An early
Easter...
Easter is always the first
Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of
spring. This dating of Easter is based on the lunar
calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover,
which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.
This year is the earliest Easter any of us will
ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most
elderly of our population have ever seen it this early
(95 years old or above!). And none of us have
ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!
Here are the facts :
1) The next time
Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year
2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was
this early was 1913 (so if
you're 95 or older, you
are the only ones who were around for that!).
2)
The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will
be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time
it was on March 22 was 1818!
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Prayers and Celebrations
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Palm
Sunday
God of our salvation,
we give you thanks for Jesus Christ, our Lord, who
came in your name and turned the lonely way of rejection
and death into triumph. Grant us the steadfast faith to
enter the gates of righteousness, that we may receive
grace to become worthy citizens of your holy
realm.
Amen
Prayer from Revised Common Lectionary
Prayers,
Consultation on English
Texts,
2002
Synod Prayer Cycle: Metro
East Conference
You are encouraged to
include these leaders in your Sunday prayers of
the people. The prayer list
for March and April are available. Please consider
including these prayer lists in your newsletters and
bulletins as a means of connecting your congregations
with others in the Rocky Mountain
Synod.
to remember in
prayer at worship on 03/16
HKBP
Denver, CO
Robert
Silitonga
Holy
Love Aurora,
CO
Matthew
Bolz-Weber
Joy
Parker, CO
David Fisher,
Lynette Crase
Lord of the
Hills Centennial,
CO
Tom
Renquist
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| Assembly is May 22-24 in Denver
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2008 Assembly
List of Deadlines:
The assembly is
May 22-24 in Denver. Each congregation has received
printed registration materials. All information is
also posted on
the web for download.Memorials and Resolutions are
Due March
15
A word
document designed for submitting resolutions should
be used for submitting resolutions electronically. A
hard copy with signatures is also
required.
Requests for
display tables from agencies and organizations are Due April
1
A link is
available online for these requests. Those
requesting a display table must register as an exhibitor
(unless already registered as a voting member or
visitor).
Registration Deadline
is April
22
All registration
will take place online. The link for
registration is on the website.
Hyatt Hotel Reservations
must be secured prior to May 4 to receive the
$119 rate
Hotel reservations
also are placed online. The link for
reservations is also on the
website.
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Strengthening Discipleship
Ministries |
"How can I pass
on my faith to my children and
grandchildren?"
Additional grant funds are newly
available! Don't let the cost of the event keep you
away. We want everyone to attend! Pay what you are able
to contribute!
The Rocky
Mountain Synod will present the "Passing on
Faith" conference April 18-19 at Bethany
Lutheran Church in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado which
promises to make a strong impact on raising Christian
disciples of all ages as well as highlighting values
that come out of the Lutheran tradition.
- Come and
LEARN how to equip families to partner home and
congregation so that home is church too.
- Come and
PRACTICE using the Four Keys to pass on faith
and values to loved ones.
- Come and
INTEGRATE your faith talk and faith walk into
all facets of life.
For
maximum impact, bring the whole team: clergy,
volunteers, grandparents, staff, parents, and mentors.
Everyone is
welcome! It's all about how to live a vibrant
faith that is authentic, available and
affirming.
For more
information workshops, speakers, the schedule of events,
and to register online, please visit www.rmselca.org/passingonfaith .
The Youth
and Family Institute website can provide more
information about the organization. Please visit www.tyfi.org .
Registration deadline is March
31.
"Passing On Faith"
is a Youth & Family Institute Conference sponsored
by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Rainbow Trail
Lutheran Camp, Lutheran Ranches of the Rockies, the
Rocky Mountain Synod and Joy Lutheran
Church, Parker; Our Saviors Lutheran Church, Ft.
Collins; Lord of the Hills Lutheran Church, Centennial;
Holy Love Lutheran Church, Aurora; First Lutheran
Church, Longmont; and Bethany Lutheran Church, Cherry
Hills Village.
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| Synod News and Events |
Congregational
Intents Are Due Now
It is crucial that the Synod
office receives congregation statements of intent
for the new year as soon as possible. It is not too
late! An online form at
www.rmselca.org/intent makes the process quick
and easy or you may call the Synod office
to provide you information
verbally. Statements of intent are not only
important for the Rocky Mountain Synod but are also
important for ELCA Churchwide record keeping! Thanks to
everyone who has submited a current
report.
Candidacy Committee
Announces Second Discernment Retreat for
2008
April 16, 2008 ~ Denver - Augustana
Lutheran Church, 5000 E. Alameda - Register by March
25.
For all persons who may be
discerning a call to leadership ministry in the ELCA.
Whether you are ready to commit to the Candidacy
process, or just beginning to ask the questions
regarding this vocational call, you are invited to
attend this retreat. During this retreat we will explore
how we do faithful vocational discernment, discover
gifts for ministry, learn about the variety of
opportunities for services through the three rosters of
the ELCA: Ordained pastors, Consecrated diaconal
ministers, Commissioned associates in ministry, and
answer questions about the ELCA Candidacy process.
Anyone planning to begin Entrance into Candidacy in the
next year is required to attend.
Contact Madelyn
Busse, assistant to the bishop, 303-777 6700 or
mbusse@rmselca.org with questions. To register or
to submit names for invitation, please call Janice
Ladd-Horkey at 303-777-6700 or 800-525-0462.
Four Scholarships available for 2008 Mexico City
Trip
Consider participating in next
summer's trip to the Lutheran Center in Mexico City,
June 10-18. Four $250
scholarships are available for the trip with preference
given to high school and college age youth and to those
serving in youth and household ministries.
Information about the trip as well as a
scholarship application form and registration materials
are at http://www.rmselca.org/globalmission/trips.htm
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Less Than One Month Until
the Deadline!
Video Contest:
How to Spot
a Lutheran in the
West
Two minute videos that
capture the spirit of our "Lutheran Identity" in the
Rocky Mountain Synod are to be submitted by
April 1, 2008. The video may be a
commercial, skit, story, song, art piece or any other
means and will be judged in the areas of Lutheran
identity, evangelism, diversity, variety of ages
involved, and creativity. Prizes will be announced at
Synod Assembly in May. First place will receive $1,000,
second $600, third $250, fourth $150 (made out to the
sponsoring congregation or ministry group.) The prize
money is provided by a grant from ELCA Synodical
Relations in support of communicating Lutheran identity
within the synod. Download the
details!
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| Announcements |
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Grand View
College Choir Concert in
Denver
On
Sunday, March 16, at 3:00 p.m., at
Saint Paul Lutheran Church, 1600 Grant Street, Denver,
the 25-voice Grand View College Choir from Des Moines,
Iowa, will present a concert. The tour program includes
choral works from the thirteenth century to the present
and focuses on music appropriate for Holy Week. Grand
View College is one of 28 colleges and universities
related to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
There is no admission charge for this concert, but a
freewill offering will be received.
Ecumenical
Easter Worship in German Language
Messiah Community
Church, 1750 Colorado Blvd. in Denver, CO, extends an
invitation to an ecumenical Easter Worship in the German
language. It will take place on
Sunday, March 23,
Easter Sunday, at 5 p.m. The director
of music at Messiah, Nancy Beyer, will provide special
music. Pastor Wolfgang Stahlberg will lead the
worship.
Science,
Ethics and Religion
Workshop
Bethlehem Lutheran Church
(ELCA) in Los Alamos, NM, is hosting this workshop on
Saturday, April 19, from 9:30 a.m. to
3:30 p.m. Larry Rasmussen, the
Reinhold Neibuhr Professor Emeritus at Union Theological
Seminary in New York City, is the featured
lecturer. His morning lecture will be
"A Conversation with the Brothers
Bonhoeffer." Dietrich Bonhoeffer
carried on a theology and science dialogue with his
brother, Karl Friedrich, a renowned physicist, during
the period of the Third Reich in Germany. Both explored
the moral questions linked to doing theology and science
in that period.
The afternoon lecture is
on the "Embedded-ness of Science in Society and Its
Consequences". This lecture will explore the social
location of science in America and the effects of that
location on the way in which science is carried
out.
Registration is $15 per
person and $25 per couple before April 12, and $20 per
person and $30 per couple after.
Registration forms are available online at www.bethluth.com .
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The
Rev. Kent Mueller
Director for
Administration and Communication
Rocky Mountain
Synod
kmueller@rmselca.org
303-777-6700 |
800-525-0462
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| "For the living of these
days..." |
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prayers for ministries & meetings this
week: |
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Bishop Allan
Bjornberg
Synod staff meeting, Denver,
CO
Meeting with
Shepherd of the Valley, LaSalle, CO; Board for Church in
Society/Incentive Grants conference call, Denver, CO;
Synod staff meeting, Denver, CO
Jim
Hytjan
Synod staff meeting,
Denver, CO
Dan
Bollman
Meeting with Front
Range Youth Workers, Synod office, Denver, CO; Jr.
High/Middle School Gathering Team meeting, Denver, CO;
Synod staff meeting, Denver, CO
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| Creation Care |
(photo by Jeffrey Louden) |
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Join the Synod's Environmental Stewardship
Team
When was the last time you watched the
wheat wave in the golden sunlight on the plains? Do you
remember standing at timberline and looking down at the
foothills below? Have you ever been skiing and simply
stopped, overwhelmed at the beauty? Have you basked in
the heat and the silence of the desert, or enjoyed the
power of the wind in Wyoming.
We are richly blessed people who live
in a landscape with many zones of life. We are pleased
that there is a growing sense among us that we have to
take care and act for the common good, not just people,
but all of creation, that we are a part of the web of
life and all of it is a gift from God. Will you join the
Environmental Stewardship Team of the Rocky Mountain
Synod at our upcoming assembly, living in gratitude for
all which God has
provided?
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| Retreats to Refresh and
Re-charge |
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WOMEN'S RETREAT
From April 10-13, Rainbow Trail
Lutheran camp will host its annual Women's retreat. Rev.
Mary Canniff-Kuhn will lead our study "Wild Women of the
Bible". There will be time for study as well as enjoying
the fabulous surroundings of Rainbow Trail. This retreat
will fill quickly. For more details and a registration
form, go to www.rainbowtrail.org
. Register soon!
MEN'S RETREAT
Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp is hosting their
Spring Men's Fly Fishing retreat April
24-27. There will be fabulous food, meaningful
worship and great fellowship. It will be worth taking a
few days off from work to be recharged in your faith.
This retreat will include some of the finest fishing on
the Arkansas River. For more details on both of these
retreats: www.rainbowtrail.org .
Register soon!
MEMORIAL DAY WORK
WEEKEND
Come and join
over 100 people May 23-26 to help make
Rainbow Trail's site the best possible. We will
make major improvements to our site including building
new steps on Columbine, replacing the middle bridge and
upgrading one of the cabins across the creek.
There is no charge for the weekend but a
reservation is a must. Contact Dave at the Canon
City office at 719-276-5233 to reserve your
spot! |
| Fostering
Reconciliation |
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Building Skills for Living with Human
Difference
This
interfaith, intergenerational conference is being
sponsored by the Colorado Chapter of the Episcopal Peace
Fellowship, the Office of Faith Formation, and the
National Coalition Building Institute. The conference is
open to all human beings at or over the age of 9th
grade. Registration deadline Saturday, March
29.
Click here
for more information and a downloadable registration
form. To find
out what the Episcopal Peace Fellowship is about, check
out their website: http://epfcolorado.
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Events |
Third in
the Film Series on Faith and Sexual Identity
Scheduled
This film titled "Anyone and Everyone"
will be shown on Saturday, March 15 at
Our Savior's Lutheran Church, 915 E. Ninth Avenue (at
Emerson) in Denver beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Admission is free. Call the church for more
information (303-831-7023).
Vigilia
Pascual / Easter Vigil
All
are welcome to join Good Shepherd Lutheran Church,
Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey, and Lutheran Church of the
Resurrection for a bilingual and intentionally
kid-friendly Easter Vigil at 6pm on Saturday,
March 22 at Good Shepherd (770 South Federal
Blvd, Denver). If you have questions, please call Pastor
Jay McDivitt at
303-936-4859. |
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Collaborative
Worship Planning
Workshop
A workshop on
collaborative planning for worship will be presented at
Bethany Lutheran Church, 4500 Hampden Ave, Cherry Hills
Village, CO, on Saturday, April 26,
2008, from 9 a.m. through lunch.
Scheduled presenters include:
Dr. John Ferguson,
St. Olaf;
Pr. Ron Glusenkamp,
Bethany Senior Pastor; and
Dr. Marie
Friedemann, Bethany lay leader. The
workshop is intended for pastors, organists, choir
directors, members of worship and music committees, and
interested lay people. Please visit
www.eventbrite.com/event
to
register.Denver Servant Event
is
an opportunity to come together with other Lutherans and
demonstrate your faith in action. Put May 3,
2008, (8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.) on your
congregation calendar. Contact Pamela McClune at (303)
623-7558.
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