This year, 10 ministry colleagues and friends from across the Rocky Mountain Synod are running 165 miles in the Flaming Foliage Relay Race, September 8-9. Each year, the team runs a long relay race to raise ministry dollars and awareness for an ELCA global mission. This will be the sixth year the team has run! 

This year, the Faster Pastors’ fundraising efforts are for the Lutheran Church in South Sudan. Check out this link to learn more about the powerful witness to the gospel happening at the Lutheran Center in Juba, South Sudan. 

The race they run is symbolic of how, alone, one person wouldn’t be able to run 165+ miles. Instead, they run the race together, sharing the miles. Likewise, our collective efforts as congregations, synods, Churchwide, along with global partners are able to provide ministries to places in need of Christ’s reconciliation and hope around the world. 

Join the Faster Pastors to support ministry for the long-term efforts of bringing Christ’s healing and hope to the people in South Sudan, recovering from civil war. You can send a donation to any of the congregations that one of the teammates serves (document attached). Make your check payable to the congregation, earmarked: South Sudan/Faster Pastors.

The Domestic Mission unit of our Churchwide Expression hosts a Congregational Development training conference twice per year for Rostered ministers and other leaders of new mission starts, specialized ministries and renewing congregations.

The Friday of that week will be open to ALL interested leaders to attend the gathering and participate in various workshops. These workshops highlight our call toward healthy, vital congregations and feature number of leaders, including our own Bishop Jim Gonia on "Claiming our Gifts," together with other gifted leaders working with Congregational Vitality, Church Development Institute (CDI) among other offerings.  

You are invited and encouraged to register as a group from your congregation. Here is the registration link to attend the Congregational Development Training Conference. The deadline to register is this Friday, August 18th at 3:00 p.m.!  Please make sure each participant to completes and submits the registration form. If you need to make any changes you can contact Marta.Rorata@elca.org.  

4 times per year, Living Lutheran offers a supplement insert with Rocky Mountain Synod news and stories. The current insert is available as a pdf. for congregation newsletters and bulletin inserts. 

August 2017 Insert - print  or web version

IVC is an opportunity for adult men and women to offer their skills, wisdom and life experience in direct service to those in need. In return for a commitment of 1 or 2 days a week with a local nonprofit, the IVC program provides monthly guidance for personal reflection and prayerful conversations with fellow IVC volunteers. Together, we hope to see the face of Christ in those we serve. Call IVC Denver Regional Director, Erin Benson at 303-394-2997 or email her if you are interested in the program or want to have the program come to your church. 

Visit their website! Share your lifetime of experience - Get the experience of a lifetime!

Join Lutheran Church of Hope (1305 West 10th Avenue, Broomfield CO) for our annual Oktobeerfest celebration! 

This year we are also celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

Local craft brews, brats and burgers, and BINGO are the highlights of the evening! Join us for this family-friendly event. We'll also have face painting, local vendors, live music and even polka dancing! Entrance is free; game and meal tickets are available at the door. More info is available here, here, and here!

Gail Britt will be installed as a Deacon to hospice chaplaincy with HopeWest in Grand Junction at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, 225 South 6th Street,LaSalle, CO. A meal and reception will immediately follow. 

Brian Bergum, Metro West Conference Dean, has been appointed by the Bishop for the installation honors. Rostered ministers are invited to vest and process. The color of the day is green.

Gail has been called by the RMS to this specialized ministry to serve patients and their families in Mesa County, CO through HopeWest, a non-profit organization whose mission is to " profoundly change the way our community experiences aging, serious illness and grief – one family at a time." 

Wyoming Medical Center
Conference Room
1233 E. 2nd St. Casper WY

Understanding the Muslim Faith is a discussion hosted by the Wyoming Association of Churches and Think Wyoming.

Presenters are Dr. Mohamed Salih, a Muslim who is active in the Cheyenne Community and Dr. Brad Tyndall, who is president of Central Wyoming College and has worked in several Muslim countries. More information and a registration link are available here, or call Pastor Goodwin at 307-674-6795.

Hosted by the Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb and the Diyar Consortium, inviting pastors, church leaders, educators, and other professionals committed to the struggle for a just peace in Israel/Palestine to participate in this leadership experience. The aim of this program is to gain a deeper understanding of the current realities in Israel/Palestine as well as to view the Holy Land through a new, biblical/theological lens. This opportunity is open for people already interested in the region, who are committed to making a difference and investing in hope.

The study tour will explore the question: Where do we go from here on the journey toward peace, human rights and building bridges of understanding? 

Cost $3999, including airfare from DC.  Program details, registration info, and day-by-day itinerary are available in this brochure. 

Sky Ranch will once again be offering a bus package transportation to the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering 

Tentative plans include leaving on Sunday, June 24, and will include housing, meals, transportation and service and fellowship opportunities. Details are still coming together. Rocky Mountain Synod will be offering a Hospitality Package that can include airport transportation, catered meals, synod t-shirts, first aid personnel and hospitality vans for our day of service. For more information, please contact Beth Rogers, Gathering Synod Coordinator. If you are serving as a contact person for your congregation, please send your contact information to her at beth@lchope.org. 

All ELCA congregations are eligible to register for the Gathering. Youth eligible to attend the Gathering are in 8th-12th grade at the time of registration. Adult leaders planning on attending the Gathering must be at least 21. Congregations should select one adult to be the primary adult leader, the one who coordinates registration, payments, transportation and rooming lists for the group. Registration opens Sept. 15, 2017, and closes May 15, 2018. The registration portal is live and online from Sept. 15 through the end of the Gathering.  Registration worksheets are available (here) and with much more information on the resources page. 

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "stewardship?" Budgets and spreadsheets? Money? Pledge cards? What about love? 

The ELCA is a church that is energized by lively engagement in our faith and life, and we have an important message to share: stewardship is about so much more than money – stewardship is about love. Learn more here!

Among the many stewardship resources from the ELCA, there is a quarterly newsletter called stewardNet for stewardship leaders. Here are a couple of items from the Spring 2017 issue: 

• ALDE is an international community of fundraising and communication professionals that is rooted in the Lutheran tradition of the Christian faith and dedicated to serving God's people in the church and the world. ALDE offers a variety of benefits including webinars, events, networking, mentoring and more. As you strive to inspire your constituents to grow in their faith and generosity, perhaps ALDE can help you with some new ideas and approaches. 

• StewardTalk is an interview series from the ELCA with authors and thought leaders on stewardship topics. Listen to past recordings, including the June conversation about planned gifts with Darren Walloch from the ELCA Foundation. Join stewardTalk on Aug. 24 at 3 p.m. Central for Victoria Flood on "How Mission Support Supports Our Mission" (connection information is below under Upcoming Events.)

For more news and inspiration you can view the complete Spring 2017 issue in your browser or download a PDF, past issues are available here. And you can subscribe to stewardNet here. 

The Grants Team of Educate, Equip, Enact met last week and had the delight of approving the first five grants for rostered ministers from the Ministry Excellence Fund. Will your application be next?

The Team meets again at the end of September to continue their work. The work of a rostered minister requires focus, creativity, and holy imagination. Don't let debt distract you from healthy and joyful ministry. If student loans are pulling you down, the credit card balance is nagging you, medical bills are knocking at your door, or an emergency has hit you, send an inquiry to us. Let an advocate and the Grants Team encourage you!