Join Pastor Michael TeKrony on a journey of photography and spiritual reflection at Messiah Mountain Retreat Center, located in Indian Hills, a short drive into the foothills on Highway 285 (map).

Michael says, “The camera invites us to pay attention to what is right in front of us. When we focus, either near or far, God comes into view. Using the camera lens, my hope is that we can practice and grow in our awareness of God, right in front of us.”

You will provide your own cell phone camera or other photography equipment.

Messiah Mountain is a gift to the Rocky Mountain Synod recently given by Messiah Community Church, which acquired the 27 acre mountain retreat in1969. This day-long experience is limited to 20 participants. Cost is $24 and includes lunch. Please register by October 18. Questions? Contact Kent Mueller at kmueller@rmselca.org

The 50x64 barn will allow them to relocate all of their tools, equipment, and maintenance items under one roof and make space for an outdoor pavilion in the future. Camp leadership extends a word of gratitude to all who have made this project possible!

Understandable! Our hope is that we can find the "happy medium" in offering the opportunity for some smaller in-person gatherings in addition to on-line options so that we can continue to celebrate and share the important stories of the USC volunteers, their service sites and our growing alumni community that is changing the world! Therefore, you are invited to participate in whatever way feels best and meaningful to you -- either by attending a smaller-group "house party" event hosted by a USC Board member or alumnus or joining via Zoom!

October 17, 2021 at 8:15 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. – Vicky Daub (Executive Director) will be preaching at Zion Lutheran, Loveland, Colorado. To watch online, Zoom here (Meeting ID: 810 0730 8575 Passcode: 331760).

November 12, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. – Bethany Lutheran in Cherry Hills Village, CO will be hosting a Veterans Appreciation Concert in their sanctuary. This concert will be free, and will be offered both live at Bethany, or via livestream at bethanylive.org.

Visit the RMS website for the full VSCP calendar and more!

Share the new Veterans Servant Corps Project brochure! Get it here.

Have Veterans events at your church/community that you would like to publicize; want Vicky or another VSCP board member to visit your church/community? Contact Vicky Daub at lvdaub2@gmail.com.

Join us and other high schoolers on the mountain during this weekend of rest and reflection. This weekend will give us a chance to step back from our busy lives of school/work/etc. and surround ourselves with God's creation in the midst of its beautiful fall transformation.

For more info contact cole@skyranchcolorado.org

Make your own music-maker and indulge in ice cream for the whole fam! Expose little 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 all future young artists! More info here!

As they did last year with the Gospel of Mark, Pam Faro (Broomfield, CO), a professional biblical storyteller who has performed and taught around the globe, will tell key parts of Luke’s story; and Richard Swanson (Sioux Falls, SD), professor at Augustana University and the director of the Provoking the Gospel Storytelling Project, will guide our exploration of Pam’s performances. We will experience the story together, and we will think together about how hope is possible in a brutal and disappointing world.

The 2021 Challenge centers on the theme "Imagining Scriptural Encounters in the New Normal." The pandemic, efforts to overcome racial injustice in the whitest denomination in the US, and attempts to react to the climate crisis expose us to extreme and discontinuous change, and at the same time they pose probing questions to our faith and tradition.

For additional information see flyer here, or contact Dwight DuBois, special projects director for the Book of Faith Initiative, at dwight.dubois@elca.org. There is no cost for participating, but advance registration is required. Register at www.bookoffaith.org to attend one or all of the events. There is a separate registration for each event.

This class will teach the practice of “Guard of the Heart” (Also referred to as “Watchfulness” or “Presence Practice”) and how it compliments our Centering Prayer, and the practices of the Welcoming Prayer and the Active Prayer Phrase. We will learn the three ways any afflictive thought or emotional disturbance can be instantly released as it arises. Join us for this enriching and deepening complementary practice.

For more information and to register, go to https://www.centeringprayer.net/guardoftheheart or call 303-698-7729

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Kwok Pui Lan is the 2021 Everding Distinguished Lecturer. Dr. Kwok is Dean’s Professor of Systematic Theology at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, USA, and a past president of the American Academy of Religion. She has authored and edited numerous books on Asian and Asian American feminist theology, biblical interpretation, and postcolonial criticism. Her publications include Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology; Globalization, Gender, and Peacebuilding; and Discovering the Bible in the Non-Biblical World. She is also the editor of Women and Christianity in 4 volumes. This year, she received the Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Her forthcoming book Postcolonial Politics and Theology will be published in December 2021.

As an Everding Distinguished Lecturer, Dr. Kwok will give a public lecture on Tuesday, October 12, at 7 p.m. (MDT).

The title her lecture is Women’s Protests and Religion. Please RSVP for the webinar here.

Due to the pandemic, her lecture will be in a webinar format. Click this Zoom link to join the webinar on Tuesday, October 12, at 7 p.m. (MST).

The Center for EcoJustice at the Iliff School of Theology is pleased to announce its next conference – to be held virtually on October 21 and 22, 2021. The conference will focus on the intersection of environmental racism and immigration. What impact does shifting climate have on populations whose lands are being devastated? Forced to leave, what impact does shifting people have upon overstrained world resources?

For the tentative schedule, and presenters, visit the conference webpage.

For more information about the conference, please contact: ecojustice@iliff.edu.

To register for this conference, go HERE.

Join the Synod AMMPARPO group for the quarterly meeting on Zoom on Nov. 20 at 10am where we will discuss "The God Who Sees" by Karen Gonzalez, and ways to serve in the Synod.

In The God Who Sees you will meet people who have fled their homelands. Hagar. Joseph. Ruth. Jesus. Here is a riveting story of seeking safety in another land. Here is a gripping journey of loss, alienation, and belonging. In The God Who Sees, immigration advocate Karen González recounts her family's migration from the instability of Guatemala to making a new life in Los Angeles and the suburbs of south Florida. In the midst of language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, and the tremendous pressure to assimilate, González encounters Christ through a campus ministry program and begins to follow him.

Here, too, is the sweeping epic of immigrants and refugees in Scripture. Abraham, Hagar, Joseph, Ruth: these intrepid heroes of the faith cross borders and seek refuge. As witnesses to God's liberating power, they name the God they see at work, and they become grafted onto God's family tree.

Find resources for welcoming immigrants in your community and speaking out about an outdated immigration system. Find the power of Jesus, a refugee Savior who calls us to become citizens in a country not of this world. For more info, rmsammparo@gmail.com.

Zoom Link - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88514349858

Lutheran World Relief has created FREE, easy-to-use resources based on the RCL Advent texts from the Gospel of Luke, all available at lwr.org/advent:  

Invite your congregation to experience A Season of Hope this Advent.

Epiphany Lutheran Church is an active Washington Park neighborhood ELCA church in southeast Denver. We are seeking an individual to oversee the music ministry of the church. This position is responsible for performing all organ and piano music for worship services on Sunday mornings, Wednesday evenings, and choir rehearsals; collaborating with the pastor to select hymns and music; coordinating special music volunteers; and integrating children’s music into our worship life.

This position is part time salaried, 8-12 hours per week, and reports to the pastor. See full job description (here) for role details and required qualifications. Please send your resume and a cover letter with “ATTN Music Director Application” in the subject line to epiphanylutherandenver@gmail.com. If you have questions, please contact the church office at 303-722-5311 or Julie Chichlowski, Search Team Chair, at 262-339-3054. Applications will be accepted through October 29, 2021.

Sky Ranch is accepting applications for an Executive Director responsible for the oversight and management of the ministry and property of Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp.

Sky Ranch, an outdoor ministry of the ELCA, is a 117-acre seasonal facility located adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park. Job description is available here and more info is online at https://www.skyranchcolorado.org/executive-director-transition. Applications are due no later than October 31st, 2021. For more information or questions please contact Lindsay Reiten at SkyRanchSearch@gmail.com or 970.591.2194

Bethany Lutheran Church, Cherry Hills Village, CO seeks a Coordinator of Volunteerism and Administrative Assistant who will support the Faith Formation Team, assist in recruiting volunteers for a variety of volunteer opportunities, work in an office setting in a flexible manner. Job description here. Contact Pastor Gary Sandberg, gary@bethany-denver.org to apply or for questions.