A guest blog from Jonathan Evens at content collaborators, St Martin-in-the-Fields
HeartEdge is a growing ecumenical and international network of churches and other organisations with members ranging from Aberdeen to Amsterdam and Baltimore to Brighton, while also including churches and Cathedrals from Shoeburyness and Thorpe Bay Baptist Church to Coventry Cathedral. HeartEdge has been initiated by St Martin-in-the-Fields.
HeartEdge aims to catalyse kingdom communities by supporting churches in blending their mission around four key areas: Congregation; Commerce; Culture; and Compassion. When rooted in a vibrant congregational life, compassion, cultural expression and commerce are not secondary or simply instrumental to our mission but are creative and challenging forms of church in their own right.
The 4C’s are central to HeartEdge, so we are excited to have the opportunity to discuss at Greenbelt how the Church can re-imagine congregation, culture, compassion and commerce. We will be hosting panel sessions on the 4C’s in The Exchange and bringing an eclectic mix of interesting friends to share ideas and perspectives. These include: David Alcock, Ruth Amos, Al Barrett, Philippa Boardman, Andrew Earis, Richard Frazer, Giles Goddard, Wale Hudson-Roberts, James Hughesdon, Jonathan Kearney, Mark Kinder, Rosemarie Mallet, Cliff Mills, Pam Orchard, Anthony Reddie, Anna Sikorska, Rob Wardle, Sam Wells and Simon Woodman.
Commerce, Compassion, Culture, Congregation are essential – in our view, it’s all church! So, we will be continuing these conversations in September with a two-day HeartEdge intensive which includes theology, ideas, resources, plus time to linger, build connections, make plans, develop practice, find encouragement, get involved and do HeartEdge!
Entitled ‘Commerce, Compassion, Culture, Congregation … It’s All Church!’ this will be the first HeartEdge Annual Conference and will be held on 12 and 13 September 2018 at St Martin-in-the-Fields and Lambeth Palace.
The programme includes keynote speakers, workshops and panels on ‘Church and Welfare’, ‘Enterprise Start-Ups’, ‘Art and the Crucifixion’, with more to follow.
Among the contributors confirmed so far are: Bishop of Liverpool Paul Bayes, urban theologian Ann Morisy, General Secretary of Churches Together in England Paul Goodliff, Chair in Christianity and the Arts at King’s College London Ben Quash, Theologian and writer Professor Anthony Reddie, activist Russell Rook, Baroness Maeve Sherlock, Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, Rector of St James, Piccadilly Lucy Winkett, plus Sam Wells – with more to come.
Venues: Day 1 at St Martin-in-the-Fields; Day 2 at Lambeth Palace.
Registration: Book tickets at here
Cost: Early Bird rate £69 (until 20th July 2018); HeartEdge members rate – £79, non-members rate – £99. Tickets include conference programme, refreshments & lunch, plus complimentary Jazz on the evening of 12 Sept.
For the latest information, email me at jonathan.evens@smitf.org or call 020 7766 1127.