February 3, 2021
A Reconciling in Christ synod
2021 Rocky Mountain Synod Assembly
April 29-May 1
Location: ZOOM
About this year's Assembly

What stories do we tell about ourselves? Our nation? Our history? Our church? God? 

Voting members and visitors are invited to join in this conversation during this year's synod assembly. Through worship, small group conversation, assembly business, and keynote sessions, we will together explore our individual an collective stories for the sake of community, truth-telling, healing, and continuing our journey as a church becoming. 


Format

  • By April/May, we hope it may be safe for groups of 3-5 to gather with masks spread out in a room. If it's nice, open windows and eat meals outside.  So while the content will be digital, congregations and ministries are encouraged to assembly together. There will be a lot of time for small group conversation, but instead of using breakout rooms on Zoom, you will talk face-to-face with folks from your congregation! If it is determined this is not a good/safe way for you to gather, alternative options are listed on the website.

  • Retired, On-Leave, and those in specialized ministry are encouraged (as is safe) to join a congregation's gathering.
 
  • There will be an opportunity to discuss assembly business items such as the budget or resolutions via zoom meetings prior to the assembly. Recordings of these meetings will be posted on the website.

  • Voting members are asked to engage the Pre-Assembly Timeline and Journal: Struggling with our Stories of Race individually, as a congregation, or as part of the synod-led discussion group.


Resolutions and Memorials

Resolutions are requests for action by the Synod Council or Office of the Bishop. Memorials are passed on for consideration by the Churchwide Assembly.
To help the Assembly planning team anticipate the plenary time needed to address resolutions by the Assembly, the Committee on Reference and Council requests any congregation or team complete a Resolution Intent Form by Friday, February 19.

The final deadline for submitting Resolutions and Memorials is Friday, March 19, 2021.  Resolutions and Memorials should be emailed to Kristen Lee: klee@rmselca.org.

Elections

At this year's assembly, we will be electing voting members for the 2022 Churchwide Assembly as well as a Synod Vice President. The nomination form is linked below. Nominations must be received by the end of the day March 19th. Specific openings and the nomination form can be found on the website.
eConnection Spotlight:
RMS in the GLOCAL Neighborhood
Church Together via ZOOM!
HKBP Indonesian worshipping community in Denver is utilizing this time of ZOOM worship to connect and worship with siblings from Indonesia. Specifically, they have had a number of guest preachers from HKBP Church in Indonesia, including on Christmas Eve!

Rev. Dr Soritua Nababan of the Protestant Christian Batak Church (HKBP) served as ephorus (bishop) in his church, which is the largest Protestant church in Indonesia, from 1987 to 1998. Rev. Nababan also served as vice-president of the Lutheran World Federation.
RMS & ELCA News and Events
Rostered Ministers and council leaders are invited to join a conversation February 4 as we navigate together worship as the COVID-19 vaccination becomes available.


COVID Conversations February 4 and 11 will be on both ZOOM and Facebook.
Join us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/rmselca
Despite the many challenges faced in 2020, Christ's Church continues to proclaim God's unconditional love across the Rocky Mountain Synod. Thanks to your continued participation and financial generosity we are learning anew not only what it means to be Better Together, but to be Christ’s Church for the life of the world.

Thank you for YOUR part in our shared ministry and witness and for YOUR gracious support of our life together as Christ’s Church, for your investment in all that it means to be God’s people in the ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod!  

Your faithful investment in our life together allows this vision to become reality. As you finalize your congregational spending plans for 2021, we ask you to give prayerful consideration to your congregation’s mission support for 2021, knowing that your generosity not only funds our work as a synod but contributes to the impact made by our vast churchwide ministries. Our goal next year is to share 47.5% of all congregation support with our ELCA Churchwide organization.
Lenten Discussion Series:
Struggling with Our Stories of Race
About the Lenten Discussion Series

This discussion series is intended to create an experience for each of us the chance to think about our personal stories of race and faith. This discussion guide includes a guided timeline experience and individual journal prompts. Participants are encouraged to engage as much of the materials as they are able. Synod Assembly Voting Members are specifically asked to engage this work as part of the preparation for the assembly, though anyone in the RMS is invited to participate. 

How to Participate

  • As a Congregation: Gather as a congregation small group to view the specified parts of the timeline and discuss the journal prompts from that week.
  • With the RMS group: Join either Sunday or Wednesday evenings throughout Lent to view the timeline with folks from around the synod. This can be as an individual or congregational group. 
  • As an Individual: While the journal prompts are meant to be done individually, you may also view the timeline on your own as well. If you select this option, it is strongly encouraged you find a conversation partner to process your learnings with.

Gatherings

Wednesday, February 17, 4:00pm: Opening Conversation with Bishop Gonia, Rev. Ron Roschke, & Assembly Keynote Speaker Dr. Edward Antonio

Session 1: Sunday, February 21st, 6pm OR  Wednesday, February 24th, 3pm
Session 2: Sunday, February 28th 6pm OR Wednesday, March 3, 3pm
Session 3: Sunday, March 7th 6pm OR Wednesday, March 10, 3pm
Session 4: Sunday, March 14th 6pm OR Wednesday, March 17, 3pm
Session 5: Sunday, March 21st 6pm or Wednesday, February 24th, 3pm

For Your Bulletin
Installation

Debra Jimenez
Pastor
Ascension, Ogden, UT
Saturday, March 13, 2:00pm
Color of the Day: Purple
RMS Prayer Cycle
FEBRUARY 2021
BORDER CONFERENCE

- Week of February 7 -

Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey - El Paso, TX
Rose Mary Sánchez-Guzmán

Mount Hope - El Paso, TX
***

New Hope - El Paso, TX
Jeff St. Clair
Sunday, February 7, 2021
Fifth Sunday After Epiphany

Prayer of the Day
Everlasting God, you give strength to the weak and power to the faint. Make us agents of your healing and wholeness, that your good news may be made known to the ends of your creation, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

In God's Hands:
Ecumenical Prayer Cycle from the World Council of Churches
07 - 13 February : Andorra, Italy, Malta, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Vatican City - Intercessions and Prayers

Join us in daily prayer
Download ELCA Prayer Ventures for daily guides to prayer for the global, social and outreach ministries of the ELCA, as well as for the needs and circumstances of our neighbors, communities and world.
Around the Synod
Conversations for Connection: Supporting Mental Health
Hosted by Atonement Lutheran Church, Boulder and the Interfaith Network on Mental Illness

“What the Widows Have Taught Me”
Thursday, February 4, 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Widows were honored by Jesus as revealers of great blessing. Their “grief glasses” have super powers, like gratitude, storytelling, seeing old things anew, crying in real time, befriending animals and finding humor in dark places.
Join Rev. Heather Haginduff in a pandemic discussion of how we can implement the widows’ gift in our daily mental health. She has been spending the pandemic learning how to garden, playing the ukulele and educating the public on and advocating for Reproductive Health and Justice. She is energized by cooking and pulpit supply (preaching on Zoom). She is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. Heather lives in Colorado Springs with her TikTokking 'tween daughters, and her girlfriend.

Join Zoom Meeting at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4264420220
“What Can We Learn from the Wisdom of Women in These Times?”
Thursday, February 11, 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
A protracted global pandemic. Suspended plans. Isolation. We didn’t choose this. But in its midst, there are universal truths that help. How can we invite what wise women call “luscious solitude” rather than loneliness? What are practices and mindsets that help us find center? What do the collective voices of 6,500 years of experience reveal as a recipe for resilience?
Come hear and share. Sue Brightman is a best-selling author and leadership coach, teacher, and retreat leader focusing on women over 50. Her mission is to strengthen and amplify women’s voices in the world and the powerful role they play in 2021 and beyond. Her recently published best-seller, "A Call to Further Becoming," reveals ten “declarations” she discovered from interviews with 100 women living a new stage of life. Sue brings her interfaith heart to this conversation.

Join Zoom Meeting at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4264420220
from Augustana Arts Concert Series
What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love!
Sunday, February 14, at 6:30 p.m.
Join us for our second Culinary Concert featuring jazz musicians Neil Bridge and Karen Lee Bridge and guest chef Andrew Hudson. “What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love!” is the perfect way to enjoy Valentine’s Day with your family, spouse, friend, or partner. The Bridge’s will perform classic love songs while you treat yourself to delicious recipes from Spain in the comfort of your own kitchen!

Recipes and a shopping list will be shared ahead of time. This is a virtual event and a link will be sent 24 hours prior to the concert showtime. This online event is free, but your donations are appreciated in lieu of admission in support of Augustana Arts.

Our Life Together
Virtual Borderland Update + Q&A
Tuesday, February 9 at 11:00 a.m. MT
Register to join American Immigration Council, Border Servant Corps & Save the Children staff for an update on asylum-seekers in the borderlands.

SPECIAL NOTE: Please be sure to save the Zoom link provided after your registration has been completed.

California Lutheran University. Harold Stoner Clark Lectures
"Racialized Forgiveness"
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
11:20 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. Pacific Time
<Zoom webinar>
The Harold Stoner Clark Lecture Series, endowed by the late Mr. Clark and sponsored by the Department of Philosophy at California Lutheran University, was established in 1985. We are excited to be hosting Dr. Myisha Cherry, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at University of California, Riverside.

Introducing the concept "racialized forgiveness." Cases will be presented that exemplify conditions paradigmatic of the problem of racialized forgiveness, and will include instances in which: (a) who is forgiven and not forgiven is determined by the race of the offender; (b) praise and criticisms of forgiveness are determined by the race of the victim; and (c) praise and criticisms of forgiveness are, at least implicitly, racially self-serving. An argument will be made that these practices are morally objectionable because of their psychological origins, moral failures, and negative effects. Accordingly, in order to avoid these dimensions, we need to practice forgiveness differently.

Register at: https://tinyurl.com/HSClecture (free lecture, but registration in advance is required)
Resource Corner
check back each week for a new or featured resource for your congregation
a recommendation from the Christian Education Network of the ELCA:
Where in the World Are You? Connecting Faith and Daily Life
by Norma Cook Everist, Nelvin Vos
Everist and Vos challenge congregations to take a new look at and mission -- to see themselves as God's people in the world. Explore exciting new understandings that come from starting with people in the world rather than with church structures. Professors Everist (clergy, Wartburg Theological Seminary) and Vos (laity, Muhlen-berg College) bring their insights to bear on how people's daily struggles, needs, and hopes can connect to God's mission through practical steps.

Employment Opportunities
New Listings
Church Business Administrator
St. Philip Lutheran Church - Littleton, CO
St. Philip Lutheran Church (www.stphilip-co.org) is seeking a full time Church Business Administrator. The Business Administrator will provide professional leadership and management for the business operations of the church, while upholding the upholding St. Philip’s mission of intentionally building relationships through Christ to grow and serve. The essential job duties include office administration, administrative support, financial and accounting management, management of the church building, equipment and grounds, as well as having direct management of two staff members. The position is a full time 36+ hours a week with benefits. Salary will be commensurate with experience within range of $40,000-$58,000 annually. For a full job description and information on how to apply go to www.stphilip-co.org/employment/.
Summer Staff!
Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp - Westcliffe, CO
Have you or someone you know thought about spending a summer on Rainbow Trail's summer staff? RTLC hires over 60+ summer staff and is known for the great staff culture! Explore what summer opportunities wait for you by checking out the video below, as well as visiting https://www.rainbowtrail.org/downloads/applications/. Applications are due February 28th!
Interim Director of Faith Formation
Trinity Lutheran Church - Loveland, CO
Trinity Lutheran Church, Loveland is seeking an Interim Faith Formation Director. This interim position has been developed to assist in continuing the energy found in Trinity Lutheran Church's youth and family activities. The Interim Faith Formation Director will work a flexible schedule -- no more than 20 hours/week for $400/week, and for approximately 6 months. The committee is seeking an experienced individual who can be organized, energetic, a positive problem solver, a good listener and actively engage with the following youth at Trinity: Elementary, Middle School, High School, and families of all types! Go to https://sites.google.com/view/trinitylovelandjobs/home for the full job description and application!
All Non-Rostered Listings
Church Business Administrator
St. Philip Lutheran Church - Littleton, CO

Summer Staff
Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp - Westcliffe, CO

Interim Director of Faith Formation
Trinity Lutheran Church - Loveland, CO

Chancel Choir Director, Praise Band Leader, Organist/Collaborative Artist, and Director of Music and Worship!
Zion Lutheran Church - Loveland, CO

Community Curator
Lakewood United Methodist Church
1390 Brentwood St Lakewood, CO

Community Connection Ministry
St. John's Lutheran Church - Thornton, CO
Office of the Bishop This Week
 Bishop Jim Gonia
  • 1-1 Appointments
  • Synod Council

ELCA DIRECTOR FOR EVANGELICAL MISSION
Pastor Dana Peterson
  • St. Matthew's Taylorsville, UT
  • Synod Council
  • 1-1 Meetings

LUTHERAN ADVOCACY MINISTRY NEW MEXICO
Kurt Rager
  • NM Legislative Session
  • Synod Council

LUTHERAN ADVOCACY MINISTRY COLORADO
Peter Severson
  • Synod Council

ELCA REGIONAL GIFT PLANNER
Tina Kvitek
  • 1-1 meetings
DIRECTOR FOR CONGREGATIONAL TRANSITION
Pastor Sarah Moening
  • Congregational Transition
  • Excellence in Leadership

ASSISTANT TO THE BISHOP FOR LEADERSHIP SUPPORT
Pastor Kent Mueller (1/2 time)
  • Messiah Mountain Advisory Team
  • Synod Council
  • Highlands, Denver, CO

ASSISTANT TO THE BISHOP FOR SYNODICAL LIFE
Deacon Erin Power
  • Synod Assembly Planning
  • COVID Conversation
  • Synod Council

ASSISTANT TO THE BISHOP FOR FAITH FORMATION & CANDIDACY
Pastor Leslie O'Callaghan
  • Candidacy Appointments
  • Administrative work
  • Synod Council
Quick Links
Share the News
Erin Power,  Assistant to the Bishop
Feel free to contact Andrew Nakatani, Communications Assistant, with your questions and comments about eConnection and our website!

Rocky Mountain Synod 
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
800-525-0462 / 303-777-6700 / fax 303-733-0750