Cruzando Fronteras

May 16-18, 2023

El Paso, Texas

El Paso Convention Center

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…

• Wednesday 3/15 (Day 19) – For immigrants with current deportation court appeals, that they may have a fair ruling and remain safe.
• Thursday 3/16 (Day 20) – For those affected by disease and war: The sick, the isolated, the refugee, health care workers, and all those who are working to keep us safe.
• Friday 3/17 (Day 21) – For global solidarity in the midst of global crises. May we remember our shared humanity and care for each other.
• Saturday 3/18 (Day 22) – For the safety and strength of humanitarian workers involved in aiding displaced people.
• Sunday
• Monday 3/20 (Day 23) – For the home countries of the displaced people, that there may be peace and conflict ceases.
• Tuesday 3/21 (Day 24) – For every citizen around the world to stand strongly in prayer for all those impacted by unrest, especially refugees.

• 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 is OPEN!

Please use the links below to register for the Assembly, and to book a room at the DoubleTree or Courtyard. The Assembly will meet at the El Paso Convention Center-- both hotels are close to the convention center.

The Assembly will begin at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 16. Wednesday will feature all-day border immersion experiences bookended by Bible study, education, and plenty of time for questions and answers. The Assembly will conclude at noon on Thursday, May 18.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. The registration deadline is April 15. Registration cancellations will be accepted through March 31 with a non-refundable fee of $50 per registrant. Due to contractual obligations, refunds cannot be issued after this date. Substitutions are possible until April 21st.
2. Pre-assembly Gatherings will be held via ZOOM on Saturday, April 29th at 9:00 a.m., Tuesday, May 2nd at 7:00 p.m., and Thursday, May 4th at 10:00 a.m. ALL participants are asked to attend ONE of these gatherings. Mark your calendars!
3. The registration platform requires a country code - please enter, "US" in this field (or any other letters - not numbers - of choice :)
4. The voting software we will use for elections requires each voting member to have a unique email and their own device (sharing is not voting!). Please secure a personal email and device before the assembly.
5. "Up-to-date" COVID vaccinations are required for ALL participants. "Up-to-date" means that an individual has received the two initial doses of vaccine and booster(s) as appropriate by age with at least one booster in the last year (since May 2022). Photos of COVID cards, vaccination record, or other state approved app (i.e. myColorado) are accepted as proof. Please use the link below to Upload your information -- Thank you for completing this extra step!
6. This assembly is an in-person event. Some videos and materials will be posted on the RMS website as resources after the event.
7. Scholarship funds are available - please contact Deacon Sarah HERE with a brief description of need.
8. Are you a retired pastor or deacon? Did you receive an email from Yvonne Wilken regarding special instructions for registration? If not, please email Yvonne HERE
9. Questions? contact Deacon Sarah HERE



Interested in extending your time in El Paso?

Take a deeper dive into the beauty and complexity of the border.

Pre-Assembly: Full-week immersion Sunday, April 16 through Saturday, April 22 - cost for programming, food, housing, and transportation is $350 per person with some additional food costs - Contact Dan Tisdel HERE for more information.

Post-Assembly: Mini-immersion will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 18th (the assembly concludes at noon), and conclude with breakfast on Saturday, May 20th. Cost for programming, food, housing, and transportation is $1`25 per person - Contact Diana Linden-Johnson HERE for more information, and/or register TODAY using the button below.

Participants will stay at Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey in shared rooms for both events.

IN-PERSON EVENT

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. Hotel accommodations provided on request.

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 HERE

IN-PERSON and ZOOM WORKSHOP

BREADITATION:

a bread baking workshop at Messiah Mountain and online

Saturday, May 6 from 9:00am to 1:00pm

plus FRIDAY PREP for ZOOM participants: required the day before

IN PERSON is at Messiah Mountain Retreat Center: no prep needed the day before

COST: $20 for Zoom participant (providing your own ingredients); $40 in person (includes all ingredients and lunch)

Bread is beautiful because it is simple and nourishing. It nourishes our body. It unites us in community. Join us in person or online to meditate on the beauty and mystery of bread while gaining experience, confidence, and know-how. We'll bake together fougasse, which is a light, open textured bread typically associated with the Provence region of France. While the fougasse is rising, we'll bake a nicely textured flat gluten free communion bread––a taste of the Bread of Heaven with honey, molasses, and more. Your workshop leaders are Pastor Ron Glusenkamp and Pastor Kent Mueller.

Monday, May 1 registration deadline. Limited to 12 participants in person. 

Zoom registrants will receive ingredient list, instructions, and Zoom link several weeks before the event.

RMS WOMEN'S ORGANIZATION

Views from the Rockies

March 2023

Download Views from the Rockies, which contains a note from President Anna Thompson and her reflections on Lent; info about Bold Women's Day, the RMSWO Fall Gathering, the Southeast Colorado Cluster Retreat, and more!

Did you know that not everyone who goes seminary plans to be a pastor? Have you felt a call to seminary but wondered what vocational path there might be for you in ministry? Join us for a Q&A discussion with people who are serving in diverse forms of ministry and explore where God might be calling you.

Click here to see a short video from Deacon Erin Power inviting you to attend this discussion!

Learn more and register at plts.edu/admission/info-sessions.html.

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.

Gallery of Living Art

Friday, March 17 at 7:30pm; Saturday, March 18 at 2:00 and 5:00pm; and Sunday, March 19 at 3:00pm

First Lutheran Church - 1515 N Cascade Ave, Colorado Springs, CO

As the audience sits in the Sanctuary, the story of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection will unfold through staged live reproductions of sacred works of art along with narrative scripture and music sung by First Lutheran choir. The art includes the well-known Christ in Gethsemane by Heinrich Hofmann, The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo’s Pieta.

This year we are excited to again offer the Junior Gallery of Living Art for families with younger children on Saturday, March 18, at 11 a.m. This will be an abbreviated performance with five pictures, with narration by Travis Norton, Senior Pastor at First Lutheran Church and music by First Lutheran choir. Children attending this performance will have the opportunity to take a backstage tour.

More info at flccs.net/ministries/gallery-of-living-art.

AUGUSTANA ARTS PRESENTS

"Heart for the Arts" Celebration Brunch - Augustana Arts' 25th Anniversary

Saturday, March 25 at 10:00am

In lieu of an evening gala, Augustana Arts is pleased to host a Brunch in celebration of our 25th Anniversary as well as a benefit for Stratus Chamber Orchestra and Music Encounters.

Your Morning Includes...

• A Scandinavian Brunch including: Swedish Våfflor (waffles), Open-Faced Sandwiches, Mocktail Mimosas, Juice/Coffee, and More!
• Scandinavian Music by Accordionist Ron Tomocik PLUS Performance by Music Encounters Students and Piano-Violin Duet by Adam Torres & Arlette Aslanian-Townsend
• Honoring Pastor Ron Swenson

No auctions at this event, but donations are invited above the ticket price to support Stratus and Music Encounters.

Kindly reserve your seats by 3/20/2023 - $35 per person or $60 per couple.

Seicento presents J.S. Bach’s monumental St. John’s Passion

May 6 at 7:00pm, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Denver

Seicento’s performance of this monumental work will focus on historically informed musical forces and techniques, beginning with the use of period instruments such as theorbo, portative organ, traverso (wooden flute), baroque oboes, viola da gamba, and baroque strings. Seicento’s singers and instrumentalists perform at baroque pitch with the signature Seicento flair, all contributing to the realization of the work as—in the words of American choral director and conductor Hugh Ross— “transcendent in its divine benignity.’

Tickets are $15 - 50. For concert locations, directions, times and tickets, visit

seicentobaroque.org/current-season/.

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.

ONLINE ZOOM EVENT

Deepening Spiritual Practice through Three-Centered Awareness with author Phileena Nikole

Saturday, March 18, 9:00am - noon

 Are you curious about the deeper, subtle, life-changing dynamics of contemplative prayer? Do you feel stuck in your practice and desire to progress? Are you wondering how to more regularly bring the gifts of your sitting practice into your daily experiences of life and relationships?

If so, join Phileena for this online contemplative experience. During our time together, Phileena will offer a mix of foundational teaching, guided group contemplation, and three-centered awareness practice.

Info and register at centeringprayer.net/PhileenaNikole or call 303-698-7729.

Everything Grows!

Sunday, March 19, 4:00pm - 6:00pm

Lord of the Hills, 21755 E Smoky Hill Rd. Aurora, CO 80015

Join Rejoicing Spirits for dinner and worship as we celebrate World Down Syndrome Day!

We will unite in activities, singing, laughing and loving God. Rejoicing Spirits is an inclusive worship space for people with cognitive and intellectual disabilities, their caregivers , families and anyone who seeks an open, joyful and creative worship experience.

We will gather at LOTH on the third Sunday of each month in 2023. If you would like more information regarding the Rejoicing Spirits experience or volunteering, please contact Pastor Margot Wright at pastor@lordofthehills.org or Pastor Ann Hultquist at native2615@gmail.com.

“We will know what it is to be created in God’s image when all are included."

Visit Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital University!

March 27 or 28

• Meet faculty, staff, and seminarians.
• Visit a current seminary class
• Attend Chapel at 10:00.
• Lunch with faculty, staff, and students
• Learn about financial aid and scholarships.
• Tour Seminary and Hamma Library.

Register by March 20th



For more info: apply.capital.edu/register/VisitTrinity.

URBAN SERVANT CORPS

Palm Sunday Prayer Walk

Sunday, April 2 from 1:00 to 3:00pm at 1660 Ogden St, Denver, CO

To begin the journey of Holy Week, we invite you to the neighborhood where Urban Servant Corps volunteers have been present for 36 years! You will have the opportunity to engage with this year's Urban Servant Corps volunteers, learn about direct service partner organizations, and take a deeper dive into understanding the needs of our neighbors and neighborhood.

We will gather with Bishop Jim Gonia at 1pm for an Opening Prayer and then head out to walk and pray. Varied walk distances will be offered and there will also be opportunity to learn more just by hanging out at the USC house!

May this opportunity be an act of faithful support for the justice we seek in our community!

The Summit at Rainbow Trail

- 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.

"Our Mission: Empowering, equipping, and encouraging the people of God to make Christ known.

Our Vision: Every person a missionary, every leader a mission director, every congregation, conference, and ministry a mission center"

The Rev. William O. Gafkjen was reelected June 9 to serve a third six-year term as bishop of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod.

Visit iksynod.org and on Facebook.

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