a recognition of the activity of the Holy Spirit beyond and outside the church, and about a church that flourishes when it seeks to catch up with what the Spirit is already doing in the world. There was a time when church meant a group that believed it could control access to God – access that only happened in its language on its terms. But God is bigger than that, and the church needs to be humbler than that. Kingdom churches anticipate the way things are with God forever – a culture of creativity, mercy, discovery and grace – and are grateful for the ways God renews the church through those it has despised, rejected, or ignored.

We hope this reflects the lessons we've learnt from the past year: still trying to live God's future now, re-imagining our faith and our calling as a Church in a changing world. Thank you for joining us for the journey — we can't wait to see what the next year brings.

Contemplation as a Gift to the Church: Humbler Church, Bigger God – Monday 28 February, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM GMT. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/contemplation-as-a-gift-to-the-church-humbler-church-bigger-god-tickets-242389342047. It can sometimes feel like the church is preoccupied with methods of church growth, discussing strategy, developing mission action plans, and resourcing leadership. During lockdown it was fascinating to see the resurgence of contemplative prayer and contemplative practices as people sought new ways to deepen their roots in the Christian faith.

Music and Liturgy for Lent - Mon, 28 February 2022 18:00 – 19:15 GMT Sacred Trinity Church, Chapel Street, Salford, M3 5DW. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/music-and-liturgy-for-lent-tickets-230380122147. Andy Salmon (North West Co-ordinator of HeartEdge and Rector of Sacred Trinity Church) will give tips about creative liturgical resources for Lent whilst Andrew Earis (Director of Music at St Martin-in-the-Fields) and the Manchester HeartEdge Choral Scholars will share musical resources to help freshen up your lenten experience. We will be broadcasting on Zoom but people are also welcome to come in person. On 19 March we will run a sister event on Music and Liturgy for Easter.

Church History course - Monday 28 February, 19:45–21:00 GMT, Zoom. Click here to register. This course provides an introduction to and an overview of church history. If we are to see a humbler Church and a bigger God, we need to deal with the history of the Church to understand where we are now, and why? Ruth Gouldbourne has been a Baptist minister for more than 30 years. Week 3 - Creeds, Councils and Controversies.

Sermon Preparation with Sally Hitchiner and Sam Wells: Tuesday 1st March, 16:30 – 17:30pm GMT live-streamed at https://www.facebook.com/theHeartEdge. Join us for our weekly discussion of the lectionary readings for the coming Sunday with Sam Wells and Sally Hitchiner.

Community of Practitioners workshop: Wednesday 2nd March, 16:00-17.00 (GMT), Zoom. Email jonathan.evens@smitf.org to register. This is a space for practitioners, lay and ordained, to reflect on theology and practice. Each week, we alternate between 'Wonderings' and discussion of a theology book. This week we will be discussing ‘Improvisation’ by Sam Wells.

Faith in the time of the ‘new normal’ - Thursday 3rd March, 7:15pm. Register at https://form.jotform.com/212773252401043. A series of Lenten conversations hosted by The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education. This series aims to help congregations and house groups reflect on how Christians may understand the changes we’ve been through as a society, and the new ‘place’ we may be entering. Where are we now? This session will explore where we are culturally in the wake of the pandemic, drawing on the Psalms to consider change, struggle and growth as an anchor for reflection.

Shut in Shut Out Shut Up: Disability & Church: Intersectionality- Friday 4th March 4.30pm- 6pm Zoom. Register at Shut In Shut Out Shut Up Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite. Exploring experience of disability and neurodiversity, gender, mental health, sexuality, race and poverty, with Fiona MacMillan and guests including: Molly Boot, Alex Clare-Young, Lamar Hardwick, Ann Memmott, Rachel Noel, Alexis Padilla.

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Aretha Franklin - Climbing Higher Mountains.

humbler church Bigger God - March 2022

HeartEdge is fundamentally about a recognition of the activity of the Holy Spirit beyond and outside the church, and about a church that flourishes when it seeks to catch up with what the Spirit is already doing in the world. There was a time when church meant a group that believed it could control access to God – access that only happened in its language on its terms. But God is bigger than that, and the church needs to be humbler than that. Kingdom churches anticipate the way things are with God forever – a culture of creativity, mercy, discovery and grace – and are grateful for the ways God renews the church through those it has despised, rejected, or ignored.

‘humbler church Bigger God’ is the new title for our ongoing online festival of theology, ideas and practice. We’ve developed this in response to our changing world. The church is changing too, and - as we improvise and experiment - we can learn and support each other. This is ‘humbler church Bigger God’’ - 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 online programme includes:

Regular workshops: Church History (Fortnightly on Mondays), Sermon Preparation (Weekly on Tuesdays) and Community of Practitioners (Weekly on Wednesdays)
One-off workshops and series on topics relevant to renewal of the broad church including Contemplation as a Gift to the Church and Reconciling Mission: Being Better Neighbours.

February's humbler church Bigger God programme includes:

Church History course:

A new course providing an introduction to and an overview of church history. If we are to see a humbler Church and a bigger God, we need to deal with the history of the Church to understand where we are now, and why. The course starts on Monday 24 January and runs twice a month at 7.45 pm on Mondays until 25 July (see below for dates and topics). It will be led by Rev Ruth Gouldbourne who has been a Baptist minister for more than 30 years, ministering in churches in Bedford, London and Cheadle Hulme, as well as being a tutor at Bristol Baptist College. An Associate Fellow of Spurgeon's College, she is also Senior Research Fellow of IBTSC Amsterdam, and a Research Fellow of Bristol Baptist College.

The schedule is as follows: Week 4 - Augustine towers over us all March 14; Week 5 - Christendom; love it or hate it, you need to deal with it March 28; Week 6 - A thousand years when nothing happened April 11; Week 7 - Middle ages; Light April 25; Week 8 - Middle Ages; Dark May 9; Week 9 - Middle Ages; Shadow May 23; Week 10 - Reform of all shapes and sizes June 6; Week 11 - Reason and romanticism June 27; Week 12 - Expansion and disintegration July 11; Week 13 - Reconfiguration – and nothing new under the sun. July 25.

Register for the Zoom link at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/church-history-course-tickets-280175220627.

Sermon Preparation with Sally Hitchiner and Sam Wells

Tuesdays, 16:30-17:30 GMT live-streamed at https://www.facebook.com/theHeartEdge. Join us for our weekly discussion of the lectionary readings for the coming Sunday with Sam Wells and Sally Hitchiner.

Community of Practitioners workshop:

Wednesdays at 16:00 (GMT), Zoom meeting. Email jonathan.evens@smitf.org to register. This is a space for practitioners, lay and ordained, to reflect on theology and practice. Each week, we alternate between 'Wonderings' and discussion of a work of theology. The book to be read is ‘Improvisation’ by Sam Wells. 'Wonderings' help us to reflect and pray on what has stood out for each of us in the last week. Newcomers are very welcome.

Shut In Shut Out Shut Up: Disability and Church: Intersectionality – Fridays, 4, 11, 18 March, 16:30 GMT. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/shut-in-shut-out-shut-up-tickets-275653155007. Intersectionality is a way of describing how social categories (eg disability, race) combine to create overlapping systems of discrimination or disadvantage. In this 4th series of Shut In, Shut Out, Shut Up we explore the intersectional experience of disability and neurodiversity, gender, mental health, sexuality, race and poverty. What are the key issues in the context of faith? What are our calls to the church? Since 2012 the Living Edge conference has held space for disabled and neurodivergent people to gather, to resource each other and the church. These HeartEdge events share some of this experience, providing new space to ask challenging questions. Join us for more honest conversations.

Speakers: hosted by Fiona MacMillan with guests including: Molly Boot, Alex Clare-Young, Lamar Hardwick, Kate Harford, Ann Memmott, Rachel Noel, Alexis Padilla.

Topics
4 March - Disability & Neurodiversity
11 March - Gender
18 March - Mental Health
10 June - Sexuality
17 June - Race
24 June - Poverty

Access information
Image description: Church building behind iron gates; gates are shut and locked with a padlock and metal chain.
90 minutes on Zoom in meeting mode. Each session combines input from speakers with time in small groups and plenary discussion.
BSL and automatic captions are available.
Sessions will be recorded and posted on the HeartEdge YouTube channel.
Previous series of Shut In Shut Out Shut Up can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO43Y1gJDjYT5iOQlxc3vpRbo8EfFWU80

Speakers

Fiona MacMillan (she/her) is a disability advocate, practitioner, speaker and writer. She chairs the Disability Advisory Group at St Martin in the Fields and is a trustee of Inclusive Church. Fiona leads the planning team for the annual Living Edge disability conference, now in its 11th year.
https://www.plough.com/en/topics/justice/politics/human-rights/calling-from-the-edge
Calling from the Edge (2017) & Something Worth Sharing (2019) (editor). Calls, ideas & practical resources for creating change - https://www.inclusive-church.org/disability
Fiona is on twitter @jpuddlegoose

Alex Clare-Young (they/them/Alex) is a pioneer minister in the United Reformed Church with a particular call towards working alongside those marginalised in church and society for social justice and equity for all. Alex’s lived experiences as a transmasculine non-binary person who is multiply neurodivergent and disabled inspires this call.
https://alexclareyoung.co.uk/ - Alex’s website
https://www.ionabooks.com/product/transgender-christian-human/ - Alex’s book
Alex is on twitter @alex_clareyoung and on Instagram @alex.clareyoung

Ann Memmott (she/they) is the author of the Church of England autism guidelines, and a member of the St Martin in the Fields/Inclusive Church disability conference planning team. Ann is autistic & disabled, and is a carer. Ann works nationally as an adviser on neurodivergent inclusion, working with a variety of organisations, and has been a regular contributor to Radio 4's Prayer for the Day.
https://d3hgrlq6yacptf.cloudfront.net/61f2fd86f0ee5/content/pages/documents/20211006-doc-mission-ministry-welcoming-autism-church-guidelines-v01.pdf
Ann's autism blog https://annsautism.blogspot.com/
Ann is on twitter @AnnMemmott

Rachel Noël (she/her), known locally as the Pink Vicar, is Priest in Charge of St Mark’s Church, Pennington, a HeartEdge church in the Diocese of Winchester. Creative, colourful, enthusiastic, autistic, ADHD, bipolar, and vulnerable to covid, she is passionate about diversity and inclusion. Rachel is a member of the Community of Hopeweavers.
Rachel's blog: thepinkvicar.com
Rachel is on twitter: @ThePinkVicar

Faith in the time of the ‘new normal’: Session one - Where are we now?: 3rd March 7:15pm. Register at https://form.jotform.com/212773252401043. A series of Lenten conversations hosted by The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education. This series aims to help congregations and house groups reflect on how Christians may understand the changes we’ve been through as a society, and the new ‘place’ we may be entering. It will draw on and introduce participants to resources from the tradition and offer them some tools for reflection to carry forward towards Easter. Sessions will take place on Thursday evenings during Lent and will be streamed live from the Queen's chapel to groups gathered online. Resources will be provided for the weeks where there are no hosted sessions. Thursday 3rd March: Where are we now? This session will explore where we are culturally in the wake of the pandemic, drawing on the Psalms to consider change, struggle and growth as an anchor for reflection.

Faith in the time of the ‘new normal’: Session two - Living in the tension: 17th March 7:15pm. Register at https://form.jotform.com/212773252401043. A series of Lenten conversations hosted by The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education. This series aims to help congregations and house groups reflect on how Christians may understand the changes we’ve been through as a society, and the new ‘place’ we may be entering. It will draw on and introduce participants to resources from the tradition and offer them some tools for reflection to carry forward towards Easter. Sessions will take place on Thursday evenings during Lent and will be streamed live from the Queen's chapel to groups gathered online. Resources will be provided for the weeks where there are no hosted sessions.

Music and Liturgy for Easter: Saturday 19 March, 11:00 – 12:00 GMT, Sacred Trinity Church, Chapel Street, Salford M3 5DW.

Theology Group: Sunday, 20 March, 19:00 – 20:00 BST, zoom - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/theology-group-tickets-248745844517. 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. Each month Sam responds to questions from a member of the congregation of St Martin-in-the-Fields who also chairs the session and encourages your comments and questions. In March the chair will be Jonathan Evens, who will be exploring with Sam the extent to which we can be co-creators with God.

How to Thrive Post-Covid: New Frameworks of Discovery - Thursday 24 March, 19:00 – 20:00, Zoom. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-thrive-post-covid-new-frameworks-of-discovery-tickets-260228770257. The three steps of design thinking are discovery, ideas, and trying. The process can also be used on existing ideas to see if they’re still working. This workshop will focus on several frameworks that can be useful in discerning what to keep and what to let go of post-Covid. Rather than simply relying on a “gut feeling,” we can use clear frameworks to penetrate the surface of an issue to identify what really matters at its core. This course is taught by the Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija, the founding director of the TryTank Experimental Lab, a joint venture for innovation in the church from Virginia Theological Seminary and General Theological Seminary. He is also the author of the “How to Try” book which came out July 20, 2021 from Church Publishing.

TryTank meet and greet - Thursday 24 March, 20:00 – 21:00, Zoom. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/trytank-meet-and-greet-tickets-262572029007. TryTank is the experimental lab for church innovation. Our work is to look ahead 10 years to where the church might be headed and use that foresight to inform our actions today. If you want to learn more about our work and perhaps partner on an experiment, join a conversation with the Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija, the director of TryTank.

Faith in the time of the ‘new normal’: Session three - Same boat or same storm?: 31st March 7:15pm. Register at https://form.jotform.com/212773252401043. A series of Lenten conversations hosted by The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education. This series aims to help congregations and house groups reflect on how Christians may understand the changes we’ve been through as a society, and the new ‘place’ we may be entering. It will draw on and introduce participants to resources from the tradition and offer them some tools for reflection to carry forward towards Easter. Sessions will take place on Thursday evenings during Lent and will be streamed live from the Queen's chapel to groups gathered online. Resources will be provided for the weeks where there are no hosted sessions.

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Al Green - Chariots Of Fire.

humbler church Bigger God - February 2022

HeartEdge is fundamentally about a recognition of the activity of the Holy Spirit beyond and outside the church, and about a church that flourishes when it seeks to catch up with what the Spirit is already doing in the world. There was a time when church meant a group that believed it could control access to God – access that only happened in its language on its terms. But God is bigger than that, and the church needs to be humbler than that. Kingdom churches anticipate the way things are with God forever – a culture of creativity, mercy, discovery and grace – and are grateful for the ways God renews the church through those it has despised, rejected, or ignored.

‘humbler church Bigger God’ is the new title for our ongoing online festival of theology, ideas and practice. We’ve developed this in response to our changing world. The church is changing too, and - as we improvise and experiment - we can learn and support each other. This is ‘humbler church Bigger God’’ - 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 online programme includes:

• Regular workshops: Church History (Fortnightly on Mondays), Sermon Preparation (Weekly on Tuesdays) and Community of Practitioners (Weekly on Wednesdays)
• One-off workshops and series on topics relevant to renewal of the broad church including Contemplation as a Gift to the Church and Reconciling Mission: Being Better Neighbours.

February's humbler church Bigger God programme includes:

Church History course:

A new course providing an introduction to and an overview of church history. If we are to see a humbler Church and a bigger God, we need to deal with the history of the Church to understand where we are now, and why. The course starts on Monday 24 January and runs twice a month at 7.45 pm on Mondays until 25 July (see below for dates and topics). It will be led by Rev Ruth Gouldbourne who has been a Baptist minister for more than 30 years, ministering in churches in Bedford, London and Cheadle Hulme, as well as being a tutor at Bristol Baptist College. An Associate Fellow of Spurgeon's College, she is also Senior Research Fellow of IBTSC Amsterdam, and a Research Fellow of Bristol Baptist College.

The schedule is as follows: Week 1 - Introduction; why church history? Jan 24; Week 2 - The Fathers – who they? Feb 7; Week 3 - Creeds, Councils and Controversies Feb 28; Week 4 - Augustine towers over us all March 14; Week 5 - Christendom; love it or hate it, you need to deal with it March 28; Week 6 - A thousand years when nothing happened April 11; Week 7 - Middle ages; Light April 25; Week 8 - Middle Ages; Dark May 9; Week 9 - Middle Ages; Shadow May 23; Week 10 - Reform of all shapes and sizes June 6; Week 11 - Reason and romanticism June 27; Week 12 - Expansion and disintegration July 11; Week 13 - Reconfiguration – and nothing new under the sun. July 25.

Register for the Zoom link at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/church-history-course-tickets-258950496907.

Sermon Preparation with Sally Hitchiner and Sam Wells

Tuesdays, 16:30-17:30 GMT live-streamed at https://www.facebook.com/theHeartEdge. Join us for our weekly discussion of the lectionary readings for the coming Sunday with Sam Wells and Sally Hitchiner. Please note that for w/c 6 February the Sermon Preparation Workshop will be on Monday 7 February at 4.30 pm, not on Tuesday.

Community of Practitioners workshop:

Wednesdays at 16:00 (GMT), Zoom meeting. Email jonathan.evens@smitf.org to register. This is a space for practitioners, lay and ordained, to reflect on theology and practice. Each week, we alternate between 'Wonderings' and discussion of a work of theology. Books to be read include ‘The Hidden Wound’ by Wendell Berry and ‘Improvisation’ by Sam Wells. 'Wonderings' help us to reflect and pray on what has stood out for each of us in the last week. Newcomers are very welcome.

Pioneer Practice... In Congregations | Compassion | Culture | Commerce with Jonny Baker and guests

Thursday 3 February, 8.00 pm. Change. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pioneer-practice-tickets-212413463387. As a pioneer you see something - a possibility, an idea, a way that things could be better or new of different. Then you make something happen out of what you see. This webinar series explores over four weeks how pioneering happens in practice. Its focus is how things happen on the ground. Each week Jonny will have two or three guests and get into the gritty day to day of how they pioneer. It’s ideal for you if you have started something or if you have an inkling or an idea you want to explore and get started. It would also be really useful to attend with a couple of others who you might pioneer something with. If you are a church leader it would be great for you too and do think of people in your church who might have the pioneer gift, whether they know it or not, and encourage them to come along. That idea might be starting a new Congregation - the Church of England for example is encouraging every parish to pioneer one. It might also be an idea related to Compassion in your community. It might be related to Commerce as a way of making good in the world through enterprise. Or it might be related to Culture. These are the four Cs of the HeartEdge network. Free! If you can’t make a session, recordings will be made available for those signed up to the series.

Contemplation as a Gift to the Church: Humbler Church, Bigger God

A four week series exploring different examples of how contemplation is a gift to the church. It can sometimes feel like the church is preoccupied with methods of church growth, discussing strategy, developing mission action plans, and resourcing leadership. During lockdowns it fascinating to see the resurgence of contemplative prayer and contemplative practices as people sought new ways to deepen their roots in the Christian faith. Religious community life for centuries has pointed to the riches of the Christian tradition. This series of four Monday afternoons 2-3.30pm will explore four contemplative communities that have emerged in the last decade that seek to anchor people in the roots of the Christian tradition with an openness, a humility and a joy. Come and immerse yourself each week in the charism of a particular community. Come ready to share your experiences of contemplation being a gift to the church.

• Monday 7 February, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM GMT. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/contemplation-as-a-gift-to-the-church-humbler-church-bigger-god-tickets-227021115267. Week One will look at the Nazareth Community and the Companions of Nazareth. The Nazareth Community was established at St Martin’s in March 2018, now with over eighty members. This workshop will be led by Revd Richard Carter and Revd Catherine Duce, and is an opportunity to learn about the life of the community, and to consider how it could be applied in your own contexts. Richard is the leader of the Nazareth Community and author of The City is My Monastery: a Contemporary Rule of Life; published by Canterbury Press in 2019. Revd Catherine Duce is Chaplain to the Companions of Nazareth which is a worldwide worshiping community that gathers online to help people to root their faith and local service in the 7 S's of the Nazareth Community - silence, sacrament, scripture, service, sharing, sabbath and staying with.
• Monday 14 February, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM GMT. Week two details to follow.
• Monday 21 February, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM GMT. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/contemplation-as-a-gift-to-the-church-humbler-church-bigger-god-tickets-242405931667. Week three focuses on St Thomas' Community in Derby. St Thomas Church is based in the heart of multicultural inner-city Derby. Over the last ten years, as St Thomas church building has been restored, the St Thomas’ Community has emerged. They are a small group exploring a new approach to church based on a deep commitment to prayer, hospitality and mission. St Thomas’ Community are affiliated to the Society of the Holy Trinity. This is an acknowledged Anglican Religious Society which is a community of communities focused on: Working in urban areas, intensifying people’s discipleship, serving the mission of the local church and growing the Kingdom of God. The twelve members of St Thomas’ Community have adopted a rhythm of life based on eight commitments: To prayer and worship; to learning and reconciliation; to service and hospitality; and to work and wellbeing. Presenters: Revd Dr Simon Cartwright – Prior. Passionate about seeking to share the love of God through mission and social justice. Simon has over 25 years experience in urban ministry - starting in regeneration and now as a Prior of the Community. Parish Priest and Area Dean of Derby City. Simon has a particular interest in urban theology, new monasticism and community development. In his spare time he loves working with wood, camping and sitting around a bonfire. Beth Hawkins – Sub Prior. Beth has been part of the St Thomas’ community from its beginning, prompted by her interest in local mission and new monasticism. She has spent that last 5 years working as a stay at home mum to two children. Before that Beth mainly worked in libraries, which happily combined her love of books and desire to help people.
• Monday 28 February, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM GMT. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/contemplation-as-a-gift-to-the-church-humbler-church-bigger-god-tickets-242389342047. It can sometimes feel like the church is preoccupied with methods of church growth, discussing strategy, developing mission action plans, and resourcing leadership. During lockdown it was fascinating to see the resurgence of contemplative prayer and contemplative practices as people sought new ways to deepen their roots in the Christian faith. Religious community life for centuries has pointed to the riches of the Christian tradition. This series of four Monday afternoons 2-3.30pm will explore four contemplative communities that have emerged in the last decade that seek to anchor people in the roots of the Christian tradition with an openness, a humility and a joy. Come and immerse yourself each week in the charism of a particular community. Come ready too to share your experiences of contemplation being a gift to the church. Monday 28 February 2-3.30pm. Week Four will be led by the contemplative worshiping community of Foundation in Bristol. Foundation is a contemplative Christian community in Bristol, within the Anglican tradition. Our worship is shaped by ancient and contemporary sources, ranging from monastic and mystical traditions to creative and multimedia reflections. With a vision to be a Mystical/Contemplative, Socially Engaged, Inclusive and Creative community, we seek to be shaped by, and embody, these values through our shared life together. Contributors: Revd David Stephenson - Priest Accompanier of Foundation Bristol, Co-Interim Area Dean Bristol City Deanery, Vicar of Cotham Parish Church and St Paul’s Clifton. Simon Rotheram - Member of Foundation Bristol.

Being Better Neighbours

Tuesday, 15 February, 2:00pm. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/being-better-neighbours-tickets-230437273087. What does it look like for Christians and our churches to be better neighbours to those in our local communities? This conversation will explore how our churches can be good neighbours, including shifting from seeing ourselves as the benefactors of local communities, to being companions, collaborative hosts and recipients of neighbourly love. Thus recognising that the Holy Spirit can work through our neighbours, as much as through confessing Christians, and noticing that the blessing is always two-way. With: Alastair McKay (facilitating), Executive Director, Reconciliation Initiatives; Al Barrett, Vicar of Hodge Hill, Diocese of Birmingham; Ellen Loudon, Director of Social Justice & Canon Chancellor, Liverpool Diocese; Karen Lund, Archdeacon of Manchester, Diocese of Manchester; and Tom Wilson, Director, St Philip’s Centre, Leicester.

Music and Liturgy for Lent

Saturday 19 February, 11:00 – 12:00 GMT, Sacred Trinity Church, Chapel Street, Salford M3 5DW. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/music-and-liturgy-for-lent-tickets-230380122147. With Andrew Earis and the HeartEdge Choral Scholars teaching songs, hymns and chants for Lent. Andy Salmon (North West Co-ordinator of HeartEdge and Rector of Sacred Trinity Church will give tips about creative liturgical resources for Lent whilst Andrew Earis (Director of Music at St Martin-in-the-Fields) and the Manchester HeartEdge Choral Scholars will share musical resources to help freshen up your lenten experience. We will be broadcasting on Zoom but people are also welcome to come in person. On 19 March we will run a sister event on Music and Liturgy for Easter.

Theology Group

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. Each month Sam responds to questions from a member of the congregation of St Martin-in-the-Fields who also chairs the session and encourages your comments and questions.

Advance dates for Theology Group meetings online are: Feb 20, March 20. On 20 Feb the chair will be Rachel Godden. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/theology-group-tickets-248741942847.

Find our archive of Living God’s Future Now sessions at - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWUH-ngsbTAKMxCJmoIc7mQ.

The humbler church Bigger Church series also coincides with the publication of Samuel Wells, 'Humbler Faith, Bigger God: Finding a Faith to Live By', a major new articulation of the Christian faith that sees criticism as a gift to foster renewal. https://canterburypress.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781786224187/humbler-faith-bigger-god (Pub date 29 April 2021)

“I’m not sure who else alive could have written this book. Scholars are not usually this accessible. Pastors not usually this sharp-eyed. Critics not usually this devastating. Advocates not usually so beautiful. This unusual book calls to mind Augustine’s heart, Aquinas’s mind, Day’s activism, Temple’s leadership. You say I exaggerate? Take up and read before you tell me I’m wrong.”

— Jason Byassee, Butler Professor of Homiletics and Biblical Hermeneutics at Vancouver School of Theology

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Bryan Maclean - A Steadfast Love and Fortress is My God.

humbler church Bigger God - w/c 23 January 2022

We're looking forward to welcoming you to an exciting new HeartEdge programme for 2022 and hope you will be able to join us, whether at online events or at our in-person events around the world. You can find all our events on our website — and if you're a HeartEdge partner, you can upload your own events through the members' area.

Last year, we launched Living God's Future Now, an online festival of theology and practice. We hosted workshops, webinars, spaces to gather and share ideas, lecture series, and more. This year, we're continuing our programming with a new theme — humbler church, Bigger God. We hope this reflects the lessons we've learnt from the past year: still trying to live God's future now, re-imagining our faith and our calling as a Church in a changing world. Thank you for joining us for the journey — we can't wait to see what the next year brings.

Sunday

Theology Group

Zoom,
Sunday 23 January, 19:00-20:00 GMT
Register here.
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, the chair will be Wendy Quill and we will explore how we might bring Mary into theology in a way that celebrates rather than ignores her vital role in the life of Christ.

Monday

Church History course
Zoom
Monday 24 January, 19:45 - 21:00 GMT
Register here.
This course provides an introduction to and an overview of church history. If we are to see a humbler Church and a bigger God, we need to deal with the history of the Church to understand where we are now, and why? With Ruth Gouldbourne, who has been a Baptist minister for more than 30 years. Week 1 Introduction; why church history?

Tuesday

Sermon Preparation workshop with Sally Hitchiner and Sam Wells

Livestream
Tuesday 25 January, 16:30 -17:30 GMT
Live streamed on the HeartEdge Facebook page here.
A live preaching workshop focusing on the forthcoming Sunday's lectionary readings in the light of current events and share thoughts on approaches to the passages.

Wednesday

Community of Practitioners workshop

Zoom
Wednesday 26 January, 16:00-17:00 GMT
Email Jonathan Evens on jonathan.evens@smitf.org to take part.
This is a space for practitioners, lay and ordained, to reflect on theology and practice. Each week, we alternate between 'Wonderings' and discussion of a theology book. This week we will be discussing 'The Hidden Wound' by Wendell Berry.

Thursday

Pioneer Practice
Zoom
Thursday 27 January, 20:00-21:10 GMT
Register here.
In our four-part webinar series, Jonny Baker will be joined each week in conversation with guests to explore on-the-ground practicalities of pioneer ministry. Come along if you’re thinking of starting a new congregation or initiative, want to brainstorm practical solutions to problems in pioneer ministry, or just want to learn more about pioneering.

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Delirious? - Stare The Monster Down.

My Greenbelt 2012 journal (2)

Saturday 25^th August

A hot shower, cooked breakfast and good conversation at the Rectory where I staying provide a great beginning to a day that will see torrential showers and the resulting quagmire.

John Polkinghorne highlighted the particularity of our universe by means of the specific conditions which created carbon. The universe was pregnant with rich potentiality and possibility from the very beginning but in very short spaces of time finely tuned chemical reactions were required for life to emerge; slight differences would have meant that the carbon necessary for life could not have developed. At the opposite extreme, a very large universe is required for life to emerge and our universe is sufficiently large. The particular conditions for life met within our universe point to a fine tuning of the laws of nature - creation. This is an enduring condition with new things coming into being under particular circumstances at the edge of chaos where life is neither too ordered or too haphazard. This is the snake in Eden – evolution comes at a cost; ragged edges and blind alleys. Creation has to exist at a distance from the Creator for free will to genuinely operate. Therefore, the mutation of cells at the edge of chaos has a shadow side; cells can mutate in ways that are malignant (cancerous) as well as benign. This is the inevitable cost of a world able to make itself through an evolving chemistry of life.

The universe is expanding and cooling; the eventual result will be its end in futility and decay. “The more I understand the universe, the more it seems pointless,” says Stephen Weinberg. Christianity speaks, however, of the faithfulness of the Creator and a destiny after death. Continuity and discontinuity is therefore implied. The constantly changing atoms of our bodies carry the information, pattern or structure of our character and memories. This pattern is the real person and could be preserved in the divine mind to be resurrected in the different matter of a future different body and world. New matter transformed from the old. Jesus’ resurrection is the seed event for this possibility and sacraments are occasions when the veil between this world and the next is thinned.

Based on this I write:

In the tension of the now and not yet,

between order and disintegration,

between anarchy and regimentation,

in between, the broken middle,

the crack where the light gets in,

is the edge of chaos where life evolves,

where change occurs not free of cost –

ragged edges, blind alleys, the snake in Eden –

evolution into consciousness, falling up.

Diarmaid MacCulloch spoke about his attempt to show the wider public the importance of Church history by reshaping the way the story is told. Christianity is a personality cult as Jesus is the one constant in the diversity of the faith. Christians tell stories about Jesus in which audacious claims are made about his divinity and continuing presence. The Bible is a diverse library of books. The ideas at the heart of all world religions are flexible and change as the religions mutate and change to survive.

Christianity has unstable roots are it has two different sources; Judaism and Hellenism. Judaism speaks of a passionate, angry God while the Greeks spoke of a perfect, unchanging God. The first four centuries of Christianity are trying to reconcile these two dichotomies. Christianity, therefore, is essentially a question. A key moment is this debate comes with the Council of Calcedon in 451CE. The compromise worked out there has come to characterise Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox expressions of the faith but at the time it was a disaster as it was not accepted by two-thirds of the Church. It was only because of the growth of Islam and its later development of a missionary aspect which caused the fading of the influence and ideas of that two-thirds Church which had rejected Calcedon. This was historical accident which could easily have been different if the influence of the Church of the East had been maintained. Historically, it is clear that the Church has always been diverse.

McCulloch was asked about accessible Early Church histories and didn’t provide much in the way of ideas but could have pointed to the excellent Video Timeline Project by Tim Hull at St John’s Nottingham which was being promoted in G-Source.

The rains came while Pádraig Ó Tuama, who seems to be the unofficial poet laureate of Greenbelt, was entertaining us with lengthy comedic introductions to the short depressive ‘Reading from the Book of Exile’ poems (his description). There were more poetic songs from Bruce Cockburn in an unplugged session at the Big Top. “I’m thinking ‘bout eternity. Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me,” lines from ‘Wondering where the Lions are’, which could sum up the GB12 content thus far.

My own poem seems to have reached what may be a realised final form:

There is no culmination, no end to need or greed,

no resolution - the need to dim the lights never ceases.

Your people age and fail and demand unless I cry,

‘No more, no more,’ and die. When will the culmination come?

When needs are met? When work ceases? When demands are done?

Always more, more, more. Human selfishness calls love without limits

into being –the tap of love turned full on – ever-flowing.

No end, no culmination, no resolution.

Take up the cross, become the host;

continually broken, consumed and re-membered.

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Pádraig Ó Tuama - Readings from the Book of Exile.