What We Offer
HeartEdge is a network of practitioners, experts by experience, mentors and supporters who share ideas, resources, learning opportunities, connections and stories.
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To navigate these unprecedented times - what Pope Francis calls "not an era of change but a change of era" - we have three areas of focus: learning, innovation and leadership development.
Learning
"There's no such thing as failure, only failure to learn..."
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Across the church people are trying new things, seeing changes, experiencing setbacks, gaining insights, navigating conflict, adapting what they've done before, scrapping projects, creating new projects, building teams, saying goodbye to long-standing volunteers, hearing new ideas, having a go - and most of the time these experiences go unnoticed in the wider church. So much innovation, effort, and so much that goes un-reflected upon which could lead to real insights for the church learning how to be in this unfurling culture.
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HeartEdge curates spaces and gatherings that bring the teams of people leading churches - lay and ordained, volunteer and paid - to reflect on what they've been doing, gain wisdom and insights from others and plan for the next chapter.
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To be part of one our learning communities, you don’t need to have it all figured out. You don’t need to have all the answers. You don’t need to have all the resources. You just need to have a desire to learn, experiment and collaborate.
Innovation
When you're playing Jenga, no-one decides beforehand that they're going to push out the third brick down on the left. No, they gently tap bricks that look like they will move until one of them shifts, and then they focus their attention on removing that brick.
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Similarly, when we're working out what to change or create in our churches, there needs to be a lot of experimentation - literally trying things out! But sometimes we uncover an idea or area that's ripe for bold innovation on a big scale - perhaps its a commercial enterprise, a large-scale cultural programme or event, or completely redesigning a compassion project to be radically inclusive.
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HeartEdge is designing the means of supporting these more dramatic innovation projects, drawing on the methodology of Accelerator and Incubator programmes for start-up businesses and social enterprise, but with the particular needs of churches with heritage buildings, existing legal structures and social and spiritual capital.
Leadership
Change inevitably creates conflict. Innovation requires skills in collaboration and team building. Embarking on a new thing which might not work requires vulnerability, trust and courage. Churches need people who can lead adeptly through all these challenges.
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HeartEdge is committed to supporting leaders - lay and ordained, paid and volunteer, new and experienced - to enable their church communities to navigate the journey of innovation and change. Our programmes will include expert support and consultancy, mentoring, skills and mindset development and access to tried and tested resources.
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If you're a leader and you'd like to express your interest in being involved in our pilot programmes, contact us and we'll be in touch.