Living God's Future Now

An exceptional time of encouragement and inspiration was had today in the Living God's Future Now HeartEdge event held at St Andrew's Wickford.

There was great input from Sam Wells, HeartEdge, Being With, Andrew Earis and the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields. We explored new approaches to mission, covered a wide range of ideas, and each found something inspiring to take home.

Sam Wells and other inspiring speakers shared insights and explored the 4 C's (Commerce, Compassion, Culture, Congregation). We connected with colleagues, shared ideas and were involved in Being With workshops. We also discussed music in mission and enjoyed live performances.

A panel session with practitioners from the Diocese of Chelmsford/Essex explored initiatives that have used one each of the 4 Cs including: Revd Katie Miller & Bill Miller (St Mary’s Becontree) – Community Drama (Culture); Felix Atkin (Sharesy) - platform for hall hire (Commerce); Revd Andy Griffiths (Lead Adviser for Wellbeing and Formation, Diocese of Chelmsford, & Continuing Ministry Development Adviser, Bradwell Area) – Community Organising (Compassion); Revd Alan Moss (Estates Youth Missional Lead for the Diocese of Chelmsford) – Retro Gaming (Congregation).

We enjoyed Great Sacred Music, a 35-minute sequence of words and music which explores through song and readings the great classical music of our religious heritage.

There were workshops on Being With, a life changing way to help people explore the Christian faith. Being With helps people consider Christian faith in new and refreshing ways, without needing prior knowledge, but a simple willingness to share what you do know or feel. 10 additional courses will be launched later this year. They use the same methodology but cover other topics - Church, Creation, Baptism, End of Life and Being With your Significant Other to name a few.

In the evening we enjoyed music for journeying from the earthly joys found in the English countryside to the celestial splendours of heaven with the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields. The Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields sing for services, concerts and events at St Martin’s, covering a huge range of repertoire from the Renaissance to the present day.

Tomorrow, we will take a walk through Wickford Memorial Park opening our hearts to God’s presence in creation, in the local neighbourhood and in one another.

 
Join us for a contemplative prayer walk on Saturday 28 June in Wickford Memorial Park led by Revd Catherine Duce, Assistant Vicar for the Companions of Nazareth, St Martin-in-the-Fields.

The walk will be begin from the main entrance gates to the Park off the Runwell Road at 9.00 am. Join in person or on Facebook Live (https://www.facebook.com/WickfordandRunwellCofE/).

It will be followed by a Quiet Day at St Marys Runwell called 'A Path with a Heart: Seeking inspiration from the Nazareth Community', also with Revd Catherine Duce. The Quiet Day begins at 10.30 am.
Silence and contemplative prayer are at the very heart of the Nazareth rule of life. We are formed by this silence. As we enter into silence, we place ourselves in the presence of Christ. We create the place and space for a deeper listening to God, the longings of our own souls and we grow in a deep compassion for the world. In this session we will delve deeply into silent prayer and carve space to listen to the Spirit at work in our lives.

No experience necessary. Come simply ready to rest in the presence of God.

Our aim has been to explore and experience a range of mission models and approaches advocated by HeartEdge in order to resource existing mission and imagine new missional approaches or initiatives. These two days are about ideas, connections, doing theology and mission. Approaches/initiatives to be shared include: the 4 Cs; Great Sacred Music; Being With; and The Nazareth Community/Companions of Nazareth.

Since its launch in 2017, HeartEdge has grown to become an international ecumenical movement of churches, notable for its energy and diversity. It rests on two theological foundations: that (1) God is giving the church everything it needs, but too often the church is slow to recognise gifts that come in the form of the stranger or the new venture (2) From the exile of 585 BC, God’s people have habitually experienced renewal emerging out of times of setback, hardship and failure.

Its method is to identify the 4Cs – reimagining church and society through commerce, culture, compassion and congregational life. This means to seek congregational renewal and growth through trusting cultural and charitable initiatives to be sources of energy rather than causes of exhaustion, and to transform financial sustainability through commercial ventures.

HeartEdge is a vision and a movement for renewing church. Renewing means reimagining, empowering and growing. https://www.heartedge.org/

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Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields - Morning Song. 

Apply for the HeartEdge Manchester Choral Scholarships 2021-22

The HeartEdge Manchester Choral Scholarships 2021-22 are a new initiative of stimulating and educative choral training based in the heart of Manchester at St Ann’s Church. The scheme is aimed at choral singers wishing to embark on a professional career in singing. The Choral Scholarships provide an opportunity for nine singers to enjoy an intensive, focused period of development alongside others of a similar standard and interests whilst contributing to a thriving tradition of musical excellence in the city centre parish of St Ann’s Church.

The Choral Scholarships are part of a collaborative project between the Diocese of Manchester and the St Martin-in-the-Fields HeartEdge Network. The main focus of the scholarship will be regular services at St Ann’s on Saturdays during term-time, as well as musical activities at Sacred Trinity Salford and the Hub Church of Ascension, Hulme.

The Choral Scholarship programme is overseen by Andrew Earis, Director of Music at St Martin-in-the-Fields, working with a range of guest conductors and expert choral workshop leaders.

Applications for the HeartEdge Manchester Choral Scholarships 2021-22 are now open! More information can be found on the Choral Scholarship Information Document.

Please complete the application form and send, along with a current CV, by email to Ailsa Campbell, HeartEdge Manchester Choral Scholarships Coordinator, at music@heartedgemanchester.org.

The deadline for applications is 5.00pm on Friday 27th August.

 

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Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields - Choral Evensong.

Manchester HeartEdge Carol Service

Do watch the beautiful Carol Service celebrating the beginning of the central Manchester HeartEdge hub partnership. The service was recorded in Sacred Trinity Church and can be viewed at http://youtu.be/jxSLsh4DRKY.

It has been a joy to work with the Bishop of Manchester, Diocese of Manchester, St Anns Church Manchester, Sacred Trinity Salford, The Ascension Hulme, and HeartEdge Voices and Andrew Earis not only on this very special carol service but also on establishing the HeartEdge hub partnership in central Manchester.

God of hope, we pray for a future where the partnership between The Ascension, St Ann’s and Sacred Trinity enables your love to be seen and shared in central Manchester. Inspire and enable all at these churches to see new ways to show your love to others and to support one another. Bless the work of HeartEdge and the Diocese of Manchester in their work with these parishes that your love may be stretched into a future which sees renewal in central Manchester and beyond. Amen.

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Manchester HeartEdge Carol Service.

Reimagining music in church post Covid-19

In the opening event of the HeartEdge 'Reimagining music in church post COVID-19 ' series, Andrew Earis (Director of Music at St Martin’s), Gabriella Noble (Choral Conducting Fellow at St Martin’s) and Michael Haslam (Director of Music at St James’ Church, Piccadilly) explore the challenges of building congregational and community music-making in worship, as churches begin to reopen and explore what the ‘new normal’ might mean.

The series features interviews with composers and musicians on:

1. Congregational focus - Tuesday 8 September

2. Composer focus - Tuesday 15 September

3. Voluntary Choir focus - Tuesday 22 September

4. Educational Choir focus - Tuesday 29 September

All at 18:30 - 19:30 BST. Register for a zoom invitation at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reimagining-music-in-church-post-covid-19-tickets-117674233801.

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St Martin's Voices - What Sweeter Music.

Within: Everyday Faith

Within was a day exploring a breadth of different approaches to spirituality that was organised by HeartEdge with the Watling Valley Partnership and the Diocese of Oxford. The day promoted the Oxford Diocesan priority of deepening spirituality via #EveryDayFaith, harnessed and promoted the approach to mission of HeartEdge, an international ecumenical movement for renewal, and encouraged confidence amongst God’s people, as we live out our faith in the world.

Values

• We are called to be a Christ-like church for the sake of God’s world
• We are called to be disciples and ‘make a difference in the world’
• We seek to ‘be with’ God, (alone and corporately), our neighbours (near and far), and creation

Presentations, workshops and worship included: Sam Wells (Vicar, St Martin-in-the-Fields); St Martin’s Voices; TesTamenT; Tina Molyneux (Discipleship Enabler, Diocese of Oxford); Sharon Grenham-Thompson (Watling Valley Ecumenical Partnership); Ruth Maxey (Forest Church); Jonathan Evens (HeartEdge); Catherine Duce (HeartEdge), among others. Being With; Great Sacred Music; Art Oasis; Personal Discipleship Plans; Contemplative Toolkit; Listening Groups; Faith in Work; ‘The Christ We Share’; Forest Church, among others.

The Watling Valley Partnership are HeartEdge members and Revd Sharon Grenham-Thompson, who led the event for the Watling Valley Partnership writes:

‘We were so thrilled to have such wonderful support from St Martin’s and from the HeartEdge team for the event. Developing a partnership with HeartEdge has been such a positive move for us here in the Watling Valley, and has really helped us to move forward in an energetic and hopeful way. Sam’s talk was inspiring, and has been taken deeply to heart by many who attended. I have received numerous messages of thanks and appreciation for Sam’s part in the day – and I would like to add those of the Watling Valley staff team as well. And as for the music! I knew how fab Andrew and the Voices were, but for most folk there it was a new experience that blew them away! The workshops were perfectly judged, practical and very helpful. The friendliness and openness of the St Martin’s team contributed greatly to the day, and we are so grateful for them giving up their time, and expending their energy, on our little patch of the kingdom.’

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St Martin's Voices - What Sweeter Music.

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.

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

Nazareth Community, Bread for the World & Great Sacred Music

Last Sunday's BBC Radio 4 Sunday Worship was a wonderful service of meditation led by Revd Richard Carter, leader of the Nazareth Community at St Martin-in-the-Fields. Listen to 'With Silence, with Scripture, with Sacrament, with Service: Rediscovering the Presence of Christ in the midst of busy and complex lives' by clicking here.

There are two more opportunities this week to find out more about the Nazareth Community. This Sunday at our 10.00am Eucharist we are full of joy that seven new people will be joining the Nazareth Community. We will pray for them and for all the community as they continue to deepen and enrich their faith through silence, sacrament, compassionate service, sacred study and sharing the life of the Nazareth Community.

Then on Wednesday, at 6.30pm, Bread for the World, our weekly informal Eucharist, will be on the theme of the Nazareth Community. For this service we will be joined by delegates from the first HeartEdge national conference, for whom this service will be an opportunity to learn about the Nazareth Community.

Additionally, a special Great Sacred Music is to be held at St Martin's earlier on Wednesday, again as part of It’s All Church!, the first national HeartEdge conference. Open to all and being held at the slightly earlier time of 12.50pm (please arrive by 12.40pm), this Great Sacred Music is entitled ‘All my hope on God is founded’. Led by Sam Wells with St Martin’s Voices, directed by Andrew Earis, this performance will include music by Howells, J.S. Bach, Stanford, Bullard and Finzi. A said Eucharist will also be held at 1.00pm that same day in the Dick Sheppard Chapel.

The HeartEdge conference is an opportunity for people from churches across the UK to gather for two days of inspiration, ideas and resources, including the opportunity to experience Great Sacred Music and Bread for the World at St Martin’s. Register for the conference here, but simply turn up at 12.40pm for Great Sacred Music or at 6.30pm for Bread for the World.

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Great Sacred Music: A Hymn for St Cecilia.

St Martin-in-the-Fields & HeartEdge at Greenbelt

 

The HeartEdge panels at Greenbelt were very well attended, with more coming than could be accommodated within the tent. HeartEdge was in Exchange, Greenbelt’s venue for thinking about business, and how we can make enterprise work better for the common good. Exchange was supported by Midcounties Co-op, Co-op Energy, Phone Co-op, Anthony Collins Solicitors, Co-operatives UK and by New Internationalist magazine. Our thanks to all of them for their organisation and welcome.

Each session provided plenty of ideas, stories and challenges for those attending from the material our stellar selection of panellists prepared and the responses they gave on the day. We had lots of useful conversations with people afterwards interested in HeartEdge and the mission models and theological ideas we are sharing. A good number of HeartEdge members were also present renewing their inspiration and appreciating the experiences and ideas you shared. In the sessions themselves people commented positively on the energy of our panellists, as well as the energy of the dialogue within the panels and with the audience.

In the first panel on re-imagining church and culture, artist Jonathan Kearney argued that art markets and education have been hijacked by capitalism and managerialism squashing imagination. He suggested that gift, generosity and care for culture were all necessary for a cultural renaissance. Giles Goddard of St John's Waterloo spoke about the Waterloo Festival which is part of that church's engagement with their wider community and which speaks of love, hope and transformation. He argued that capitalism has appropriated culture, so it is important for the church to be engaged with delight and light.

Andrew Earis spoke about preparing a BBC service on the Manchester bombing including the importance of using a diversity of local people as well as diverse music. He aims to open hearts and minds to a broad range of music and says that music in concerts and services are all church. Yoghurt, salt and ointment were all used by Anna Sikorska as visual aids to talk about art and culture. Church can be a part of a cultural renaissance, she said, but needs partners as involvement can't be done alone. The church may sometimes be on the edge of the cultural renaissance, but conversations of re-imaging culture may best happen with other partners on the edge. She showed a Stations of the Cross tea towel designed with homeless people at St James Piccadilly as an example of engaging broadly.

Cliff Mills of Anthony Collins Solicitors began the second panel session on re-imagining church and commerce by stating that commerce is not secondary to Church, but is a valid expression of mission. In this session we heard from Ruth Amos who spoke about faith in the business world from an entrepreneur’s point of view. Faith is sustaining in challenging times. Faith within the work-place in a manufacturing sector is expressed in dealing with colleagues, dealers, suppliers, and other third parties. David Alcock of Anthony Collins Solicitors shared the journey of that law firm which is committed to values and has a social purpose. He spoke about faith in the context of: interacting with colleagues and clients; areas of work to focus on or get out of; and strategic direction and planning. Rob Wardle of Cre8 spoke from his own experience, at a micro level, about how ‘work’ within and for church or charity seems like a natural thing for him to do. He spoke about drawing inspiration from the old monastic tradition where the work of our hands is understood to be sacred and described why Cre8’s principles seem to appeal to entrepreneurs.

Mark Kinder shared experience from 11 years of running a church (St Paul's Walsall) which has within it shops, coffee shops, charity offices etc. in a context of significant deprivation (within 3% most deprived parishes). His key points: included addressing misunderstanding/suspicion of commerce as somehow dirty which reflects a Gnosticism within modern Christian thinking; re-imagining commerce as part of Kingdom of God - human flourishing, work as creation gift, etc. to give examples of how jobs and training have been created; re-imagining sustainability for a church in an Urban Priority Area - developing property income to diversify and addressing the shortage of housing in Walsall; re-imagining commerce itself in a way that recreates the relationship between customer and provider which modern commerce has removed.

Sam Wells offered three models of church and commerce and reflected on how to work out which is the best fit for what your congregation is and needs:

1. Instrumental. Undertake a legitimate trading activity that has no direct social impact, make a profit, and then transfer that profit to other activities that do have direct social impact, whether simply the sustainability of the congregation and its building, or such mission projects as it pursues.
2. Exemplary. Undertake a trading activity that has no direct social impact, but seek to do so in an exemplary way, paying good wages, having a minimal environmental footprint, using locally generated resources, promoting fair trade practices, and so on, while still transferring profit to the activities mentioned under (1) above.
3. Social. Undertake a trading activity whose profit return is evidently secondary to the indirect social impact sought.

In the third panel session on re-imagining church and congregation Wale Hudson-Roberts began by suggesting that understanding inclusivity presents those that currently have power and prestige within churches with the challenge of relinquishing that power, in order to give place to those who are less powerful or on the edge. Simon Woodman said that his church, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church had come to an understanding that to realise that it mattered deeply that ‘everyone’ belongs because everyone absolutely belongs with God, was an old insight newly found. This commitment to inclusion is the beginning and not the end of a journey of belonging.

Philippa Boardman argued that ‘Buildings building community’ and ‘Being a parish for the whole parish’ are keynotes in renewal. Church becomes a place in which bridges are built within the community as people are brought together for the common good. Rosemarie Mallett said that church is not just for those in the pews, but for all those around. Her church, St John’s Angell Town, is a black congregation in a Victorian church building in the middle of four brutalist-style estates. The major asset for churches and communities are their young people. 

In the final panel session on re-imaging church and compassion there was critique of housing policies including the lack of genuinely affordable house, the rhetoric of the 'undeserving poor' and of Brexit. Al Barrett said that he is interested in forming a neighbourhood where generosity is practised. Richard Frazer of Greyfriars Kirk spoke of the need to protect those on the fringe of church from those at the centre.

Pam Orchard of The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields shared her thoughts in a letter to a 'stranger' on how we can work together to provide compassion. It gives me a real sense of achievement to see you helping other clients with art projects, she wrote, noting that no one has a monopoly on experience and saying that together we make a great team. Anthony Reddie spoke about the dangers of contractual compassion and the respectability politics that often seem embedded into Mission Christianity. 

Sam Wells also spoke on the theme of 'Who is my Neighbour?', saying that we become human beings by encountering those who are other and that this is an adventure for us.

The beautiful setting of the Colonnades at Boughton Hall provided a perfect setting for the choral music of St Martin's Voices in Great Sacred Music sessions on prayer and love led by Sam Wells and Andrew Earis. St Martin's Voices also sang at a service in Shelter that I led with Andrew Earis entitled 'Tell out my Soul!' exploring the inspiration of hymnwriters and the theology of some of the most popular hymns as included in the Songs of Praise Top 100 Hymns.

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