Almighty and eternal God, you show perpetual lovingkindness to us your servants. Because we cannot rely on our own abilities, grant us your merciful judgment and train us to embody the generosity of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

The narrative of Jesus is some two millennia old. One of our greatest challenges is how we tell and share that Old Story in our New Day. At the 2012 Rocky Mountain Synod Theological Conference, Dr. Anna Carter Florence, Pastor Keith Anderson, and Dr. Stanley Olson will consider what it means to be proclaim, communicate and serve in today's context. Read more about the presenters. Registration will begin in October.

The ELCA Youth Ministry Network presents

Practice Discipleship: 

The ELCA Youth Ministry Training Project

This special training is for all youth and family ministry professionals and volunteers. It is great preparation for leading your youth group meetings, mission trips, service projects, and Bible study as well as those attending the ELCA Youth Gathering in 2012.  Gather all adults working with youth in your congregation to participate in one of these four training opportunities. If you miss the live webinars, they are recorded for your viewing at a later time. 

The first webinar is this Sunday: September 18, 2011. The topics will be Lutheran Theology: God at Work in the 

World. The webinar will be presented by Dr. Jeremy Meyers of Augsburg College.

Check out the website for details.  

------------------------------------------------------------------------  

Peer Ministry Leadership Training Opportunity  

2:00 p.m. Sunday, October 23   

 Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp

This weekend is designed for anyone who regularly volunteers with youth and their families. Youth ministry staff and paid leaders: bring your entire ministry team/committee.  Sessions are filled with practical skills and basics for every day ministry. This is an opportunity to network with those who do what you do. 

For more info or to register, contact Ben Larson by email or phone (719-942-4220).

October 13-16, 2011

College students and young adults from around the Rocky Mountain Synod are invited to join Lutheran Episcopal Campus Ministry at UNM and CNM for Fall Break with the Border Servant Corps and Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey in El Paso learning about immigration and border issues. The plan is to meet with the Border Patrol at the fence, with an immigration lawyer, with Border Servant Corps volunteers working with agencies in El Paso, with a women�s cooperative, and with Doctora Mendoza who runs free clinics in the poorest areas of Juarez. We will help with the after school program, sort groceries at the food bank, teach Sunday School, and worship with the congregation.

The Immersion will cost $175 per person. Some scholarship money is available to help college students participate. Please contact Campus Pastor Anne Morawski at 505-385-0842 or lcm@unm.edu if you are interested. More information about the program can be found at http://borderimmersion.webs.com/cristorey.htm and http://www.borderservant.com.

Our Savior's Lutheran Church

Sunday, September 25, 10 a.m.

Members of the Our Savior's community will offer a blessing on the 2011-2012 Urban Servant Corps volunteers during the worship service. Our Savior's Lutheran Church is located at 9th Avenue and Emerson Street in Denver. All are welcome!

All Saint's Day Pancake Breakfast Local Lutheran Churches

Sunday, November 6

Urban Servant Corps volunteers will flip pancakes as they become acquainted with Lutheran faith communities who prayerfully and financially support the Urban Servant Corps. A celebration of all the saints will be part of this event!

Each Congregation to Develop or Redefine their Local Mission Plan by December 2011

During the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, the LIFT (Living into the Future Together) proposal was approved. With the proposal's focus on equipping congregations to be "centers for mission," the church called on congregations to begin, develop, review, or redefine their unique local mission plan by December 2011. 

For those congregations that want to begin focusing on these missional initiatives now, here is a brief list of some of the most popular books related to missional leadership and missional congregations that Augsburg and Spark House offer. You may also find this short collection of informational items shared with and by the Eastern North Dakota Synod and the ELCA Resource Centers. 

For more information about the LIFT Proposal, please visit the ELCA website.

God's Positioning System  

November 18-20, 2011

at Estes Park 

Are you between the ages of 18-25? Consider serving as a Cornerstone Peer Minister for the SHYG. Applications are due October 1. Details and applications can be found on the SHYG web page.   

This year, one adult will register for every five youth (all of matching genders!). In the registration process, the adult and youth will register in room groups. Please read the registration materials carefully, and use the "Registration Worksheet for Assigning Rooms" to assist in preparing for online registration.

The RMS is one of the stops on the Citizens with the Saints  pre-tour concerts featuring AGAPE and Rachel Kurtz. They will be featured at this year's Senior High Youth Gathering, November 18-20. Download a schedule/poster and get more details at the SHYG website .  

10th Anniversary "Give a Second Wind" 5K Run/Walk and Music Festival is September 18  

 Come out for a festival of life as more than 3,000 walkers, runners and music lovers gather at the Jeffco Fairgrounds, located at 15200 West 6th Avenue in Golden (80401), for the largest suicide prevention event in the nation. We'll be celebrating our Tenth Anniversary with a FREE BBQ lunch, cookies, massages, t-shirts, concert by "Opie Gone Bad" and other local bands, kids' activities, and memorial dove release.

You have the opportunity to run 5k or walk 3 miles through the neighborhoods surrounding the Jeffco Fairgrounds or stroll one mile within the Fairgrounds. Prizes will be offered for pledge raisers and largest teams.  

You may register online by going to  www.swfmd.org  

• June - August:
  $15 for students and seniors, $30 for adults.
•  September 1 -14:
  $18 for students and seniors, $33 for adults.
•  After September 14:
  $21 for students and seniors, $41 for adults.
• Fee Waived for Fundraisers:
  $50 in pledges waives fee for students and seniors, $100 in pledges waives fee for adults.
• Offline registration fees are higher.  
• No mail-in registrations after September 14.

For more information, you may visit the website.  For questions, please  send an email or call 720-962-0706.

 
Giving Thanks for the Harvest 

St. Mark Lutheran Church located at 111 Del Mar Circle in Aurora (80011) will be holding its Second Annual Harvest Festival on Friday, September 23, 2011, starting at 5:30 p.m. when dinner will be served at NO charge. We'll celebrate with food and music, featuring the Bluegrass styling of "Credibility Gap." A Free Will offering to be received for the band. Come join the community of St. Mark as they give thanks for the harvest

The congregation worships on Sundays at 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. with Christian Education at 9:15 a.m.   

Crop Hunger Walk 2011

 
On Saturday, October 18, the Arvada CROP Hunger Walk will take place at Hoskinson's Park, located at 58^th and Garrison Street. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and the event kicks off at 9:00 a.m. Please meet at the Pioneer Pavilion. There will be coffee, bagels and door prizes. 

Donations given are divided with 75% going to Church World Services. These resources aid our neighbors nationally and globally with direct assistance and education. Locally 25% stays in the Arvada Community assisting The Arvada Food Bank with the "Feeding the Future Backpack Program."  This program provides food for 1100 children at ten Arvada Elementary schools and one middle school every Friday during the school year.  The program provides two breakfasts, two lunches, and two snacks to see these children through the weekend. If you can't walk please consider giving generously for those who have little.  You can also donate on line!  Go to www.churchworldservice.org/CROP and locate the Arvada CROP Hunger Walk and make your donation! 

If you have any questions regarding the walk, you may contact Glenda Ferraro by email or phone (720-235-9496).