Prayer from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers,
Consultation on English Texts, 2002.

Prayers and Thanksgiving for Our 2007 Churchwide Assembly Delegation
We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank our 2007 Churchwide Assembly Voting Members. They have agreed to represent the Rocky Mountain Synod in doing the business of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. We pray that their work will continue to help make our Church strong and vibrant as it does God's work in the world.

Allan Bjornberg
Linda Bobbitt
Richard Burk
Katherine Cruson
Nathan Doerr
Don Filegar
Steve Helmreich
Miguel Hernandez
Kim Hohensee
Steve Klemz
Sarah Moening
Anne Morawski
Yvonne Page
Wayne Schultz
Carolyn Thomas
Arlyn Tolzmann
Gene Zeller

All pastors and diaconal ministers rostered in the Rocky Mountain Synod are invited to the "Women in Ministry Retreat" at St. Malo Retreat Center just south of Estes Park, Colorado. The retreat will begin on September 30 at 7:00 p.m. and will end in the early afternoon on October 2. Please keep this date on your calendar. More information will be disseminated in August but in the meantime, if you have questions, please e-mail Pastor Connie Winter-Eulberg at LCMCSU@lamar.colostate.edu.

Coaching 101
A Coaching 101 workshop will be offered noon to noon, Thursday and Friday, October 4 & 5 in Denver (location to be announced). Coaching is defined as walking alongside another for the purpose of assisting them to identify and realize the accomplishment of professional or personal goals. In the congregation, coaching is helpful in assisting staff and lay leadership to be more effective in their work with the setting of clear and realistic goals and expectations. In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), coaches are paired with each mission developer, and each congregation taking part in the Natural Church Development program.

The cost for the workshop is $200.00 (not including travel or hotel accommodations if needed). The fee covers the cost of the training, two books on coaching from Dr. Robert Logan, a one year subscription to the coachnet.org web site, a look at one's leadership style with a DiSC inventory, and meals during the workshop. The deadline for registration is September 15th. A $100 deposit is due at that time with the balance due on the first day of the workshop.

For more information, please contact Pr. Jim Hytjan at 303-777-6700/800-525-0462 or james_hytjan@rmselca.org .

Faith Dialogues: Call to Conversation About Iraq
Bethany Lutheran Church, Cherry Hills Village, will hold a Faith Dialogue event on Friday, September 28, 6:00 - 9:00 PM and Saturday, September 29, 9:00 AM - 12:00. This is an opportunity to engage in dialogue and consider a wide range of viewpoints in an atmosphere of discernment and mutual respect. We welcome each person to come with an open mind, ready to listen for God's word to them, with no need to reach consensus. Paul Alexander, Ph.D., Director of the Institute on the Common Good, Regis University, will facilitate the event. Speakers include: Dr. Robert House, recently returned from deployment in Germany, treating injured military; Ibrahim Kazerooni, Iraqi ex-patriot, who fled during the Hussein regime and is the Director of the Abrahamic Initiative at St. John Episcopal Church; Pastor Renee Kiel, military chaplain who served in Afghanistan; Joe Rice, ex-mayor of Glendale; served in Iraq, establishing the first post-Saddam Baghdad City Council. Cost for the event is $10 and includes the Friday evening meal. For more information or to register, call 303-639-4349 or email rit@bethany- denver.org.

You Are Invited!
Pastor Emily Cardin, the pastor of New Beginnings Church, would welcome you to come and participate in Bible Study and worship with the congregation on Friday evenings. New Beginnings is located inside the Denver Women's Correctional Facility and is a joint ministry between the Episcopal and Lutheran Churches and Prison Ministry of America. Visitors must be over 21. For any questions or to schedule a date, please call Kathy Melies at 303- 831- 7023.

Senior High Youth Gathering Seeks Faith Encounter Stories
The music and worship committee for the high school youth gathering needs your help! We would like to collect student stories about a time in their life where they felt the presence of God, or somehow had an encounter with God that made them feel connected to God. The stories will be shared at the evening worship on Friday night as a catalyst for others to share their stories. The stories will be shared at the evening worship on Friday night as a catalyst for others to share their stories. Have your youth send their one-paragraph stories (no more than 200 words) to Brandon Newton at brandongslc@qwest.net.

Senior High Gathering Seeks High School Musicians
The worship planning team for the 2008 gathering at Estes Park in November would like to put together a worship band for morning and evening devotions during the event, such as a hand drummer, guitarists, vocalist, and more. Email Brandon Newton at brandongslc@qwest.net if you have talent to offer!

Vision, Passion, Action Blog
A "blog" is short for "web log" and it is a way to invite conversation about topics and issues. The new RMS weblog is designed to facilitate conversation about the Vision, Passion, Action process. The address of the RMS blog is www.rmselca.blogspot.com. If you post a comment please include your name and congregation. If you would like to post an entry, send your entry to kmueller@rmselca.org.

We are invited to "pray without ceasing," yet, how often do we hear these words with feelings of guilt rather than grace? To live a life of prayer is to live in God's abundant, life-giving grace. To pray is to come into the presence of God and simply be. We are invited to pray as we can, not as we can't.

So, now you are especially invited to a retreat and optional follow-on series hosted and presented by Madelyn Busse, a diaconal minister and assistant to the bishop in the Rocky Mountain Synod. Madelyn is a trained spiritual director and a continuing student with the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation.

The series begins with an introductory retreat open to anyone who is curious and has a sense of yearning for a more intimate relationship with God. The five session series that follows will introduce a variety of prayer forms and offer the opportunity to practice seeking the presence of God in the company of others. During each session there will be a brief introduction to the prayer form specified for the evening. Then you will be led into an experience of prayer using that form and into the blessing of silence. There will be time each evening for reflection and to journal. We will conclude each evening with the opportunity to share as you are comfortable.

The retreat is scheduled for Saturday, September 29 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Lord of the Hills Lutheran Church, 21755 East Smokey Hill Road in Centennial Colorado (1 mile east of E-470). To contact the church, call 303-617-9884. The optional follow-on series continues on 5 Tuesday evenings: October 2, 16, 23, 30, and November 6 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Group size is from 10 to 20 participants. Please note: The September 29 retreat is a pre-requisite for participating in the 5 session series, but participation in the introductory retreat need not commit a person to the whole series. There is no deadline for registration for the retreat and walk-ins are welcome.

The cost for the retreat: $10 (Early-bird discount: $7 if registered by Sept 22)
Follow-on Series: $10 (Early-bird discount: $7 if registered by Sept 29)
Retreat & Follow-on series: If pre-registered for both by Sept 22: $11
There is no childcare available for the retreat but we will possibly offer it for the follow-on series.

The retreat and series opportunity are offered for adults who:

• who seek a deeper communion with
• who sense a yearning for a more intimate relationship with God
• who seek to be more attentive to God's presence in their life
• who are seeking but not sure what for
• who simply want time and space to just be still
• who are curious

Be Still and Know God.

Colorado "Change a Light, Change the World" Campaign for Congregations

Please note: We have corrected the website for congregations to sign up online for the program.

The Governor's Energy Office (GEO) and Colorado Interfaith Power & Light (COIP&L) are pleased to bring you the 2007 Colorado "Change a Light, Change the World" campaign for Congregations to culminate near Oct. 4th, 2007, which has been designated as Change a Light, Change the World Day by the Environmental Protection Agency and also happens to be the Feast of St. Francis, Patron Saint of the Environment. October is also national Energy Awareness Month.

"Change a Light, Change the World" offers a great incentive by providing one high-quality compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) and informational pamphlet with more energy saving tips to each person attending a one-half to one hour class session led by someone in your organization with the help of our Leader's Guide. The program is designed to be implemented at a time and place of your choosing sometime in October.

This FREE campaign (100% funded by GEO), designed to raise awareness about the importance and benefits of more efficient energy use, is an opportunity for faith communities to put their Creation care/social justice spirituality into practice and to exercise a leadership role in the larger community toward enhancing our shared environment and positively impacting global climate change.

Online sign-up for promotional materials and additional information for congregations began July 9 and will continue through August. Here's what to do to sign up your congregation and receive promotional materials:

Register online here or print this PDF and fax it back to us at: 720-384-0655. (The form is on the forth page of the .pdf!)

For more information about Colorado Interfaith Power and Light, please visit their website at www.coipl.org .

We look forward to working with you!

Diane Dandeneau, Executive Director
Rev. Nelson Bock, Program Director
Rev. Bonita Bock, Program Assistant
Dr. Celeste Rossmiller, PhD. Education Associate

Stirring Up the Spirit of the City
Metro Denver Lutherans are invited to join together for an informational and visionary gathering on Saturday, September 29, from 9:30a-11am, at Cristo Rey Lutheran Church (501 Raleigh St; Denver) to talk about forming a coalition of congregations committed to multicultural and anti-racist ministries in the Denver area. The dream is to create a network of congregations and leaders (lay and rostered) who share a commitment and vision for growing into a more diverse body of Lutheran Christians in and of the city. Refreshments will be served. Please call Pastor Jay McDivitt (303.936.4859) with any questions.

Did You Know?
At Lutheran Social Service of Utah:
$1 a week provides specialized science, art and English learning to 200 low-income and first generation children. A warm meal is also provided.

$1 a week sends over 600 senior information packets each year to seniors; neighbors, friends and family of seniors. This information is vital as it assists families in contacting affordable certified nurse assistants for in-home care; and assists in navigating to quality senior housing when that need arises.

$5 a week provides over 125 refugee and asylee artists the opportunity to show and sell their artwork for the community at our Worlds of Art Shoppe. Fair trade for local artists blesses the whole community!

$10 a week provides computer equipment and maintenance for computers at the More Blue Sky Center. People with low- and fixed- incomes can have access to technology to learn English, construct resumes, search for employment and housing, and check email.

$10 a week assists us in long-term disaster response including a recent trip to assist in house- builds in the New Orleans, Ninth district (2007).

Carnival for the Community in Aurora
All Saints Lutheran Church of Aurora is hosting a Carnival for the Community on Saturday, August 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is a fund-raiser benefiting the Pickens Tech Scholarship Fund. For more information, please call 303-752-4083.

A Sabbath Invitation
Come to a Called Back to the Well Clergy Day Apart August 20th. All ministers are invited to this monthly day apart at the Norbertine Center in Albuquerque. We will begin at 9:30 am and end by 4:00 pm. Cost for the day is $25 and includes lunch. You may choose to attend one day or all of the days. Bring your journal. An RSVP would be appreciated. Contact Sue Joiner for more information: sjoiner@samaritancc.com or call 505-332- 8020.

Healthy Congregations Workshop Scheduled
If you and/or your congregation missed out on the previous workshops in the Rocky Mountain Synod, now is the time to plan to attend the next workshop that have been scheduled. Leadership in Anxious Times will take place on Saturday, August 25, at All Saints Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. To get more information about the event, you may contact Pastor Philip Wangberg at the church (505-898-3932) or send him an email message at phil_aslc@comcast.net.

Confirmation Workshop Coming August 25
Glory of God Lutheran Church, 12200 West 38th Ave in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, is partnering with Faith Inkubators of Stillwater, Minnesota, to host area churches for a day-long training event on Head to the Heart confirmation system. If you'd like to find out more about the confirmation program at this church or just explore the latest in effective and faithful youth ministry, join us on Saturday, August 25 from 9 am - 3 pm. For more information or to register for this training go online www.faithink.com or contact Jeff Kelty at keltygog@qwest.net or 303-421-2721

Global Market for Global Mission
On Sunday, August 26, from 11 a.m. to 2pm on the Augustana Lutheran Church lawn (5000 East Alameda, Denver), Augustana's Global Mission Committee and Lutheran Family Services of Colorado will host a global market. For more information, please call 303-922-3433.

Rainbow Trail Men's Golf Retreat September 13 - 16
Faith on the Fairways will offer you the opportunity to play 45 holes of golf while finding the relationships held between your life of faith and time spent in the game. Rocky Mountain Synod Bishop Allan Bjornberg will be our spiritual leader for this weekend of faith, fellowship and deepening our relationships with Christ. For more information, click here.

Sleepy Owl Ranch Fly Fishing
Join in on all the fun with Fly Fishing on the Cache la Poudre: September 15 - 17. Contact the office 970-493-5258, Info@LdoubleR.org or www.LdoubleR.org for more information.

"God's People Show and Tell" Workshop Scheduled
The Lutheran Association of Christian Educators (LACE) is pleased to announce its 2007 Workshop Series "God's People Show and Tell". In Region 2, there are two workshops planned but just one in the Rocky Mountain Synod. On September 15, "Heavenly Hoops" will be held at Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church in Fort Collins, Colorado. Please contact Patty Stroup at patty@sojoyfc.org for details. To register for the Fort Collins workshop, please go to: Lace Workshop.

Coyote Howl Confirmation Retreat: September 21- 23 or October 5-7
TWO OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONFIRMATION CLASSES! ( LdoubleR.org )

Log Furniture Building: September 28 - 30
Ladies don't be left out of this opportunity. Men and women are welcome to participate in this retreat at Lutheran Ranches of the Rockies. Call the office (970-493-5258) or go to the website ( LdoubleR.org ) to get more information.

Holy Cross, Wheat Ridge Announces Art and Craft Fair
Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Wheat Ridge, Colorado will be hosting a Youth Benefit Art and Craft Fair on October 19th and 20th. We are looking for vendors. If you would like to rent a booth at the fair, please contact Scott Moore at Scott_E_Moore@msn.com for more information. The registration deadline is September 23rd.

Called Back to the Well Offers a Retreat for Lay Leaders
Called Back to the Well will offer a retreat for lay persons Novovember 9-12 at the Norbertine Center in Albuquerque. Cost for the retreat is $150. This is a wonderful way for congregations to deepen their commitment to spiritual growth and renewal. For more information, contact Sue Joiner or visit our website: ww w.samaritancc.com/affiliated/cbtw.

Mission Statement of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
Marked with the cross of Christ forever, we are claimed, gathered, and sent for the sake of the world.

Signature Phrase
Living in God's amazing grace

Statement of Purpose
**What is the Church of Jesus Christ?

The Church is a people created by God in Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, called and sent to bear witness to God's creative, redeeming, and sanctifying activity in the world.

**What is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America?

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America shall be one church. This church recognizes that all power and authority in the Church belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, its head. Therefore, all actions of this church by congregations, synods, and the churchwide organization shall be carried out under his rule and authority.

The name, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, as used herein, refers, in general references, to this whole church, including its three primary expressions- congregations, synods, and the churchwide organization. The name, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is also the name of the corporation of the churchwide organization to which specific references are made herein.

**What are the chief purposes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America?

The primary purposes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are expressed in the constitutions of congregations, synods, and the churchwide organization as follows:

1. To proclaim God's saving Gospel;
2. To carry out Christ's Great Commission;
3. To serve in response to God's love to meet human needs;
4. To worship God;
5. To nurture members in the Word of God; and
6. To manifest the unity given to the people of God.

Thanks be to God!

The popular World Hunger Ethiopian Nativity Christmas card is in production. This Christmas, send a card that supports the ELCA World Hunger Appeal as it shares the Good News of Jesus, Emmanuel.

Card front: Ethiopian art
Card message: And they shall name him Emmanuel, which means ''God is with us.'' (Matthew 1:23)

You can pre-order yours by calling 800/328- 4648 or visit the online store. Item no. 978-6-0002-2000- 6; 1 pkg = 10 cards and envelopes; $4 plus shipping. Orders will be available for shipment starting August 24.

Let us also remember that the new ELCA World Hunger Go and do likewise CD-ROM debuted at the Hunger Leaders Gathering and the GME. It offers six PowerPoint presentations ranging from two to 12 minutes in length. View/download them by visiting www.elca.org/hunger/basics or request your free copy by calling 800/328-4648 or visiting the online store at www.augsburgfortress.org/elcahunger . Item no. 978-6-0002-1990-1; free with free shipping.