Prayer for Day of Election

Good and Gracious God,

Be with us and our nation on election day and throughout the election process. Guide our actions, that good and faithful leaders may be raised up to serve our nation and communities justly. Protect our communities from acts of violence. Provide peace of mind to all who are anxious. Bring comfort to all who are stressed and hope to those who are fearful. 

Grant that your holy and life-giving Spirit may move every human heart to be kind; that the barriers dividing our nation may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatred cease. Help us to put our trust in you and give us wisdom, strength, and courage to be living examples of your love, today and every day. In Jesus’ name we pray. 

Amen.

ADVOCACY

Being a Public Church

What's OK and not OK when mixing church and elections?

As we prepare for the upcoming election season, the ELCA understands government as a means through which God works to preserve creation and build a more peaceful and just social order in a broken world.

These resources help clarify how churches can appropriately be involved in elections and advocacy:

ELCA Civic Engagement Guide

A resource guide to encourage, empower and equip voter education and other responsible civic participation shaped by faith values.

Being a Public Church

Guidance for churches and clergy participating in the electoral process

ELCA Advocacy Website Resource Page



ADVOCACY COLORADO

Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Colorado Voter Guides are here!

Our 2022 Voter Guide is here! Through the faithful discernment of our Policy Committee, this Voter Guide offers recommendations on how to think about our eleven Colorado ballot measures. Lutheran Advocacy has taken a position on four of the measures, including YES on Prop FF (Healthy School Meals for All).

You can download our Voter Guide electronically on our website at rmselca.org/ColoradoBallot2022. To request printed copies, please reach out to our office at advocacyco@rmselca.org.

For more info visit rmselca.org/ColoradoBallot2022

OUTDOOR MINISTRY

Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp

Join us for educational & spiritual conversation about the RIC process

Help the Sky Ranch faith community deepen and expand our welcome to people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. We are committed to work for racial equity/anti-racism. We hope to vote on a revised Welcome Statement and whether Sky Ranch will become an RIC camp at our Annual Meeting in February 2023. 

We will hold three Zoom meetings over the next few months to discuss Sky Ranch's decision to look at becoming a Reconciling in Christ organization. We encourage you to join us for one of the meetings, ask questions, listen to stories and experiences from the community, and learn more about what is means to be RIC. Please consider one of these dates. 

• Sunday: October 16, 2022, 3:00 - 4:00pm MST
• Weekday: Wednesday, October 26, 12 noon -1:00pm MST
• Weekday: Monday, November 7, 7:00 - 8:00pm MST

Zoom link for all meetings: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88648275039

Visit skyranchcolorado.org/reconciling-in-christ for more information and to take a short survey. 

If you have questions or would like more information, please call Lori Bode @ 970-493-5258 or lori@skyranchcolorado.org.

ZOOM MEETING

Zoom Meeting ID: 992 2724 5869

Passcode: 274795

"You are not alone! Join us every Third Thursday for our RMS Faith Formation Network meetings! (next meeting is October 20)

We are primarily online now due to the surge of COVID cases. Stay in the loop with all things Children Youth and Family Faith Formation in the Rocky Mountain Synod!"

FAITH FORMATION

Western States Youth Gathering '23

July 6-9, 2023

The Western States Youth Gathering (WSYG) and Western States Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (WYLE) is back! Coming to California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, CA from July 4-9, 2023, the Western States Youth Gathering is open to high school aged youth in Regions 1-4 of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). 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 for the Western States Youth Gathering is now OPEN!

Learn more and register your group for the lowest possible prices at wsyg.com/registration!

VETERANS MINISTRY

SHOWERING MILITARY CHAPLAINS WITH PRAYERS AND SUPPORT 

Veterans Day 2022 is Friday November 11, 2022. Veteran Servant Corps Project’s initiative this year will be to shower chaplains with prayers, love and support. Please share how your congregation chooses to do this. Pictures, stories, etc. are all welcome. Please send them to me at Director@veteranservantcorps.org. I will share them via eConnection in the weeks to come.

Are you interested in being part of our Veterans Day 2022 initiative by donating? Click here then select the General Fund Gift option, enter “Veteran Servant Corps Project” in the note/memo line. If you prefer to mail a donation, send it to the Rocky Mountain Synod, 7375 Samuel Drive, Denver, CO 80221, adding Veteran Servant Corps Project to the Note portion of your check.

RMS COMPANION SYNODS

What is Accompaniment?

Walking and working together, accompaniment is a core principal of the ELCA's work with our global companions. Accompaniment is defined as walking together in a solidarity that practices interdependence and mutuality. The ELCA lives out accompaniment in relationships with global companions, striving to share God’s love and participate in God’s mission together. (https://www.elca.org/Our-Work/Global-Mission)

Follow the link to hear Pr. Rafael Malpica Padilla, Executive Director for ELCA Service and Justice, talk about the church’s mission theology of “accompaniment,” which defines how ELCA missionaries carry out their work with more than 80 companion churches around the world.

OUTDOOR MINISTRY

Rainbow Trail 2023 Summer Registration Opens November 1

DON’T WAIT! Registration for the 2023 Summer season at Rainbow Trail opens on November 1st for Rocky Mountain Synod congregations. All of our summer weeks fill quickly; by January 1, registration is open to anyone. Register online starting November 1!

For too long the Religious Right has masqueraded as a social movement preoccupied with a number of cultural issues, such as abortion and same-sex marriage. But in her deeply reported investigation, Katherine Stewart reveals a disturbing truth: America’s Religious Right has evolved into a Christian nationalist movement. It seeks to gain political power and to impose its vision on all of society. It isn’t fighting a culture war, it is waging a political war on the norms and institutions of American democracy. 

Katherine Stewart, the author of The Power Worshipers, will be interviewed by Rabbi Daniel Bogard and Pastor Dohle to probe into what this rise means for Christians and non-Christians alike.

The Social Concerns Forum at Bethany Lutheran Church in Denver, is sponsoring a program on understanding and dealing effectively with racism.

Join us in Bethany's Great Hall for a morning of focused learning, coffee, food and dialogue. We will use small group and large group conversations to deepen our understanding about the surrounding racism, and how it impacts all of us people of faith.

Although all are welcome, the initial program is primarily designed for white people who are seeking to understand race more deeply, and who are wanting to understand to understand their role in this conversation. We are aware that sometimes what white people honestly and openly share, can nevertheless be inadvertently wounding , and hard on people of color. Debbie's approach is very gracious, courteous yet non-threatening. Please know that this is a personal, spiritual, informational and non-partisan approach to deepen our understanding about the issues surrounding racism, and how it impacts all of us as people of faith.

Join Stratus Chamber Orchestra along with Grammy-nominated Soprano Lindsay Kesselman, hailed by Fanfare Magazine as an “artist of growing reputation for her artistry and intelligence…with a voice of goddess-like splendor.”

Adam Torres and the Stratus Chamber Orchestra will search for new perspectives and unheard voices through John Mackey’s Songs from the End of the World alongside works by Borodin, Piazzolla, Whitacre, and Verdi.

Special Wine, Music, and Cheese Pairing Experience

Saturday, November 12, 2022 at 7:00pm

Historic Grant Theater - 216 S Grant St, Denver, CO 80209

Seats are limited to 100 people!

Get tickets before November 11 for exclusive early bird pricing, for $60 per person or $100 per couple (after 11/10, prices are $65 and $110).

Free parking is available on the street or lot for this event.

$10 OFF WITH TICKET CODE ELCA10

OUTDOOR MINISTRY

Sky Ranch

High School Retreat!

Nov 11-13, 2022

Students will learn more about how they can recharge in the midst of a busy life "down the mountain." Sky Ranch is a place to step back and take time to breath fresh air in a place we love. During this weekend there will be time to grow in community as well as time to reflect on the school year and other parts of life "down the mountain."

For any questions contact Cole Hemmah - cole@skyranchcolorado.org or call (970)493-5258

ZOOM MEETING

A Tale of Two Thomases: Thomas Keating and Thomas Berry

Saturday, November 12, 9:00am-noon

In this course, Rick Klein will speak about the parallels and divergences between the paths of Thomas Berry and Thomas Keating. Rick is convinced “the only way to fully follow either the road of Thomas Berry or the road of Thomas Keating, is to travel both roads. Not one followed by the other, but both roads at the same time. Although the roads appear separate, they are in essence forever linked. Berry’s Universe Story and Keating’s Spiritual Journey connect whenever … action meets contemplation, matter meets spirit, being meets doing, meaning meets purpose … in intentional awareness”

For more information, visit centeringprayer.net/TwoThomases, write to staff@centeringprayer.net or call 303-698-7729 to register.

OUTDOOR MINISTRY

Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp Senior High Retreat

Friday, November 18 to Sunday, November 20

The Senior High Retreat is specifically geared for high school youth. This retreat can be an opportunity to connect on the real struggles that high school presents, explore what life after high school might look like, and how we can live faithfully through it all.

Don’t miss this opportunity to be immersed in community on the mountain, in which we will discover and affirm the gifts that God has given us. November in the mountains can be chilly, but also refreshing both physically and spiritually. Join us and other senior high youth in the Synod for a faith adventure in the mountains!

Get more info and signup at: rainbowtrail.org/retreats/rtlc-senior-high-retreat

SOUTHEAST COLORADO

As Foretold

an oratorio for chorus, strings and organ

CANÕN CITY

Saturday, November 19, 4 pm

The Steeple Community Events Center, 701 Macon Ave

COLORADO SPRINGS

Sunday, November 20, 4 pm

Saint Michael's Episcopal Church, 7400 Tudor Road

The Royal Gorge Philharmonic presents As Foretold, an oratorio for chorus, strings and organ with performing choral groups from Shepherd of the Hills ELCA, Air Force Academy Cadet Choir, Church of Latter-Day Saints Ward One Choir and Saint Michaels Episcopal Church Choir.

Questions, contact bearblanca@aol.com.

SAVE THE DATE!

NOTE FROM DAVE JARVIS

SUPPORT RAINBOW TRAIL!

Colorado Gives Day is an annual day of giving to non-profit organizations all across Colorado. Whether you live in Colorado or not, you can donate to Rainbow Trail on Tuesday, December 6. Each donation helps RTLC receive additional funds from Community First Foundation through a sum that's divided among all participating non-profit organizations and prizes at the end of the day. You can even make your CO Gives Day gift NOW so you won't forget to donate! Gifts made in November on the CO Gives website will count toward Rainbow Trail's Colorado Gives Day total on December 6.

ZOOM MEETING

AMMPARO Quarterly Meeting

Saturday, November 5 at 10:00am

Get an update about Migrant Ministries in the Rocky Mountain Synod, hear about the Becoming Summit that happened in August, and learn about an accompaniment trip that is being planned to visit the Border of Mexico/Guatemala to meet migrants on their way to the USA and visit AMMPARO ministry sites in that area.

Questions, send email to rmsAMMPARO@gmail.com. 

Zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/88514349858

Meeting ID: 885 1434 9858

Call in - (312) 626-6799

ZOOM MEETING

Discussion of ELCA Social Message on Climate Change

Saturday, Nov 12, 10:00am

The Creation Care Team will be holding an online discussion of the new ELCA Social Message on Climate Change. Everyone is invited to join us in this conversation.

Zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/83008940316

"Acting upon a request from several sources, in November 2021 the ELCA Church Council authorized the development of an ELCA social message on climate care. Social messages are ELCA teaching documents that address a focused social topic. Drawing from existing social teaching, they provide theological rationale and social analysis to foster discernment and engagement on a relatively narrow social issue. This project was authorized in light of the grim contemporary situation affecting our global home and the need for fresh action on the part of this church. It draws its framing themes from several social statements, particularly Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice.

The draft social message is now available for public feedback! Read the social message draft here and then use this survey to share your input by Friday, December 2, 2022.

The draft will be edited, guided by the feedback, and presented to the ELCA Church Council to be voted on this coming spring."

FORT MORGAN, CO

A Table for All

an interfaith, intercultural community meal centered on our shared gratitude to God

Sunday, November 13, 4:00pm

Pioneer Elementary School

415 Spruce St, Fort Morgan, CO 80701

Common to all of our faith traditions is the importance of giving thanks to God for the provision of all of our needs. Additionally, our faith traditions teach us to welcome the stranger and to love our neighbor. It is with this motivation that we are coming together for a meal to give thanks together for the gift of being part of this community.

What to Bring: food that says “home” to you!

It might be a main dish, a salad, or a dessert. As we strive to be welcoming to all our neighbors’ needs, please provide a label with the name of the recipe and all included ingredients.

Download a flyer and bulletin insert. Hosted by the Fort Morgan Islamic Center and the Fort Morgan Ministerial Alliance

"We give thanks for the heritage of the Lutheran Confessional witness in North Texas. In our territory is the oldest continually operating Lutheran community in the State of Texas at Four Mile in Mabank dating to 1847. However, the majority of our congregations are less than 50 years old, and we have a vibrant outreach into the diversity of North Texas with congregations worshiping in five different languages, including Spanish, Swahili, Oromo, Finnish, and Indonesian.

The geographical area of this synod includes Northern Louisiana including Shreveport; Northern Texas generally North of a line from Marshall, Longview, Tyler, Rosebud, Bartlett (Temple area), Killeen, San Angelo, Midland/Odessa; and also Durant, Oklahoma, and Clovis, New Mexico.

NT-NL is a constantly changing and dynamic synod. As of January 2019, there are approximately 21,000 members in the 105 worshiping communities. On the NT-NL roster, there are approximately 150 Ministers of Word and Sacrament (Clergy), 5 Ministers of Word and Service (Deacons), and 15 Synodically Authorized Worship Leaders (SAWLs). We look for, and are a leader in, dynamic, innovative, and flexible leadership models.

The Rev. Erik K. J. Gronberg, PhD, serves as our bishop."

Visit www.ntnl.org and on Facebook.

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