Forced to scramble to go online in just a few weeks during the COVID pandemic, the church has discovered the online world is far more than a replacement for the yellow pages. It is a place where genuine community and real ministry happens.

Hosted by the Southwestern Texas Synod, all congregations (rostered and lay leaders) are invited to this 5-week FREE series on Monday evenings beginning July 26 at 6:00 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time.

Sessions will be led by Dave Daubert, except Aug. 2, which will be led by John Roberto. There will be breakout rooms and large group times. More detail about each session here.

Anchor House, a non-profit affordable housing unit for former foster youth in Colorado, is near completion and will be dedicated on Thursday, August 19, one year exactly since construction began on the site. The dedication ceremony will take place at 10:00am with a brief liturgy by Pastor Scott McAnally, Lutheran Church of Hope, as well as recognition from ELCA Bishop Jim Gonia and representatives from the State of Colorado and the City and County of Broomfield. An open house with tours of the building will take place after the dedication ceremony. The public is invited to attend.

Anchor House is a 501c(3) nonprofit corporation that comprises a partnership between faith-based and other organizations to provide transitional housing for former foster youth. Anchor House will provide affordable housing and on-site support services, including job coaching, goal planning, and access to food banks, to youth ages 18-24 who have aged out of the foster system. Residents will begin the move-in process in August.

The project was developed with Lutheran Church of Hope and Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains in 2017 and now includes Thrivent Financial, Flatirons Habitat for Humanity, Colorado Health Foundation, the City and County of Broomfield, and the State of Colorado, Department of Local Affairs as partners. Construction began last August 2020 and is being completed with the help of hundreds of volunteers and Flatirons Habitat for Humanity.

The building is located at 1355 West 10th Avenue in Broomfield and will provide studio apartment space for 8 young people. Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains will provide on-site support for the foster youth who will find temporary homes there. Anchor House would like to thank all donors for their generosity and support.

To learn more about Anchor House, please visit www.anchorhouseco.org.

Throughout the past two years of much challenge and change, the Excellence in Leadership initiative has provided tools, resources, and mechanisms to lead in the midst of it all. It has impacted and transformed dozens of people, both lay and rostered, into resilient, courageous, and faithful leaders. Now we are inviting a new group of people to experience and live into the new future God is calling us into through this initiative.

If you are wondering if this program is for you, ask these questions: Do you want to grow in your emotional intelligence? Do you want to deepen your relationships? Do you want to be a more effective leader in church and in your community? Do you wish to move beyond old models and be better equipped to meet today’s challenges? Are you either a rostered leader or a lay leader?

If the answer to these questions is, “yes”, then this program is for you.

With both in person and online options, this program is available to you no matter where you live. For questions or more information: danderson@rmselca.org

The Congregations Lead Initiative is a new, two-year program that will gather a cohort of 50 congregations from across the ELCA to unleash and harness their collective genius and discover new and useful ministry innovations. Right now, your congregation is invited to apply to join the Congregations Lead Initiative!

Learn more at ELCA.org/CongregationsLead.

If you have questions, check out our FAQ section or email CongregationsLead@elca.org.

Wondering about how advocacy fits into our Christian and Lutheran presence in policy discussions? Session 1 of ELCA Advocacy Summer School will paint a picture of what advocacy is and how advocacy is shaped with a faith foundation, especially as members and affiliates of the ELCA. With discussions, examples, and ways to connect! 

Learn how to do year-round, on-going stewardship resulting in more money for ministry, become more energized stewards, and build a culture of generosity. Registration is open now for Beginning a Culture of Generosity (BCG) and SAS Refresher that both begin in August.

“I expected that this program would help us put together a stewardship appeal but WOW! It has certainly exceeded my expectations…It has made a huge difference for us.” ~ BCG pastor

Beginning a Culture of Generosity (BCG) is a program to guide congregations and provide the necessary tools to run a successful fall appeal. Participants receive training online in seven online sessions August 14 to December 4, and one-on-one guidance on an easily implemented program to stimulate generosity. Cost is $150 per congregation – no limit on number of participants. 

Register for BCG online - or - register by mail.

The SAS Refresher is a 6 session once-a-month course designed for congregations that have been through Stewardship for All Seasons (SAS) previously. The Refresher is for those who wish to continue the journey of generosity culture building. It is for those who have new leadership on your council and/or new members on your stewardship team.

The full year Stewardship for All Seasons (SAS) has already started with Cohort 5. If you are interested in participating in SAS beginning April 2022 or have questions about all programs, contact Deb Elstad, 3E Associate Director for Stewardship at deb.elstad@gmail.com.

Join us on 7/23 to experience all of the above! Get ready for a night of dancing and twirling to New Orleans jazz and popular music by the Boulder Brassaholics, a local sextet who are sure to get all feet (big or little) tapping! If you’re in the mood for something fun and new, “Relax and Unwind: Backyard Brass” is for you! What better way to close out your weekend?

The Brassaholics Sextet is a Boulder, CO-based brass sextet playing New Orleans jazz and popular music, including standards. You won't want to miss their upbeat, toe-tapping, fun music at this open-air courtyard concert!

Feeling “blew” these days? You won’t want to miss this "Garden Party"-themed evening of pop tunes and classical favorites from Denver’s renowned wind ensemble, Gossamer Winds. With music that is familiar and approachable (hear everything from Elton John to Bach!), this is the perfect opportunity to heal through music with your kids, your partner, or with friends.

The Gossamer Winds are a Denver-based chamber ensemble that was established in 2005 with the intention of making great music accessible to all audiences and helping the greater Denver community. The group members are Amanda Rusten, flute; Jaime Askvig, clarinet; Katie Smith, oboe; John Richardson, bassoon and Kelli Hirsch, horn.

In addition to the music, everyone is encouraged to attend an all-ages-and-abilities yoga with Robyn Lambert at 6:15pm before the concert begins! Catherine Hupp of EmBodyWorks will also be available for massages from 6:15pm until the end of the concert. Between the music, crafts, yoga, and evening breezes, you will surely be blown away by this fantastic event.

Join LFSRM for our annual Tee Off for Hope golf tournament, held at Red Rocks Country Club in Morrison, CO! This is a fun-filled day of golf, community, prizes, and supporting the work that we do in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Come with a friend or a foursome to one of Colorado's most beautiful private courses for a great cause!

Questions? Email emmily.ureste@lfsrm.org

The closed congregation of Mt. Hope in El Paso, TX, has a buyer for the property and are optimistic they will be closing in under 60 days. The congregation would like to share its items of ministry for continued use in other congregations. They have 2 organs, 2 pianos, kitchen appliances, pews, worship furnishings and supplies, and more. Please send an email to set up a time to come by and make arrangements for receiving these items.

A public memorial service for Neil Kvern will be held at 10:30 AM, Sat., July 31, 2021, at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 111 Del Mar Cir., Aurora, with a reception following.

Read Neil’s full obituary at neptunesociety.com.

Questions, contact: goodrum@augustanadenver.org

Join Todd Wynward as we discuss his book Rewilding the Way: Break Free to Follow an Untamed God.

Todd Wynward is a public school founder, small-scale farmer, wilderness educator and Mennonite organizer for watershed discipleship in the Mountain States region. He has been engaged in education reform and social change movements for twenty years, and has spent more than a thousand nights outdoors. He and his wife Peg founded a wilderness-based public charter school in 2001 and are now creating TiLT, a discipleship co-housing community emerging in Taos, NM.

When did we become so tame? How has “the good life” come to mean addiction to screens and status, fossil fuels and financial fitness? Can we break free to become the joyful and prophetic people God calls us to be? Trek along with wilderness guide Todd Wynward as he “rewilds” the Jesus Way. Seek the feral foundations of Scripture and the lessons that the prophets and disciples gleaned from wilderness testing.

Packed with inspiring stories of how contemporary people and groups are caring for the land and each other, Rewilding the Way issues a call to action. Read about how reskilling and local food covenants are transforming churches, and how place-based activism and creative housing are nurturing communities. Learn from those who are recovering from affluenza, replacing visions of personal wealth with the commonwealth of the earth and restoring their humble place in the community of creation. Do you despair about life on our changing planet? Join the hopeful band of seekers of God and makers of change who are rewilding the Way.

Richard Rohr calls Wynward’s novel, The Secrets of Leaven, “a spiritual roller-coaster that skewers everything we think we know about organized religion, social change, and human potential.” More of Todd’s writings and doings can be found at TaosTiLT.org and his Author Page on Facebook.

For more information: https://www.facebook.com/groups/153008509368206

The Invitation to Change (ITC) approach is a ground-breaking approach to address substance misuse. ITC is grounded in compassion, connection, and the belief that a person can do something to help their loved one. This holistic model integrates Community Reinforcement and Family Training, Motivational Interviewing, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to encourage change for both the family member or concerned significant other and their loved one, in a place of openness and support. The Center of Addiction and Faith invites you to join The Rev. Jan Brown, an Addictions Educator, and speaker on topics of the role of the church in addiction and recovery, faith responders, and recovery allies.

Register Now 

Prayers, hymn suggestions and considerations for preaching for use on Sunday, Sept. 12, the ELCA’s annual day of service, are available in PDF and Word formats.

The Lutheran Center, home of the office of the bishop, has some projects to accomplish that could be excellent for a "God's Work. Our Hands" group. Contact Tina Kvitek if you would like to volunteer.

Reporting directly to the Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Management and indirectly reporting to the Rector, the Director of Graduate Admission for the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS) in Berkeley, CA plans, develops, organizes, coordinates, implements, administers, directs and evaluates the programs, operations, activities and staff of the PLTS Admission office to ensure effective recruitment, admission and enrollment of students. The Director represents the seminary in identifying prospective students from across the country, assisting them with their vocational discernment, choice of seminary, and program of study. The Director oversees recruitment and the process by which prospective students apply and are admitted to the seminary.

More information, including job description, qualifications, application link at https://careers.callutheran.edu/postings/7400.

St. Mark's Lutheran is looking for a creative music leader to help imagine, develop, and lead our congregation in meaningful worship experiences that help the congregation experience God and their lives with God and community in new ways through music.

We are a congregation with deep Lutheran Roots in our community, which is wonderful, but we know there are huge and diverse ways of understanding the divine and we want to experience that too. We have a legacy of choir and traditional Lutheran hymns here, and we want to keep that, but we are looking for someone to help us imagine new ways to sing those songs. We have a lot of young people here with active lives in the Church, and we are looking for someone to help both the older and younger members participate more fully in the worship experience together.

You don’t need a lot of experience as a Church musician, you don’t need to have your faith life all figured out (in fact its probably good that you don’t), but we do ask that you ask questions about what it means to be a community of faith that worships together, and wants to serve the community in love. If this sounds like something you could get on board with, and want to be a part of imagining and becoming a church like that, great; we want to meet you. This position is a part-time, 10 Hour/week position, with competitive salary and benefits. More information here. Send a resume, and contact info to Pr. Nic Leither at pastor@stmarksaurora.org.

The mission of the Minister of Music and Organist is not only to organize and carry out excellent music for worship services but also to connect with the congregation and the wider community through concerts, education, and collaboration. Providing organ and piano music for the liturgy and hymns as well as accompaniment for the 40-voice Chancel Choir is at the heart of the position. In partnership with Augustana Arts and its Stratus Chamber Orchestra, large works for choir, orchestra, and organ are presented several times throughout the year.

Augustana is a thriving Denver faith community with a rich 140-year history. Located in the Hilltop neighborhood, Augustana has long been identified as a place of musical excellence, both within the congregation and the wider community. We worship in ways that are authentic, Christ-centered, and that lift up God’s grace. We use our musical gifts and sacred space to inspire our worship.

For the full job description and to apply, visit https://www.augustanadenver.org/organist-search/. The application deadline for priority consideration is August 1, 2021

Questions? Email the Rev. Kent Mueller at muellerkent@gmail.com