More than $61,000 received in RMS Fire Response Fund

We extend our prayers of gratitude for the gifts given to the RMS Fire Response Fund. Indeed, the love of Christ is made known through such generosity!

We continue to navigate our support and path of recovery for those impacted by the Marshall Fire in Boulder County. A team has been called together to network the available resources, including the oversight of Lutheran Disaster Response and the work of Lutheran Family Services.

This will undoubtedly be a long journey ahead for those impacted.

RMS and ELCA pages available to include in your annual report

As you prepare for your congregation's annual meeting, you are encouraged to include these communication resource:

RMS Annual Report 2021 Pages

ELCA Annual Report Cover Pages

ONLINE EVENT

Boldly Serving Our Afghan Neighbors: A Call for Congregational Accompaniment and Co-Sponsorship

Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 5:00 PM MST

Register NOW for Colorado Lutheran Day at the Capitol

Thursday, February 1

8:00am to 1:00pm

Colorado Lutheran Day at the Capitol is back! Join us on February 17 for a morning of learning, sharing and action. Even if you're new to the lobbying process, have never met a legislator, or have never even stepped inside the State Capitol, we want you to join us. Advocates will gather to learn about what's happening this year under the Gold Dome, better understand the connection between advocacy and our faith, and go to the State Capitol in downtown Denver to meet our legislators in person.

A remote participation option is also available for the morning portion (non-Capitol) of the event, and remote participants will be equipped with the tools to schedule virtual visits with their legislators. The morning event is at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 1600 Grant Street, Denver.

Registration is $20 and includes all materials as well as breakfast and lunch. Join us and make a difference through advocacy!

Register HERE for Colorado Lutheran Day at the Capitol

Share the new Veterans Servant Corps Project brochure! Get it here: print or online version.

February 6, 2022 – Vicky Daub will be preaching, 9:30am worship service, at Christ the King in Colorado Springs.

April 22-24, 2022 – VSCP first Veterans Couples retreat at Rainbow Trail Lutheran camp. This retreat is free for any/all Veteran couples. Interested in participating? Contact Vicky Daub.

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.

In Memoriam + Pastor Dave Peters

Pastor Dave Peters passed away peacefully on January 18 at Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. He was 86 years old.

Pastor Dave spent his entire ministry in the Rocky Mountain Synod, serving three congregations in Colorado (Advent Lutheran, Westminster; Trinity Lutheran, Canon City; and Messiah Lutheran, Denver), one congregation in Texas (St. John Lutheran, El Paso), and as director of Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp in Hillside, Colorado. He retired in 1998, after 35 years of ministry, including the last 26 at Messiah. He also served on the board of Eben Ezer Lutheran Care Center in Brush, Colorado.

Details on his memorial service at Augustana Lutheran Church in Denver are forthcoming. See Pastor Dave's full obituary at the Monarch Society.

ONLINE EVENT

'Addiction & Dry January'

Thursday, Jan. 27, 10:00am-12noon

A spike in drinking during the pandemic has also come with a rise in those who are "sober curious." 1 in 5 Americans say they planned to participate in Dry January this year. In this webinar, we'll dig into these trends and explore how they can benefit you and your faith community. We'll be joined by Rev. Erin Jean Warde, an Episcopal priest, and founder of Discerning Sobriety. Her own journey to sobriety will illustrate some of the important ways faith leaders can help others reevaluate their relationship with alcohol and help stop more serious problems before they start.

This webinar will be co-hosted by Tim King, and Pastor Ed Treat, founder of the Center of Addiction & Faith.

Register for 'Addiction & Dry January' HERE

ONLINE EVENT

Introduction to Welcoming Prayer Free Workshop

Saturday, January 29, 9:00am-noon

Join us as we learn the contemplative practice of The Welcoming Prayer. The Welcoming Prayer helps us to let go and be in the present moment, turning the afflictive emotions of security, affection, and control over to God. For more info or to register go to centeringprayer.net or call 303-698-7729.

HYBRID EVENT

The Biology of the Human Condition

presented by Dr. Christine O'Brien Travers

Saturday, February 5, 9:00am-noon

In this presentation, Christine O’Brien Travers builds on Thomas Keating's teachings and takes us into new research that validates that contemplative practice, like centering prayer, rewires our be-ing. In this presentation, we will learn how the brain centers of compassion and connection, along with our understanding of our core basic goodness, become more regulated and more deeply ingrained with Divine Therapy.

To register please go to centeringprayer.net or call 303-698-7729.

AUGUSTANA ARTS EVENT AT BETHANY

Music of the Vine - A French Excursion

ONE NIGHT ONLY

Friday, February 11 at 7:00pm

Enjoy this memorable evening with Gossamer Winds side-by-side with Claude Robbins, Master Wine Educator with the International Wine and Spirits Guild. Join us at Bethany Lutheran Church, 4500 E. Hampden Ave., Cherry Hills Village, CO

You are invited to a rare opportunity to experience the French region through a sophisticated collage of music, wine, and cheese. Well-known and barrier-breaking woodwind quintet, Gossamer Winds, will perform French classical and popular music plus other Valentine's Day selections. And distinguished wine expert, author, and educator, Claude Robbins, will share his expertise and enthusiasm for the fine art of wine and cheese pairing - an evening sure to set the mood for your Valentine's weekend.

Limited seating for safe distancing. A special date night and/or weekend getaway to France in the relaxing atmosphere of a picturesque "Cherry Hills Village" Riviera (without the flight). Augustana Arts invites you!

Interim Ministry Training Using a Group Coaching Model

Beginning Friday January 28, 2022

2nd and 4th Fridays each month

9:00am - 10:00am

This Interim Ministry Training is based in the real-time real life work of an Intentional Interim Pastor. it uses a "coach approach," which believes the participants are "creative, resourceful, and whole," and is directed by a trained coach.

Three-quarters of participants' time together will center around the process and issues facing the participants, with the remainder assigned to the master of knowledge essential to providing successful interim pastoral leadership. Participants will meet for one hour twice monthly over six months.

This training was initially designed by Fresh Thinking Coaching and Consulting and has been developed in cooperation with the Rocky Mountain Synod Office of the Bishop.

The cost for the program is $585. To learn more and to register, please go to the Purposeful Pastor website.

For more than 25 years, Pastor Dan and Marcia Bollman have been working "behind the scenes" to organize and facilitate Theater & Theology. Participants attended a performance together and then participated in a talk-back with performers who volunteered their time to respond to audience questions as they reflected on the deeper meanings of the shows.

"It is with a tear in my eye that I announce that Theater and Theology talk backs have come to an end, another victim of the COVID epidemic," Pastor Dan said. "We had a great run, folks! Marcia and I will always look back on our work with you all with a smile and warm heart. We'll miss those contacts, and that includes pre-show socials. And to you coordinators, and to all whose participation made those theater nights a special event, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!"

We turn those Thank You's back around as we extend to Dan and Marcia 25+ years worth of gratitude!

For those who purchased advance tickets for the Hamilton show on March 1, way before the pandemic began, that show is still on track. Contact Dan and Marcia for information and with questions.

Lenten Resources from ELCA World Hunger

We invite you to study, pray, reflect and give with us during ELCA World Hunger’s 40 Days of Giving — for our families, our neighbors and communities around the world.

As the world has reeled from the effects of a deadly pandemic, we have seen the number of hungry people around the world rise, watched as food pantries and soup kitchens expanded to serve an ever-growing number of guests, and longed together for the time when we “will hunger no more, and thirst no more ... and God will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes” (Revelation 7:16-17). This very yearning is at the heart of who we are as church together. Yet our longing has never led to inertia or despair, despite the discouraging forecasts. We are an Easter people, ever journeying toward the cross but trusting in faith that God’s story does not end on that hill.

Explore and engage during this Lenten season by bringing ELCA World Hunger into your congregation and home with these resources

ELCA Introduces “Now Is the Time” Study Guide

Introducing “Now Is the Time: A Study Guide for ELCA Declaration to People of African Descent” to help congregations wrestle with the meaning of the declaration, adopted at the 2019 Churchwide Assembly. In the declaration, the ELCA “apologizes to people of African descent for its historical complicity in slavery and its enduring legacy of racism in the United States and globally. We lament the white church’s failure to work for the abolition of slavery and the perpetuation of racism in this church.”

“Now Is the Time” stresses realism, self-examination and accountability as the church acknowledges and apologizes for the history and impact of slavery and systemic racism in the United States and globally. The study guide focuses on deepening our understanding of this history as participants engage in often-difficult conversation and reflection to move the church toward racial healing and justice.

The Explanation of the Declaration, a Study Guide, and Participant Materials, are available at elca.org/Resources/Racial-Justice. 

Kid's choir robes available, free!

33 white kids' choir robes and one director's robe are available for the taking! Come and pick them up at Bethany Lutheran Church, 4500 E Hampden Ave, Cherry Hills Village, CO 80113. Call the office at 303-758-2820 or email Sarah at Sarah@Bethany-Denver.org for more information.