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 type of 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.

A MESSAGE FROM THE SYNOD COUNCIL 

2023 RMS financial plan includes reductions in staff and programs 

Pastor Kent Mueller to conclude 20 years of RMS service on Feb. 1

Financial changes and challenges within the Rocky Mountain Synod are precipitating a range of reductions in staffing, programming, and grant support throughout our 2023 fiscal year which begins February 1. Synod Council reviewed the proposed 2023 spending plan at its January 17 meeting and will make final approvals at its February 3-4 meeting.

For at least ten years, our synod has been confronted with the potential need for reductions, but ongoing and generous mission support from congregations and individual donors, augmented by the use of financial reserves and other sources, has allowed us to continue providing a robust synod ministry. The Rocky Mountain Synod now faces the same post-pandemic challenges experienced by congregations and synods throughout our whole church; the outcome is that our vision for ministry at this time is not supported by the available income.

Planned staffing changes and programing reductions for 2023 include the following:

• Pastor Kent Mueller will conclude his ministry as an Assistant to the Bishop on February 1. For the past twenty years he has served in the areas of communication, administration, events, logistics, and special projects. He will remain engaged in a limited capacity, particularly with synod property matters.
• Synod grant support for Campus Ministries as well as partner ministries such as Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Sky Ranch, and Rainbow Trail will be reduced. The part-time position of Campus Ministry and Young Adult Ministry Strategy Coordinator, held by Pastor Michael Vinson, will not be renewed, and a proposal to invest in a synod Young Adult Ministry has been postponed. The Campus Ministry Committee will work with existing campus ministry sites, leaders, and stakeholders to imagine innovative and effective ways to carry out ministry with young adults, both on campus, and off.
• Duties within the Office of the Bishop staff will be reassigned, with Deacon Sarah Bjornebo taking on responsibility for communication and grant writing, and Pastor Diana Linden-Johnson adding the role of staff liaison both to Outdoor Ministries as well as to the Campus Ministry Committee.
• Across the board reductions in staff travel, logistics, and ministry programming will be implemented. Plans for new ministries and new mission starts will be placed on hold. Mission Support for our Churchwide ministries will move from 47.5% to 45% for the fiscal year.
• The Fall 2023 Theological Conference will be reimagined to reduce expenses both for attendees and synod staff, especially with the high travel costs to Synod Assembly in El Paso, TX, this spring.

A proposed reduction in funding for our synod advocacy ministries will be delayed until 2024 thanks to a one-time supplemental Churchwide grant, providing time to explore potential ecumenical partnerships.

Your Rocky Mountain Synod leadership is facing these financial challenges with intentionality and hope. In a spirit of Church Becoming, we are asking how God is inviting us to reimagine our life and ministry together while also exploring new avenues to support and fund the work we are called to do. We are grateful for two substantial gifts, one from an individual and another from a congregation, that together with our reserves, will help us balance this year’s anticipated budget deficit of roughly $435,000. Specifically, Synod Council is allocating a little over $303,000 from these special gifts and recommending drawing roughly $128,000 from reserves.

Knowing that these initial reductions in 2023 will likely require additional adjustments in 2024, we are paying close attention to the use of reserve funds and one-time gifts, while also renewing our commitment to accompanying congregations as they face their own post-pandemic financial challenges.

It is worth noting that while one-third of our congregations had to reduce their mission support in 2022 and another one-third maintained their giving, a full one-third of our congregations actually increased their mission support last year. There is much for which to be grateful as we celebrate the continued generosity that fuels our life together as the Rocky Mountain Synod and helps make possible the ministries of the entire Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Although the financial situation before our synod is challenging, we trust in God’s abundance, and we remain committed to our mission as Christ’s Church, Better Together. May the Spirit continue to equip and empower us, as together we proclaim and embody God’s unconditional love for the sake of the world.

––The Rocky Mountain Synod Council

LUTHERAN ADVOCACY MINISTRY COLORADO



Join us for Colorado Lutheran Day at the Capitol

Thursday, February 16

8:00am to 1:00pm

We want to make sure you have one important date saved on your calendar already: Colorado Lutheran Day at the Capitol is back! Our annual event focused on learning, community building, and lobbying your elected officials will take place on Thursday, February 16. You can join us online via Zoom or in-person at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 1600 Grant Street, Denver. Registration is currently open!

What: Colorado Lutheran Day at the Capitol

When: Thursday, February 16 from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm

Where: St. Paul Lutheran Church, 1600 Grant Street, Denver + Colorado State Capitol Building

Cost: $20 for full-day in person*, $5 to join the morning session only by Zoom

*Breakfast, lunch, and all materials are included in the in-person registration fee.

For more details and to register now, visit: Colorado Lutheran Day at the Capitol info + FAQ.

LUTHERAN ADVOCACY MINISTRY

NEW MEXICO

2023 NM Issue Briefing and Bishop's Luncheon!

Tuesday, February 21, 9:00am-noon

After pausing this annual event for the last two years, the New Mexico 2023 Legislative Issue Briefing is scheduled in person for Tuesday, February 21 from 9 a.m. to noon at the United Church of Santa Fe.  Sign-in and refreshments will be available beginning at 8:30 a.m. Following the protocols of United Church, masks will be required by participants in the building. The event will include morning devotions, a Bible study on advocacy with Bishop Jim, special guest presentations, and a legislative advocacy summary of priority bills still active.

Please note, there will be no Zoom option for the Issue Briefing.

At the conclusion of the Issue Briefing, participants will proceed to the La Fonda Hotel in downtown Santa Fe. The Bishop's Luncheon which will begin at 12:30 p.m. and conclude at about 2:30 p.m. The luncheon will include more with Bishop Jim, special presentations, and of course, a wonderful lunch. Masks are not required by La Fonda and thus are optional.

The cost for both NM events is $40 per person. (This amount covers just the charge for lunch at La Fonda. The event is not a fundraiser.)

FAITH FORMATION

Youth Gathering is Feb. 18-20 in Denver!

ASSEMBLY 2023

Cruzando Fronteras

May 16-18, 2023, in El Paso, Texas

We will gather in El Paso, Texas, for the 2023 Rocky Mountain Synod Assembly to experience firsthand the gifts and challenges of ministry and mission on the southern border of the United States. An assembly last took place in El Paso in 2009.

On Tuesday, May 16, we begin at 4 p.m. The assembly concludes at noon on Thursday, May 18. Additional details and registration will be posted as available.

You are encouraged to make your airline travel arrangements now to have the best choice of available flights.

FOR YOUR ANNUAL MEETING

Share our RMS Annual Report snapshot of how we are better together!

Our financial report for 2022 is not complete (because our fiscal year ends January 31), but your annual meetings are NOW. Thus our two-page annual report .pdf is ready for you to download and include in your Annual Reports––either digital or in print. This represents a very small slice of the many ways we are Better Together as the Rocky Mountain Synod!

• download .pdf in color
• download .pdf in black and white

MESSIAH MOUNTAIN SERIES

Art Journal Workshop series doesn't require art skills

REGISTER BY JANUARY 26!

Three Saturdays: February 4, 11, 18

9:00am to 2:30pm. with lunch provided.

$175 Cost: sessions, supplies, and lunch.

Location: Messiah Mountain Retreat Center, 5200 Parmalee Gulch Road, Indian Hills, CO, a short drive into the foothills west of Denver, just 8 minutes from C-470 and Highway 285. 

Artist journals combine writing and various media (drawing, water color, pastel, collage, etc.) with the purpose of exploring ideas and making a written and visual record of experience. In this workshop series, we will mine elements of our own life story and experiences using various media and written reflections, all brought together and bound in a journal format. No artistic experience required, but a willingness to reflect, write, and engage with art media is essential. Expect some work outside class sessions each week.

Workshop Host: Ken Phillips is our host and co-traveler in this workshop. (Ken was our Park City Theological Conference artist!)

Registration is online, as well as additional information about the workshop and our workshop host. January 25 registration deadine. Contact Kent Mueller with questions.

EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP RETREAT

Deepen resiliency and create community with EiL colleagues

Resiliency, Community, and the Loneliness of Leadership

February 16-18, 2023

The Excellence in Leadership Team is excited to invite EiL colleagues to their first retreat, geared at graduates and those in Year 2 of this initiative. We recognize that the work we need to do to deepen resiliency, create community, and excel as leaders is not over when participants graduate from Excellence in Leadership. There is always work to be done, and it can be hard to do it in the normal confines of everyday life.

This retreat will...

• allow space for being understood in a community of leaders.
• carve out time away from the demands of leadership.
• present Excellence in Leadership material related to Community and Resiliency.
• strategize ways to shift culture and craft a new way forward.

This retreat is set before the season of Lent, so leaders can come and let go of some of their burdens ahead of a busy and deeply spiritual season. The retreat will take place at the Franciscan Retreat Center, Colorado Springs, CO. Retreat facilitators are Pastors Will Johnson and Katie Emery.

Questions? Send email to eil@rmselca.org.

CHECK FRAUD

Don't send checks to RMS in window envelopes, and check your statement

Many checks have been stolen within Postal Service networks and deposited fraudulently. We have learned this is widespread problem. Banks have been efficient in issuing the funds to us correctly, but we have to track down missing funds first!

We are requesting that treasurers and financial staff be sure to reconcile the statement emailed or sent each month (from Jon Johnson, our financial manager) with your records to confirm that the RMS has received payments that you have sent.

We are working on fraud prevention strategies, including a system for authorizing electronic fund transfers. Please contact Jon with questions.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church

Open Nominations Jan. 9 – March 9

At the 2022 Churchwide Assembly, voting members adopted a memorial concerning restructuring the ELCA’s governance and "authorized the establishment of the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church (CRLC) to consist of no more than 35 voting members and directed the Executive Committee of the Church Council to initiate the process of forming the commission."

• Read more in this article from Living Lutheran here.

The nomination process is open until March 9, 2023. More information about the commitment and expectation of serving on the CRLC can be found here. Interested individuals who wish to be nominated or to nominate another person should complete and submit the nomination form.

RMS MINISTRIES

Resources for Veterans

Many veterans are unaware of the many resources available to them after their military service to help them navigate challenges they may face. These challenges may include medical and mental health issues, difficulties in personal relationships, as well as financial hardships. Taking the first step towards facing these challenges is often the most difficult for veterans.

If you are a veteran or you know of a veteran facing life challenges and don't know where to turn, the Veteran Servant Corps Project is here to help. We can help you or the veteran you know take that first step towards getting the needed assistance. Simply contact Vicky Daub at director@veteranservantcorps.org.

ZOOM INFORMATION SESSION

Join this info session on Wednesday, January 25 at 5:00pm MST.

US02WEB.ZOOM.US/J/84424922147?PWD=UML6OVZOTWDBSU00WFV2Y0DIMFNFUT09

YOUNG ADULTS IN GLOBAL MISSION

Applications Open for 2023/24 Young Adult in Global Mission (YAGM) Program

The ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission program invites ELCA young adults ages 21-29 into a transformative, year-long journey in international service.

To learn how you can support Young Adults in Global Mission, visit their sponsorship page here.

Learn about the program details and apply at ELCA.org/YAGM. Final deadline to apply is Feb. 1, 2023. For more information contact YAGM at 1-800-638-3522, ext. 2861 or by email to Mae Helen Jackson, Young Adult Outreach and Placement Manager at maehelen.jackson@elca.org.

AUGUSTANA ARTS PRESENTS

Concert Encounter for Kidz

Sunday, January 29 at 3:00pm

Hey kids (of all ages)! Get up close and comfortable with music for Stratus Chamber Orchestra’s 2nd Annual “Concert Encounter for Kidz.”

Hear all the sounds! See their fingers move! Touch the instruments! This afternoon concert will feature music of horns, woodwinds, and strings –– ALL with a kid-friendly flair. Expose little young ones to the joy of music where there are no rules or restrictions to bounce, sway, dance, or stomp to the music.

A concert to inspire any future young artist!

Event takes place in the Fellowship Hall at Augustana Lutheran Church (5000 E Alameda Ave, Denver, CO 80246). Cost is $15 per adult and $5 per child.

Interim Ministry Training Using a Group Coaching Model

2nd and 4th Fridays each month, beginning January 27

9:00-10:00 am

The Interim Ministry Training is based in the real-time real life work of an Intentional Interim Pastor, and will focus on interpersonal conversations, conducted online, as well as digital and print media. It will use a “coach-approach,” which believes that 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 mastery 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.

ZOOM MEETING

Introduction to the Welcoming Prayer

Saturday, January 28, 9:00am - noon

“The Welcoming Prayer practice is a way of letting go into the present moment in the ordinary routines of daily life. It is used when your needs for security, affection and control are frustrated or gratified and cause emotional reactions. It is a way of turning everything over to God …” Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart. We hope to see you at our workshop. May you be open to including the Welcoming Prayer in your invitation to the Holy Spirit to extend the walls of your inner room to all of life.

Go to centeringprayer.net/IntrotoWelcomingPrayer to register or call 303-698-7729

IN-PERSON WORKSHOP

Managing Leadership Anxiety

Friday, Feb 3 from 6:00-9:00pm

and Saturday, Feb 4 from 8:00-2:00pm

God is counting on all of us to be leaders in our workplaces, homes, community, schools and beyond creating peace and inclusion. Abiding Hope Church is hosting a free workshop on “Managing Leadership Anxiety” by Steve Cuss. Steve Cuss is an author and speaker on leadership anxiety, helping individuals learn to function as calm, aware, and present humans in their work and home place.

Join us Friday, February 3 and Saturday, February 4 with dinner, breakfast, and lunch included. This event is free! To register please email Cathi@abidinghope.org.

Speaker info at stevecusswords.com.

ZOOM CONVERSATION

Reflecting on our collective experience of the pandemic

rescheduled due to Zoom issues:

Thursday, Feb. 9 from 11-12:30 MT

register in advance, below

Pastor Sarah Scherschligt, an ELCA pastor serving in Alexandria, VA, wrote a book during the pandemic called, God Holds You: A Pandemic Chronicle. Pastor Sarah is now offering to share about her book and lead an RMS small group conversation on our collective experience of the pandemic. 

In her blog she writes, “These gatherings have confirmed my hunch that the act of remembering the pandemic together—as church—is invaluable. It helps us grieve, heal, build community, and commit to the values that we discovered were so important. It also helps us lay the groundwork for future generations to look back on what we have done and use our stories to make sense of their own.”

Please register so we can contact you if there are any Zoom issues. Pastor Diana Linden-Johnson will provide the Zoom link to you prior to the event.

ZOOM CONVERSATION

"Sacred Nature" Book Discussion

Saturday, February 11, 10:00am

Join the Creation Care Team in discussing Sacred Nature by Karen Armstrong.

Read a review of Sacred Nature here. From the back cover - This book is an urgent manifesto and a practical guide on how to rekindle our spiritual bond with nature, drawing on the wisdom of the world's religious traditions.

Zoom - us02web.zoom.us/j/83008940316

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.

AURORA, CO

Join Rejoicing Spirits for Valentines!

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

Join Rejoicing Spirits at Lord of the Hills Lutheran Church 21755 E Smoky Hill Road in Aurora for dinner and worship!

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 hultquist@augustanadenver.org.

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

ZOOM EVENT

Trauma & Its Healing

presented by Dr. Pat Fosarelli, M.D., D.Min

Tuesday, February 21

4-6 pm PT, 5-7 pm MT, 6-8 pm CT, 7-9 pm ET

Although we might think only of major crises when we hear the word “trauma,” trauma includes any disturbing experience that elicits a highly negative emotional response. Trauma is characterized in three ways: acute, chronic, and complex. This presentation will offer information as to the types of trauma (and examples thereof); how they present/how they can be recognized; what damage they can do to those experiencing them; strategies for beginning the healing process; and vicarious trauma (the trauma suffered by those witnessing trauma suffered by others, including caregivers). Download flyer here.

The Lutheran Faith Community Nurse Association is sponsoring this educational event. Non-members and non-nurses are welcome to attend.

Registration fee: $20 for LFCNA members/ $30 for non-members

"We are comprised of 195 congregations, over 81,000 members, and over 300 rostered ministers.

Synod means walking together, which describes our interdependent ministry relationship as we support mission partners, carry out synodical and churchwide initiatives, provide for education events and leadership training, respond to disaster and emergency needs, and heed the call to be a church engaged in all the world."

The Rev. Laurie Skow Anderson serves as Bishop of the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin.

Visit nwswi.org.org and on Facebook.

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