RMS-ELCA RACIAL JUSTICE TRAINING

Walking What Jesus Talked About

Thursday, April 27 - 2:00pm to Saturday, April 29 - 12:00pm

Yes, Jesus talked about A LOT of things but this train-the-trainer event will focus on the Gospel imperative to love and what it looks like in our church and society today.

Participants will be equipped with tools to facilitate courageous Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) conversations in their conference and congregation, and there will be opportunities for deeper diving.

You will be required to take the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) as a part of the training. Information will be sent once you have registered.

Training begins at the RMS office Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 2:00 pm and concludes Saturday, April 29 at 12:00 noon. Housing and meals will be provided.

This is an in-person event. Please plan to attend the entire duration of the training. 

Registration deadline: April 1, 2023.

For more information, contact Barbara Berry-Bailey at: bberry-bailey@rmselca.org.

RMS ASSEMBLY 2023

Cruzando Fronteras

May 16-18, 2023

El Paso, Texas

As we prepare for Christ’s resurrection this Lenten season, we also prepare our hearts for the “Cruzando Fronteras” Synod Assembly 2023 in El Paso, TX.

This Lenten season, we will share prayers and reflections by one of our migrant ministry partners: Jesuit Refugee Service. Each week, we will share a daily prayer as an opportunity to focus our energy towards migrants and refugees during each of the 40 days of Lent.

We pray…

• 2/22 (Ash Wednesday/TODAY) – For all people who have been forced to flee their homes.
• 2/23 (Day 2) – For refugee women, children, and men victims of human trafficking for their release and safety.
• 2/24 (Day 3) – For refugee and migrant victims of unjust labor exploitation for their freedom.
• 2/25 (Day 4) – For refugee children who are forced into different forms of labor.
• Sunday
• 2/27 (Day 5) – For immigrants and refugees who have gone missing, that they may return safely.
• 2/28 (Day 6) – We pray for guidance to support and advocate for refugees and migrants.

Amen.

We invite you to participate in this “Lenten Migration Advocacy Challenge” to learn about the policies affecting migration, hear stories from migrants, gain the knowledge and skills to engage in advocacy, and pray together to better embody a church that welcomes, protects, promotes, and integrates the stranger in our midst.

Registration and Hotel Links for Synod Assembly will be coming soon! Questions? Contact Deacon Sarah Bjornebo HERE.

LAM NEW MEXICO

Connecting Faith and Public Life

As members of the ELCA, we believe that we are freed in Christ to serve and love our neighbor. God uses our hands, through our direct service work and our voices, through our advocacy efforts, to restore and reconcile our world. Through faithful advocacy, the ELCA lives out our Lutheran belief that governments can help advance the common good.

Spring Cohort of Excellence in Leadership

Registration is open!

Excellence in Leadership is opening up a new Spring Cohort that begins March 12, 2023, and will meet about every other week until April 28, 2024. This leadership development is a good way for a newly formed Congregational Council to begin its work together.

If you have two or three people from your Council, including the deacon or pastor, who might be interested in exploring the intersection between spirituality and leading a faith community in these uncharted times, check out if this ministry might be right for your congregation. This small number of people participating in learning the tools and growing in leadership capacity can help the whole Council begin the process of healthy change.

CHECK FRAUD

Mission Support electronic payment option coming soon!

In an effort to deter fraud, the synod will offer an electronic payment option soon!

Please continue to send checks to the Office of the Bishop in standard business envelopes (no windows please).

Please ask treasurers and financial staff to reconcile the RMS Mission Support statement emailed or sent each month with your records to confirm that the RMS has received all payments and alert Jon Johnson, Finance Director if payments are missing. Questions? contact Jon Johnson HERE

FEBRUARY 2023

Portico Synod Communicator Updates

Utilize text support: It’s brave and smart to seek help if you’re living with stress, depression, anxiety, or mental health struggles – but accessing an in-person counselor isn’t always easy or even possible. That’s one reason the ELCA-Primary health plan EAP benefit has expanded to include Talkspace, digital confidential online counseling with licensed therapists via text, video, or audio. Read more on myPortico.

Retirement on the horizon? Increase your confidence and peace of mind by learning more about developing a withdrawal strategy, utilize Social Security, plan for health care costs, and more. Watch the recordings of the Retirement Readiness workshops whenever it works for you. Learn more, or sign up to participate, on myPortico.



Getting started on your taxes early? The Richard R. Hammar Clergy Tax Guide and the Federal Reporting Guide for Churches are both available on myPortico at no cost to you.

Develop an ‘I can do this’ mindset: Deep breaths, time with loved ones, a good night’s sleep … what are your best practices for keeping yourself centered and healthy? If you’re looking to expand your toolbox, and you have ELCA-Primary health benefits, check out Learn to Live’s new course focusing on building resilience. Take the initial assessment and then enroll in the self-guided program at no out-of-pocket cost to you.

RMS MINISTRIES

An update from the U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs:

VA housed more than 40,000 homeless Veterans in 2022

Celebrate International Women’s Day in Worship March 12

Every year on March 8th, the world has set aside a day to celebrate women - to bring awareness and attention to women’s challenges globally and recognize their achievements. As a church one of many ways to acknowledge this day is uplifting our International Women Leaders program. For over 30 years, the ELCA has partnered with global companion churches to equip leaders by supporting their education. However, only about a quarter of the applications received for international scholarships were from women. Because of this our church made a bold decision to address this historic imbalance of education. Thanks to the generosity of ELCA members, the answer to that imbalance was born: the International Women Leaders program.

Through scholarships, leadership seminars, and exchanges the International Women Leaders program is opening new paths to learning and leadership for women from our global companions. Many of these women come to study at excellent ELCA colleges and universities, in turn helping to globalize and shape our own leaders here at home. This year, we are extending an invitation to all congregations to celebrate IWD in worship and in taking a special offering on Sunday, March 12th that would support IWL students. We have a generous donor who has given a $50,000 match and together we can make the education of women leaders around the world possible.

If you would like to participate or have any questions, please email Rachel Saby (rachel.saby@elca.org) in the ELCA Development Office and she will provide you with some worship resources (worship materials, prayers, song suggestions, information about IWL, and more!) that you can utilize for this day!

Global Church Update from Pr. Anne Morawski, serving in Budapest, Hungary

Greetings from Budapest!

I finally wrote another email to Fasor -- the church that has hosted the English congregation in the past -- asking what they would like me to do about the English worship service. Originally we had hoped to start with Advent. The pastor, Aradi Gyorgy, was duly apologetic and said that they were so busy and overwhelmed trying to restart their Hungarian congregation that they cannot do the English congregation right now. Inflation has been so high in Hungary (more than 60% on gas and oil). The churches and meeting rooms are not heated, people aren't coming back in great numbers after COVID, inflation makes everything tight for everyone.

The war in Ukraine looms over everything and especially the older generation is on edge. Elderly people on fixed incomes are truly struggling to pay for food and heating bills. Teachers make only $700 USD/month, but food prices are the same as in the USA. Pastors have a parsonage, but only make $500/month. I think maybe in September we might be able to restart the English worship service. We will see. The city is full of tourists because the US Dollar is so strong and the HU forint is so weak.

For now I am working on the English Bible study and reaching out to international students who speak English. Debbi Shoopman and I are having conversations with communities around Hungary that might host English native speaker volunteers in their schools starting next September. The local ecumenical LGBT group includes me in worship and bible study, which is a blessing.

I will meet with Aradi Gyorgy soon and try to get permission to do some English worship experiments at Deak Ter (the big church at the center of town where I lead the Bible study). We could do things there I think after Easter and through the summer, maybe on a weeknight, maybe outside, etc. No one wants to take the English congregation away from Fasor, but maybe we could try something for the summer. Fasor is off the beaten path, so this could be a way to unearth some of the English speakers in Budapest more easily, give global mission some publicity by writing about it in the USA and Canada, and try something fun that could attract more young people. I would like to use "All Creation Sings" and do it with a focus on Creation Spirituality. Deak Ter has an interior courtyard that opens to the street and has a large tree and garden with enough room for chairs, etc. I hope we can do it.

That's all the news that's fit to print. It's a rainy day in Budapest. The cat is sleeping beside me on a chair. All is well. Thanks for keeping in touch!

In Christ our Hope,

Anne

annemorawski@gmail.com

YOUNG ADULTS IN GLOBAL MISSION

Young Adult Border Immersion Trip

Las Cruces, New Mexico

April 26-30, 2023

The ELCA Young Adult Ministries, AMMPARO, and LIRS invite young adults to apply for border immersion trip taking place from April 26-30 in Las Cruces, NM. This is an opportunity for young adults ages 18-35 to travel to the US-Mexico border to experience an accompaniment-style immersion program, where relationships and first-hand educational experiences are prioritized, and issues are linked to action. Submit your application by February 1st.

LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF

Help for earthquake survivors in Turkey

NEW! We've created a suite of resources to help you guide your congregation:

 + Bulletin insert

 + Worship announcement slide

 + Social media graphics

This situation is evolving quickly. Your gift to our emergency response fund will deliver urgently needed support and care, like food, water and other critically needed items, temporary shelter, and medicine and supplies for clinics. I promise to keep you and your congregation updated as our response develops.

At this time, financial gifts are the number one need to assist our neighbors who are inured, hungry and displaced from multiple earthquakes.

You can give directly at lwr.org/quake or by mailing to Lutheran World Relief, PO Box 17061, Baltimore, MD 21297-1061. Please write "QUAKE" in the memo line.

Thank you - once again - for leading your congregation to share God's love when it's needed most.

Driven: Virtuosos of Stratus

Stratus Chamber Orchestra

Adam Torres, Music Director

Saturday, February 25 at 7pm

Augustana Lutheran Church

5000 E. Alameda Ave., Denver

A shared passion for music making is the fuel that brings together a high-caliber ensemble such as Stratus Chamber Orchestra. Join us for an evening to experience the technical wizardry and musical expertise of some of the finest performers in Denver.

The program features Kurt Ochsner, marimba, and Stratus violins, led by Arlette Aslanian-Townsend, concertmaster. Celebrate Black History Month with the music of Florence Price, and reflect on Charles Ives’ conversational piece, The Unanswered Question. You will no doubt leave in awe of Stratus’ unparalleled talents.

Messiaen’s “Book of the Holy Sacrament”

Saturday, March 11 at 9:30 am (lecture) and Sunday, March 12 at 7:00 pm (concert)

Organist David Vogels will perform the 18-movement Livre du Saint Sacrement in its entirety on the 62-rank Reuter organ at Augustana Lutheran Church. Commissioned by the American Guild of Organists in 1986, this masterpiece is one of the most significant works of the past century.

For the first time, the music will be accompanied by images on large video screens, showing the text quotations, birds, Gregorian chants, colors, and stained-glass windows that are woven into Messiaen’s vast tapestry of sound.

Since this monumental composition is loaded with more hidden codes and theological references than a Dan Brown novel, Vogels will unlock the doors to understanding the piece for the optimum listening experience in a lecture-demonstration on Saturday, March 11, summarizing the underlying quotations and the sound-design elements of Messiaen’s musical language.

Concert and lecture both take place at Augustana Lutheran Church, 5000 E Alameda Ave, Denver CO, 80246.

SHARE THIS LENT DEVOTIONAL

"Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing"

February 22-April 9

Join the Creation Care Team and use the devotional "Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing (Volume 1)" by Gayle Boss.

From the cover - We share this planet with creatures magnificent, delicate, intricate—and now vanishing at a faster rate than at any other time in Earth’s history. Spend Lent with twenty-five of these endangered animals. Vivid descriptions of the miracle of each creature and the peril it faces will fill readers with wonder and grief at what these animals suffer on a planet shaped by human choices. Their true and difficult stories will wake readers to a greater compassion—which is what Lent, meaning “springtime,” has always been for. These stories also wake in us a wild hope that from all this death and ruin something new could rise. The promise of Lent is that something new will rise. In fact, as these stories attest, our hope, though wild, is not impossible and is already loose in the world.

Read more here, questions- rmscreationcareteam@gmail.com.

IN-PERSON and ZOOM EVENT

What Does Centering Prayer Have to Offer the 21st Century?

With Rev. Adam Bucko and Rory McEntee authors of the New Monasticism

Saturday, February 25, 9:00am - noon

What do Father Keating’s teachings have to offer us in the 21st Century? In an initial talk, Adam Bucko will set the stage for our time together by first looking to the past. How can we understand Centering Prayer’s connections to the historical structures and frameworks of the Christian tradition, and what do these structures of contemplative spirituality have to offer us today? Rory McEntee will follow up Adam’s talk with reflections on interspiritual dimensions of Father Keating’s teachings and contemplative life. How might the two major projects of Fr. Keating’s later life, the Centering Prayer movement and the interspiritual “Snowmass Conferences,” come together? Click button below to register or call (303)698-7729.

IN-PERSON EVENT

Centering Prayer Comes to Augustana this LENT

First Sunday in Lent, February 26 starting with lunch at noon and repeated on Saturday, March 4, 9:00am ending with lunch at noon.

Centering Prayer experts from the Center for Contemplative Living will teach participants this mode of prayer at each three hour class.

• First Sunday in Lent: February 26, 12:30 – 3:30 (following Sunday lunch)
• First Saturday in Lent: March 4, 9:00 – 12:00 (ending with lunch)
• Three hours of learning and practicing about centering prayer
• Location is Anna Paulson Room
• Cost is $10/person (including lunch)
• Scholarships from Health Ministry available to cover cost
• Invite friends and family to join you
• Appropriate for youth in High School and all adults

What is Centering Prayer?

• A type of contemplative prayer
• A spiritual discipline that deepens relationship with God
• An intentional practice to grow closer to God
• Can be a means to spiritual healing from personal struggles
• A way to open hearts to receive God’s deep love
• One way to Rise and Sing Again!

NOTE: There will also be a person from the Center present to lead four optional guided centering prayer practice sessions in Christ Chapel after Holden Evening prayer on Wednesdays in Lent, March 8, 15, 22, and 29, 7:00–7:30 pm.

Please RSVP and Register by clicking the button below, or with the church office at 303-388-4678, or with Sue Ann, Faith Community Nurse, glusenkamp@augustanadenver.org.

IN-PERSON EVENT

Lenten Contemplative Retreat at Lord of the Hills

Saturday, March 4, 9:30am-2:30pm

Lord of the Hills Lutheran Church

21755 E Smoky Hill Rd, Centennial CO 80015

Lord of the Hills is hosting a Lenten Contemplative Retreat that is being lead by Contemplative Outreach of Colorado. All are invited and welcome to share in a day of learning about or deepening your understanding of contemplative practices. Our leader from Contemplative Outreach of Colorado will lead us in exploring and experiencing Centering Prayer. This retreat is designed to offer you the opportunity to deepen your relationship with God. Feel free to reach out to Myrna Blair with any questions. Deepen your experience of Lent this year by taking a day to pause, learn, grow and make some new connections.

There is no cost for this retreat. You are invited you to bring your own lunch though we will have plenty of healthy snacks & drinks. Give yourself the gift of this day long retreat during the season of Lent. Please RSVP if you plan to join us.

Creating Caring Communities: Responding to Mental Illness

Sunday, March 5, 2:00-4:00pm

What connects us in our humanity are personal stories. At this event you will hear testimony about ways mental health challenges have affected our speaker, Rabbi Sandy Cohen. We hope many people will relate as these stories break the silence about mental illness. Very few people do not know someone with a mental health condition, or they are themselves impacted. Rabbi Cohen will offer practical ways that communities are places where mental health is acknowledged and supported. On our panel you will hear from people who are part of different faith communities where support for mental health has been undertaken. A primary goal is to educate spiritual communities, encouraging them to be more welcoming to those who are impacted by mental health challenges. Rabbi Sandy is excited to share her insights to make our synagogues, churches, mosques, spiritual communal organizations, and our wider community into a home for all who wish to belong.

Cultivating Climate Justice Retreat: Tools, Hope, Theology and Spirit

Friday, March 10, through Sunday, March 12

Does your heart ache at the thought of climate change and what it means for your children, grandchildren, loved ones? Do you yearn for hope as you face the realities of climate change? Are you longing to help build a world in which God’s good garden Earth and all people may flourish? Join us for a dynamic weekend of growth in knowledge, skills, spiritual strength, community ~ all vital to forging paths toward climate justice. We will share stories of meaning and purpose, learn to employ five key strategies, worship, laugh together, honor grief, delight in joy, and relish the desert as space for contemplation of beauty and calling.

Climate justice retreat sponsored by the Center for Climate Justice and Faith and Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?

Participants will leave better motivated and equipped to actively work toward climate justice sustained by faith and community.

This retreat includes:

• Stories and storytelling, one-to-ones, no blame or shame
• Practical examples and work, including change on all three levels ~ structural, individual behavior, and consciousness/worldview
• Multi-sensory engagement
• Exposure to the global climate justice movement and resources
• Spiritual nature of engagement and paradox in structural change
• Building a community of support and having fun

Retreat facilitator is Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, Professor of Theological and Social Ethics at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and Church Divinity School of the Pacific. Moe-Lobeda is founding director of the PLTS Center for Climate Justice and Faith.

The Summit

- A Faith Formation Retreat for Leaders

April 24-26

You're invited to come spend time at Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp for personal reflection, renewal, and professional development with other youth, family, children, young adult, and faith formation leaders!

This is a FREE retreat for folks in the Rocky Mountain Synod! Folks outside of the synod are welcome to join. The 2023 theme is LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Faith Formation. Deacon Ross Murray, Pastor Kelsey Fauser, and Daniel Kirschbaum will be our content speakers and conversation facilitators.

Contact Bryan at Bryan@bethany-denver.org or Alec Celecki at 303-912-0283 with questions. Use QR code to register or click button below.

Join Pastor Jose Valenzuela for an India Tour and Retreat

Oct 19-31, 2023

You are cordidially invited to care for your spirit. It's been a rough few years and it may be time for you to reset. This tour will include a visit to India's Golden Triangle (Delhi, Jaipur, Agra) which includes visiting the famous Taj Mahal. We will also spend five days in a retreat in the holy city of Varanasi.

Contact Pastor Jose at chaplainjosevalenzuela@gmail.com to learn more and be a part of this small, 10-person tour.

For more information visit this article from the Grand Canyon Synod, and download this overview.

"The La Crosse Area Synod... is 43,400 baptized Christians from 74 congregations in 10 counties in western Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota. We are a Christ-centered church, inviting all to walk with us."

The Rev. Felix J. Malpica was elected June 13, 2021 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the La Crosse Area Synod during an online synod assembly. Read his articles in Living Lutheran here.

Visit lacrosseareasynod.org and on Facebook.

Click here for a map of our 65 ELCA synods and 9 regions.