GRATITUDE

3E Lilly Grant says "thank you" for campaign support

The successful Phase One of our RMS "Next Faithful Step" Campaign raised $350,000 specifically for match funds needed for our Educate, Equip, Enact (3E) Lilly Grant. We are overwhelmed with gratitude for such generosity!

Since 2017, Educate, Equip, Enact (3E) has been saying “3E is for you, 3E is for us.” Over the past 6 years, 182 RMS congregations have participated in 3E stewardship programs (some several times). Frankie Sweetnam, a member of Peace, El Paso, shares her experience…

We joined Stewardship for all Seasons (SAS) in 2022. We have been working on a plan for generosity for our congregation since early this year. 

SAS helps us to focus on the needs of our congregation and the greater mission of our church and is making us once again a caring and empathetic group, spreading God's good news inside and outside the walls of Peace. It is good to hear from the SAS presenters about what other churches have done to encourage their congregations to increase funding for mission and provide pastoral leadership so that we may thrive once again. 

The theme of gratitude is a great reminder that all we have belongs to God and it helps us in our wish to be generous to everyone we meet. We are looking forward to continuing in the spring after what we hope is a successful commitment Sunday this month.

TODAY IS "DAY 11"

Watch a daily RMS Advent word video

During each day of Advent, you are invited to reflect on a word of the day for Advent and watch a video reflection from across the Rocky Mountain Synod. Visit the calendar each day of Advent at this easy-to-remember website link: rmselca.org/advent

Direct link to the Advent calendar: calendar.myadvent.net/?id=1ovs7z050uzdswtk66btilvxb120thuh

MARSHALL FIRE ONE YEAR LATER

A Service of Remembrance, Reflection, and Resilience

Friday, December 30 at 11:00 am

Bishop Jim Gonia, along with Pastor Stephanie Lord, Christ the Servant, Louisville, and Pastor Pam Challis, Trinity, Boulder, invite you to gather in community as we commemorate the first anniversary of the Marshall Fire. The service takes place at Christ the Servant Lutheran, 506 Via Appia Way, Louisville, CO. This service will also be livestreamed here.

FINANCES

The check is in the mail, but sometimes it never shows up

We are hearing more and more about problems with mail not being delivered in our congregations, primarily envelopes that are obviously checks sent in window envelopes.

This has also been the case at the RMS Office with a few incidents whereby checks sent to us have not been delivered to us. 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 recommend sending checks in a regular envelope, NOT a window envelope, so that the check is not visible from the outside of the envelope. Please contact Jon with questions.

ASSEMBLY 2023

Pre-Assembly 2023 Preparation: El Paso, TX and Southern NM

As we prepare for the coming of Christ this Advent, we also prepare our hearts for the “Cruzando Fronteras” Synod Assembly 2023 in El Paso, TX.

It is in this spirit that we invite you to learn, advocate, and reflect using the “Preparing Welcome: An Advent Devotional for Immigrant Justice” created by the Interfaith Immigration Coalition.

This week’s theme is “Waiting for Permanent Protections,” focusing on the scripture “The spirit of the Lord… shall decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth… and the weaned child shall put its hand on the serpent’s den.” Isaiah 11:2, 4, 8. Read this week’s entire devotional here.

In November 2020, Colorado voters approved Proposition 118, which established the new Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program. Beginning on January 1, 2023, employers will begin deducting 0.045 percent of an employee’s pay and matching that with an employer-paid contribution of 0.045 percent. The employer will remit the full 0.09 percent premium to the Colorado FAMLI program to provide funding for the benefits that will be available beginning in 2024.  

Churches and non-profits are all required to participate in this program, so it is important that you take steps to work with your payroll service provider or the person responsible for preparing your congregation’s payroll, to set up your account with Colorado FAMLI and then begin withholding the employee contributions from any payrolls issued after 12-31-22. 

Colorado FAMLI has confirmed that for the purposes of this program, rostered ministers are not exempt from this program and will be required to contribute to the FAMLI fund. For more information, please visit the Colorado FAMLI website – https://famli.colorado.gov . There is an abundance of information on their website that will answer a lot of your questions.  For specific questions, you can reach them by phone at 866-263-2654. 

Effective in January 2024, Colorado workers will be eligible to receive up to 12 weeks of FAMLI leave benefits to provide financial assistance for various situations requiring an extended time away from work for family or medical situations. This program will be funded by contributions made by employers and their employees .

CONNECT WITH OTHERS

Join the RMS Faith Formation Network!

FAITH FORMATION

Western States Youth Gathering '23

July 6-9, 2023

Early Bird registration is $385/person. Prices increase January 4, 2023.

The Western States Youth Gathering (WSYG) and Western States Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (WYLE) is coming to California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, CA from July 4-9, 2023 and is open to high school aged youth in Regions 1-4. The Western States Multicultural Youth Leadership Pre-Event (WYLE) will be held July 4-6, 2023. WSYG and WYLE will gather around the theme, “Revive, Reunite, Rejoice”, grounded in Acts 2:1 “When the day [of WSYG] came, they were all together in one place.”

Early-Bird registration is OPEN! Learn more and register your group for the lowest possible prices at wsyg.com/registration!

VETERANS MINISTRY

Join us in wishing our veterans a Merry Christmas!

Did you know that each part of the Rocky Mountain Synod has at least one Veterans Home? The Vision Statement of one of these homes is “Working together to provide the highest quality of care and the best quality of life for veterans and their families.”

For Christmas 2022 let's “shower” each of these Veterans homes with Christmas cards!? Click the links below to get the address(es) for our Synod’s Veterans homes.

Imagine the joy a card from you might bring to a lonely Veterans’ heart this Christmas! Questions? Contact Vicky Daub at director@veteranservantcorps.org.

Thank you. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

• Colorado Veterans Community Living Centers
• Veterans Home of Wyoming
• Utah Veterans Homes
• New Mexico State Veterans' Home
• El Paso - Ambrosio Guillen Texas State Veterans Home

YOUNG ADULTS IN GLOBAL MISSION (YAGM)

Olive Harvest in Palestine

Harper Bolz-Weber, currently serving as a Young Adult in Global Mission (YAGM) in Jerusalem/West Bank shared in her latest newsletter...

"We are approaching the end of the olive harvest season in Palestine. During the months of October and November, many Palestinians gather around their families' trees to harvest olives that mostly go to be pressed into oil (the best olive oil in the world). I feel lucky to have been able to participate in harvests several times over the past two months (read more about that experience here!). Participating in this tradition has also been a tangible way to learn about the effects of the Israeli occupation on Palestinian families. Many Palestinians I have spoken to during this harvest season are unsure of whether they will continue to be able to harvest from these trees that have been in their families for generations; as Israel continues to claim land and build illegal settlements, people are cut off from important natural and cultural resources."

If you'd to learn more about Harper's experience, follow her HERE. You may also support her year of service HERE.

GRAND JUNCTION & ONLINE

Classes on Grief and Living with Meaning begin in January

The in-person course Pathways Through Grief will meet on Wednesdays, 9:30-11:00 am at Shepherd of the Valley, Grand Junction. (Room TBD), January 4, 11, 18 and 21. The online course will occur on the same dates 6:30-8:00 pm on Zoom.

A new course, Living With Meaning & Purpose in Life, will meet in person at Shepherd of the Valley, Grand Junction, Friday mornings from 9:30-11:00 am on January 6, 13, 20 and February 3.

The online course will be on Monday evenings January 9 16, 23 & 30.

REGISTRATION CLOSES ON DECEMBER 15!

For more information, contact Deacon Gail Britt and register by email to Brittgail2545@gmail.com.

CENTRAL & SOUTH DENVER

Candlelight vigils commemorate Sandy Hook shootings

As we prepare for the coming of Christ, two candlelight vigils on Wednesday, December 14, between 4 and 5:30 p.m. will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook, Newtown, CT, shootings and all victims of gun violence.

• Messiah Community Church, ELCA (1750 Colorado Blvd.)
• First Plymouth Congregational Church (SW corner of Colorado Blvd and Hampden)

Participants should bring a light source, any sign related to the topic, and dress warmly.

AUGUSTANA, DENVER, CO

WESTMINSTER & ONLINE

Christmas Radio Play!

Sunday December 11 at 1:00 pm

Advent Lutheran Church

7979 Meade St, Westminster CO 80030

Come and Enjoy! Two “Old Time Radio” Christmas Comedies will be performed LIVE by the Advent Radio Players.

An episode of The Life of Riley "No Christmas Bonus" originally starring William Bendix will be followed by an episode of My Favorite Husband "George's Christmas Present' which originally starred Lucille Ball. These plays will be performed using the scripts and sounds from the original plays just as they were broadcast in 1948 and 1949. Each play is performed like a live radio show using several microphones and lighted applause and on the air signs.

Donations are appreciated! Questions: adventwestminster@gmail.com. The plays will also be livestreamed at facebook.com/adventwestminsterco. 

AUGUSTANA, DENVER, CO

New Years' Eve Concert with Organist Andrew Peters

Saturday, December 31, 7:00 p.m.

Ring in 2023 with a New Years' Eve concert featuring organ music and a silent film! Organist Andrew Peters will improvise on Augustana Lutheran's incredible pipe organ as you watch the 1923 Harold Lloyd silent film, Bumping into Broadway on a giant screen.

The evening also includes great works for the organ including Chapman’s Fanfare and Procession, Vivaldi’s Concerto No. 2 in a minor, Pamela Decker’s Tangos for Organ, and the all-time favorite, Handel’s Fireworks Music.

Join us for this exciting New Years' Concert! Tickets are flex-pay (pay what you choose) and available by clicking the button, below!

AURORA, CO

Rejoicing Spirits Denver is back!

Sunday, December 18

4:00pm-6:00pm

*date has been corrected

Lord of the Hills Lutheran

21755 E Smoky Hill Rd. Aurora, CO 80015



Come, join us for dinner and Christmas Worship!

We will be creating Christmas cards to give to friends and family, singing, laughing and loving God together. Rejoicing Spirits is an inclusive worship space for people with cognitive and intellectual disabilities, their care givers, 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. Look for more information to come!

If you would like more information regarding the Rejoicing Spirits experience or volunteering, please visit our webpage, or contact Rev. Brigette Weier at weierbrigetter@gmail.com or attend an orientation on December 1 via Zoom at 7:00pm. We will hold another orientation on January 8, at 7:00pm.

Zoom for Dec 1 is: us04web.zoom.us/j/73033441072?pwd=WmB9WSXxOTxnDC9dqwse5lWegX4gw3.1

Meeting ID: 730 3344 1072 Passcode: x7rqmn

GREATER METRO DENVER

Well of Hope needs storage space for their furnishings

Well of Hope, ELCA, in Castle Rock, CO has lost the lease on the building where they have worshiped for the past 5 years. Despite an extensive search, they have not yet been able to locate new worship space. At the end of December, Well of Hope will need to place the majority of their property in storage, while they worship temporarily in a neighboring church.

Well of Hope is in need of a place to store 75 chairs, an altar, piano, large wall cross and other smaller miscellaneous items. If you have an unused classroom, basement or other storage area in your building that Well of Hope could use while they continue to search for a new place to call home, please contact congregation president Tom Reed at tomcareed@msn.com. Thank you.

RMS CREATION CARE TEAM

An Advent Message

O Come, Emmanuel

An essential part of my Advent discipline is the liturgy of a church community, and especially the hymns of this season. My spirit shifts gears when I sing, in a haunting minor key, the words of an ancient antiphon:

O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here, until the child of God appear.

The hymn reminds me that Advent is a time to acknowledge our captivity to our own distorted desires and values, to habits and customs, and to powerful economic and political systems. It is a time for us to admit that we are trapped, exiled, and in bondage. We're not where we want to be, and we're not who we want to be. We can't free ourselves, because we have created our own prisons. We need personal and cultural transformation, and the stories of faith offer us the counter-cultural values and visions which can turn us around.

In these days before Christmas, may we have the faith and the courage to admit our sin and our bondage. May we open ourselves to the pain of fractured communities and the shattered creation. And, in hope, may we be filled with longing for the coming of God into our midst. As we enter faithfully into Advent, may we be so touched by the world's brokenness that we will genuinely celebrate the birth of the One who will transform us.

Shalom!

(Peter Sawtell, Executive Director Eco-Justice Ministries, Excerpted from original article distributed 12/6/19 - ©2019, complete article here)

The Creation Care Team will meet via Zoom on Saturday, December 10 at 10:00am. You are all invited! Zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/83008940316

"The synod is comprised of over 140 individual congregations with a total combined membership of more than 100,000 people. The synod covers the following counties in Northern Illinois: Boone, Bureau, Carroll, DeKalb, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Jo Daviess, Kendall, Knox, LaSalle, Lee McHenry, Mercer, Ogle, Putnam, Rock Island, Stephenson, Warren, Whiteside, Will, and Winnebago.

Our mission is Walking Together - loving Christ, loving all, for the sake of the world."

The Rev. Stacie Fidlar was elected on June 18, 2022, to serve a six-year term as the fourth bishop of the Northern Illinois Synod.

Visit nisynod.org and on Facebook.

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