Ques­tions & Answers

What is Fel­low­ship of the Burn­ing Heart? 

It is a dis­persed com­mu­ni­ty of Jesus’ friends who long for deep­er inti­ma­cy with the Tri­une God. 

Fel­low­ship of the Burn­ing Heart’s pri­ma­ry pur­pose is to help mem­bers grow as dis­ci­ples of Jesus — for their trans­for­ma­tion, the world’s good, and God’s ever­last­ing glory. 

What does it mean to be a mem­ber? What is the commitment?

Fel­low­ship of the Burn­ing Heart is a tan­gi­ble way to seek deep­er inti­ma­cy and trans­for­ma­tion in Jesus by mak­ing a renew­able one-year com­mit­ment to: 

• the Ren­o­varé Covenant
• Fel­low­ship of the Burn­ing Heart values
• meet month­ly in a Lis­ten­ing Group

What is the Ren­o­varé Covenant? 

In utter depen­dence upon Jesus Christ as my ever-liv­ing Sav­ior, Teacher, Lord, and Friend, I will seek con­tin­u­al renew­al through spir­i­tu­al exer­cis­es, spir­i­tu­al gifts, and acts of service.

What are the Fel­low­ship of the Burn­ing Heart values?

1. We val­ue a high Chris­tol­ogy regard­ing the per­son and work of Jesus Christ. 
2. We val­ue Scrip­ture as a sure guide for growth into Christlikeness. 
3. We val­ue wor­ship and prayer as cen­tral in our life.
4. We val­ue peo­ple as God’s image bear­ers. In our inter­ac­tions we resist the temp­ta­tion to man­age impres­sions, lever­age rela­tion­ships, and fix one another.
5. We val­ue com­mu­ni­ty as vital to our trans­for­ma­tion into Christ­like­ness. We offer avail­abil­i­ty and vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty as we hon­or each person’s unique jour­ney with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
6. We val­ue lis­ten­ing. As a com­mu­ni­ty we seek to be atten­tive to the Holy Spir­it and one anoth­er. This facil­i­tates a wel­com­ing and con­fi­den­tial cul­ture where it is safe to know and be known.
7. We val­ue hon­esty and open­ness, seek­ing to love with wise bound­aries and dis­cern with­out judgement. 
8. We val­ue humil­i­ty and the free­dom it brings, draw­ing us into a life of grat­i­tude, joy, laugh­ter, cre­ativ­i­ty, and lightheartedness.
9. We val­ue lov­ing respect. We are for one another. 
   We give encour­age­ment as often as possible.
   We share advice once in a great while.
   We bring cor­rec­tion only when absolute­ly necessary.
   We con­demn never.
10. We val­ue hos­pi­tal­i­ty of heart, seek­ing to learn from our differences. 
11. We val­ue sta­bil­i­ty. We live into this prac­tice by com­mit­ting to the Ren­o­varé Covenant, these Val­ues, and our month­ly Lis­ten­ing Group.
12. We val­ue var­i­ous local expres­sions of spir­i­tu­al for­ma­tion efforts—rela­tion­ships, fam­i­lies, small groups, and church­es. Spir­i­tu­al for­ma­tion always has a local address.

Prac­ti­cal­ly, what does it mean to com­mit to the Ren­o­varé Covenant and Fel­low­ship of the Burn­ing Heart Values?

A vital part of belong­ing to Fel­low­ship of the Burn­ing Heart is liv­ing into the Ren­o­varé Covenant. One spe­cif­ic way we do this is by choos­ing a word of inten­tion and one or two spir­i­tu­al prac­tices to engage with for the year. 

Fel­low­ship of the Burn­ing Heart Core Val­ues serve as a mutu­al guide for how we intend to be with one another.

What is a Lis­ten­ing Group?

It is a unique small group to help facil­i­tate lis­ten­ing to God, to oth­ers, and to our own hearts. 

For one year, the same four to six mem­bers com­mit to meet month­ly for two hours (online or in-per­son). While each group has a Coor­di­na­tor who will help guide the process, the struc­ture is designed for mem­bers to take turns facil­i­tat­ing (don’t wor­ry, it’s easy).

How is a Lis­ten­ing Group dis­tinct from oth­er small groups?

There are a vari­ety of help­ful small groups for Chris­tians — Bible stud­ies, prayer groups, book clubs, spir­i­tu­al for­ma­tion groups, etc. We cel­e­brate them all. 

A Fel­low­ship of the Burn­ing Heart Lis­ten­ing Group is unique in its struc­ture. It inten­tion­al­ly fos­ters space to: 

• hold prayer­ful silence
• lis­ten with­out fix­ing or giv­ing advice
• share with oth­ers on a sim­i­lar jour­ney what you and God are work­ing on together
• grow in your capac­i­ty to hear God

Is Fel­low­ship of the Burn­ing Heart a good fit for me?

Burn­ing Heart is unique­ly designed for fol­low­ers of Jesus who are long­ing for a con­ver­sa­tion­al rela­tion­ship with God and are will­ing to be vul­ner­a­ble with oth­ers. Each of us has dif­fer­ent needs and sea­sons, and this may or may not fit where you are right now. Below are some state­ments to help you discern.

Are you drawn to expe­ri­ence and com­mit to a group where you…

• …sit with oth­ers in extend­ed times of prayer­ful silence
• …lis­ten with­out inter­rupt­ing, ask­ing ques­tions, or giv­ing advice
• …have grace for dif­fer­ing viewpoints
• …resist the temp­ta­tion to con­trol or change others
• …choose and engage with spe­cif­ic spir­i­tu­al practices
• …share hon­est­ly about your jour­ney with God
• …receive prayer and pray aloud for others
• …lis­ten for God’s voice and, when appro­pri­ate, share what you sense God is saying
• …focus on first things — love of God and love of neighbor

If you respond to these with a heart­felt ​“Yes!” or ​“I’m will­ing!”, Fel­low­ship of the Burn­ing Heart may be a good fit for you.

What are the ben­e­fits of becom­ing a member? 

• A way to inten­tion­al­ly com­mit along­side oth­ers to grow spiritually 
• Thought­ful place­ment in a Lis­ten­ing Group (which has a Coor­di­na­tor to help guide the process)
• A wel­come kit with a cus­tom leather jour­nal and Fel­low­ship of the Burn­ing Heart booklets
• Train­ing videos, webi­na­rs, and oth­er mem­ber-spe­cif­ic online resources
• Access to Ren­o­varé Burn­ing Heart retreats 
• The oppor­tu­ni­ty to jour­ney long-term with the same peo­ple. (While join­ing starts with a one-year com­mit­ment, many mem­bers choose to recom­mit for years to come.)

Is there a fee to join? What does the fee cover?

There is a fee of $100 due upon accep­tance, which helps cov­er admin­is­tra­tive and mate­ri­als costs. ($130 for folks liv­ing out­side the U.S. due to postage costs).

How long does my mem­ber­ship last? 

Mem­ber­ship is good for as long as Fel­low­ship of the Burn­ing Heart exists, offer­ing you the poten­tial for a long-term community. 

Your mem­ber­ship begins with a one-year com­mit­ment to meet month­ly in a Lis­ten­ing Group. Each year you’ll have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to decide to recom­mit to the same Lis­ten­ing Group, take a break, or join or start anoth­er Lis­ten­ing Group. 

Are there in-per­son gath­er­ings besides the Lis­ten­ing Group? 

We do offer option­al Burn­ing Heart Retreats, as well as Burn­ing Heart Coor­di­na­tor Train­ing Retreats for those inter­est­ed in mov­ing into a Coor­di­na­tor role. These are avail­able at an addi­tion­al cost.

What if there are no open groups in my area?

We are depen­dent upon peo­ple step­ping into the Coor­di­na­tor role in order to start new groups. You are wel­come to add your name and con­tact infor­ma­tion to our wait­list. How­ev­er, if you would like to learn more about how to become a Coor­di­na­tor so you can start a group, please reach out to us at [email protected]​renovare.​org. 

What is the appli­ca­tion process?

If there is an open group below that you would like to apply for, click on the Apply but­ton for that group and fill out an appli­ca­tion. After we receive your appli­ca­tion, you’ll be con­tact­ed by the Coor­di­na­tor who will meet with you vir­tu­al­ly or in-per­son to dis­cern if Fel­low­ship of the Burn­ing Heart is a good fit for you in this sea­son. Once we have filled the group, you will receive a link to final­ize your reg­is­tra­tion. At that point you will receive your Burn­ing Heart jour­nal and book­let in the mail. 

Note: The appli­ca­tion will take a lit­tle time to com­plete. It includes these questions:

• Describe why you want to be a part of Fel­low­ship of the Burn­ing Heart; what attracts you to this kind of community?
• Briefly describe some qual­i­ties of a healthy small group participant.
• Short bio — what do you want the Coor­di­na­tor and oth­ers in the group to know about you? (250 words or fewer)

What if I have anoth­er question?

Email us at [email protected]​renovare.​org.

To Apply, Choose A Group That Has Space Available.