Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp is hosting its 15th annual GRACE RACE 5K run/walk in Denver on Saturday, October 2, 2021, in support of ELCA World Hunger Appeal. RTLC has raised over $71,000 for World Hunger through the first 14 races.

Come join us for an afternoon of fun, exercise, and a great party afterwards. The race starts at 4:00 pm. You don’t have to be a runner to make a difference! They had parents with baby strollers, grandparents with grand kids, and runners and walkers of all types in 2019. Come join them for a great afternoon in the park for a great cause.

Don't forget there is the Fleetest Flock Traveling Trophy for the congregation with the most participants. Augustana Lutheran in Denver won last year's virtual race with 23 participants, narrowly beating Cross of Christ Lutheran in Broomfield. Bring your friends and family or your whole youth group. They are hoping to raise $10,000 for the ELCA World Hunger Appeal this year and they need 200 people to participant. You can register online!

Online registration and more details are on our website at https://www.rainbowtrail.org/special-events/the-grace-race-5k/.

In 2020, Sky Ranch led the pack among participating Outdoor Ministries across the US. We ended the event with 117 participants who either walked, ran, biked, swam, or hiked their way to 5K greatness. Through the amazing support of participants and their sponsors we raised $45,271.25 for Sky Ranch!

For 2021, we are excited to build upon last year and have added a "Hike-a-Thon" option to the list. We loved seeing the pictures and texts from participants completing their 5K for camp.

For many years, we have felt that we were disrespectful to the neighborhood, due to the poor condition of the property. Thanks to generous donations to the "NEXT FAITHFUL STEP: BETTER TOGETHER CAMPAIGN," the parking lot has been complete rebuilt and our drainage issues have been remedied. It's great to have been able to make this very significant improvement! Much gratitude!

Hear about our work of welcome in action and the daunting and heartbreaking journey to the U.S. from Afghanistan. View our full interview here.

Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains is working closely with Lutheran Refugee and Immigration Service (LIRS) to begin helping Afghan refugees resettle into our communities. Right now, LFSRM is welcoming monetary donations rather than collecting donations of items. A new helpful document provides information on how to partner with LFSRM in welcoming Afghan refugees and includes contact information for LFSRM staff resources in Albuquerque, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Greeley.

You may read more about our campaign initiatives in our campaign prospectus.

Won't you join us in celebrating this million dollar milestone with a gift to the campaign. We invite pledges at this link. Contact Tina Kvitek, our Development Director, for more conversation about how you may give to the campaign through stock gifts, IRA distributions, or other means of given.

Students in the initiative lack generational wealth and most will be the first to graduate from college in their households. The hope is to provide students who cannot afford the high cost of rent in Fort Collins the stability of housing so that they can graduate in a timely manner and with manageable debt. Students in the initiative are also surrounded by community-- including peer support, life coaches, and guidance from a masters level School of Social Work intern. LuMin is working to advocate for this often “invisible” population in our university town.

Join us via Zoom for Pastor Paul Judson’s program about this vital new ministry!

While we are eager to gather with the supporting Urban Servant Corps community, we also want to acknowledge that not all are ready to be in large group event settings. Understandable! Our hope is that we can find the "happy medium" in offering the opportunity for some smaller in-person gatherings in addition to on-line options so that we can continue to celebrate and share the important stories of the USC volunteers, their service sites and our growing alumni community that is changing the world! Therefore, you are invited to participate in whatever way feels best and meaningful to you -- either by attending a smaller-group "house party" event hosted by a USC Board member or alumnus or joining via Zoom!

Do you speak multiple languages? Are you willing to assist with asylum-seeker hospitality? Near or far – we'd love to connect with you and include you in our Interpreter Phone Book! The "Interpreter Phone Book" serves as a resource for migrant shelters in the borderlands when language assistance is needed. Interpretation may be needed for as little as 1 simple question or as much as a 60+ minute medical consultation, travel explanation, etc.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact us at info@bscnm.org. Thank you!

For more information, go here!

Join Pastor Michael TeKrony on a journey of photography and spiritual reflection at Messiah Mountain Retreat Center, located in Indian Hills, a short drive into the foothills on Highway 285 (map).

Michael says, “The camera invites us to pay attention to what is right in front of us. When we focus, either near or far, God comes into view. Using the camera lens, my hope is that we can practice and grow in our awareness of God, right in front of us.”

You will provide your own cell phone camera or other photography equipment.

Messiah Mountain is a gift to the Rocky Mountain Synod recently given by Messiah Community Church, which acquired the 27 acre mountain retreat in1969. This day-long experience is limited to 20 participants. Cost is $24 and includes lunch.

You are invited to attend the Founders’ Day lecture September 29 featuring David Vasquez-Levy, President of Pacific School of Religion. David is an ELCA pastor and an excellent speaker.This will be a hybrid event but only 50 people will be able to attend in-person. We want to give PLTS students, faculty and staff the first opportunity to sign-up to be present in-person.

Please use the link below to sign up to attend in person, or you can also attend virtually if you prefer. (See attached flyer.)

https://tinyurl.com/online2021foundersday 

October 17, 2021 at 8:15 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. – Vicky Daub (Executive Director) will be preaching at Zion Lutheran, Loveland, Colorado. To watch online, Zoom here (Meeting ID: 810 0730 8575 Passcode: 331760).

Visit the RMS website for the full VSCP calendar and more!

Share the new Veterans Servant Corps Project brochure! Get it here.

Have Veterans events at your church/community that you would like to publicize; want Vicky or another VSCP board member to visit your church/community? Contact Vicky Daub at lvdaub2@gmail.com.

I first celebrated the Season of Creation in 2010. I had seen some Australian ecumenical resources on the website for The Text This Week and thought the folks in the Campus Ministry I was serving at the University of New Mexico would appreciate the focus on environmental issues. We had often done a Blessing of Animals on St. Francis Day, October 4 so it made sense to expand our focus to include the whole creation. 

Since that time, this annual celebration has been expanded to include ecumenical Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox Christians around the world. The Season of Creation lasts from September 1 (Orthodox Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation) until October 4 (Feast day of St. Francis). It is an invitation to engage in a month of prayer, symbolic acts, and campaigns to give thanks for creation and renew our human vocation to care for it. 

You can find resources at the Season of Creation website (seasonofcreation.org), the Lutheran World Federation (lutheranworld.org), and Lutherans Restoring Creation (lutheransrestoringcreation.org). Lots of devotional guides, lectionary commentaries, worship resources, and action guides are available through the churches. 

“We stand at a threshold… Another world is coming, one we can’t yet see. This threshold asks that we imagine it anyway. It asks us to reconsider the purpose of our lives.”

– Lisa Wells is the author of Believers: Making a Life at the End of the World, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021. She will join us for an online conversation about faithfulness and hope in a time of Climate Crisis – with Todd Wynward, Mennonite Minister for Watershed Discipleship and author of Rewilding the Way: Break Free to Follow an Untamed God, Herald Press, 2015.

This event is part of the Season of Creation hosted by the ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod Creation Care Team. It falls just after the Campaign Nonviolence Week of Action and the UN International Day of Peace as we learn to practice nonviolence toward the earth and all living things. Join us on our Facebook page or on Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83008940316. All are welcome!

Join us and other high schoolers on the mountain during this weekend of rest and reflection. This weekend will give us a chance to step back from our busy lives of school/work/etc. and surround ourselves with God's creation in the midst of its beautiful fall transformation.

Cost: $110 per youth = $75 per adult

For more info contact cole@skyranchcolorado.org

God. In this talk Rabbi Rami will use elements of the Twelve Steps as well as insights common to all mystical traditions to

Please go to https://www.centeringprayer.net/RamiShapiro to register or call 303-698-7729

As they did last year with the Gospel of Mark, Pam Faro (Broomfield, CO), a professional biblical storyteller who has performed and taught around the globe, will tell key parts of Luke’s story; and Richard Swanson (Sioux Falls, SD), professor at Augustana University and the director of the Provoking the Gospel Storytelling Project, will guide our exploration of Pam’s performances. We will experience the story together, and we will think together about how hope is possible in a brutal and disappointing world.

At least, that's what astrophysicist Paul Wallace concluded when he walked away from Christianity as a teen. Years later, Paul began to look at science and faith from a new perspective and found that they are not competitors, but work in tandem.

Discover how science can illuminate and expand your faith in an online course from Luther Seminary, A Cosmic Adventure Through Science and Faith. See what renowned scientists such as Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton have to say about God, the Bible, and the way we view the world around us.

Register here to start your free course now and learn more about the ways that science and faith enhance and confirm each other.

Are you already registered? Click here to login and continue your course.

Sky Ranch is accepting applications for an Executive Director responsible for the oversight and management of the ministry and property of Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp.

Sky Ranch, an outdoor ministry of the ELCA, is a 117-acre seasonal facility located adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park. Job description is available here and more info is online at https://www.skyranchcolorado.org/executive-director-transition. Applications are due no later than October 31st, 2021. For more information or questions please contact Lindsay Reiten at SkyRanchSearch@gmail.com or 970.591.2194

Bethany Lutheran Church, Cherry Hills Village, CO seeks a Coordinator of Volunteerism and Administrative Assistant who will support the Faith Formation Team, assist in recruiting volunteers for a variety of volunteer opportunities, work in an office setting in a flexible manner.

Job description here. Contact Pastor Gary Sandberg, gary@bethany-denver.org to apply or for questions.

Bethany Lutheran Church, Cherry Hills Village, CO is seeking a Coordinator of Media to develop and maintain external and internal communications to ensure they are consistent with the Mission & Vision of the church, including reaching an audience outside of the Denver metro area, effective in their message, and creative in their presentation.

Job description here. Contact Pastor Gary Sandberg, gary@bethany-denver.org to apply or for questions.

See job overview here, and for more information please contact kognews650@gmail.com(link sends e-mail) or 303-421-9930.

The Director of Music Ministry will be responsible to manage and oversee the music ministry at Cross of Christ. To further the music programs within the church, it is our desire that this person be actively involved in the worship life of the congregation.

See job description here.

All resumes and letter of interest should be sent to Pastor Kathleen Armstrong at karmstrong@cross-of-christ.org by October 1.

St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Arvada is looking for one or two organists to fill out a rotating schedule for Sunday worship. Perfect for those who prefer to not make a commitment for every week. No choir rehearsals and extra pay for any additional rehearsals required for special services. Contact St. Andrew at 303-421-5197 or staff@standrewarvada.org for more information.