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

We Welcome Another Intern to the Rocky Mountain Synod
Jim Locke is serving at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in La Salle, Colorado, and is supervised by Pastor Matt Bersagel at Our Saviors in Greeley. Welcome Jim and thanks for being with us.

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 .

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.

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.

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

China Service Ventures: "Sharing a Vision"
China Service Ventures communicates a vision of serving others in Xinyang through Education, Healthcare, ESL, Rural Economic Development, and Good News connections with you, your congregation, service organization, or small group. The best way to share this message is for you to visit China. The second best way is for CSV to visit you.

Is there a date and time that we can share with you and your congregation the good news of our service in Henan Province? At the same time CSV wants you to share the vision your congregation has for service to China and the world. How can you help CSV to be stronger and healthier? Please help us share this vision of service with others.

When is the next opportunity to visit our projects in China? October 4-20 and October 21-November 9. We look forward to hearing from you!

Steven Ray, Director
China Service Ventures
steverayCSV@aol.com or
www.CSVentures.org
1.877.408.7056

Rainbow Trail Confirmation Retreats
November 2-4, 2007 and January 4-6, 2008, Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp will be hosting Confirmation Retreats. The theme for this year's retreats is "Expanding Grace: Broader than Sin, Deeper than Forgiveness," and the large group sessions will be led by Pastor Jeff Carlson of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

Besides engaging large group sessions, there will also be time for you to connect with your confirmands in a small group setting, an afternoon filled with activities such as hikes, archery, and team building, and great fellowship with other confirmation leaders and students. Cost for this retreat is $80 for students and $55 for adults and includes food, lodging and sessions. Registration opens on August 15, 2007. For more information visit the Rainbow Trail website at www.rainbowtrail.org.

Group for Clergy Spouses/Partners - New This Fall!
If you are a spouse or partner of a pastoral leader, you are invited to participate in a nine month Called Back to the Well group. The group uses a model called Group Spiritual Direction. This model invites soulful reflection on where God is in our lives. The process integrates silence and group reflection. Cost for the group is $200. Scholarship Money is available. For more information, contact Sue Joiner at sjoiner@samaritancc.com or 505.332.8020 or check out our website: http://www.samaritancc.com/affiliated/cbtw . The group will begin in September.

Called Back to the Well Retreat for Pastoral Leaders
All pastoral leaders are invited to participate in a retreat at the beautiful Norbertine Center in Albuquerque October 22-25. The retreat offers space for silent reflection and group discussion with time for journaling, walking, resting, and prayerful renewal. We begin at three pm on Monday and end with lunch on Thursday. Cost for the retreat is $150. Scholarship money is available. For more information, contact Sue Joiner at sjoiner@samaritancc.com or 505.332.8020 or check out our website: http://www.samaritancc.com/affiliated/cbtw/retreats. html

Called Back to the Well Retreat for Lay Leaders - New This Fall!
All lay leaders/members are invited to participate in a retreat at the beautiful Norbertine Center in Albuquerque November 9-12. The retreat offers space for silent reflection and group discussion with time for journaling, walking, resting, and prayerful renewal. We begin at three pm on Friday and end with lunch on Monday. Cost for the retreat is $150. Scholarship money is available. For more information, contact Sue Joiner at sjoiner@samaritancc.com or 505.332.8020 or check out our website: http://www.samaritancc.com/affiliated/cbtw/retreats. html

Two New Job Opportunities Posted on the RMS Website
The Synod office has recently posted new job listings on the website just for you. Please take a moment to see the other job opportunities that are posted there.

PARISH NURSE (Part-time)
Holy Shepherd Lutheran Church, Lakewood, Colorado

DIRECTOR of YOUTH and FAMILY MINISTRY (Full-time)
Bethel Lutheran Church, Windsor, Colorado

Additionally, St. Martha's Episcopal Church, Westminster, is seeking a lay person to serve half time as a "Ministry Coordinator." Information: Rev. Steve Wengrovius, swengrovius@yahoo.com or 303-429-0495.

A study guide on global poverty and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Episcopal Church, is available for download and for purchase through Augsburg Fortress. Titled, "God's Mission in the World," the guide is intended as a resource for congregations and other groups looking to "broaden their understanding of global poverty and become part of the worldwide movement achieving the MDGs," according to the guide's introduction. The guide features six sessions examining Christian understandings of social justice, global poverty and the MDGs.

The MDGs are eight interrelated development goals that flow from the Millennium Declaration of 2000 adopted by all members of the United Nations, including the United States. For more information, and links to download or order the guide, visit www.elca.org/one/ . We hope you will find this resource useful, and invite you to share it with others. This resource can be ordered for $5 from Augsburg Fortress at www.augsburgfortress.org/elcahunger/ and can be downloaded for free from www.elca.org/one/ .

We also hope this resource will inspire you to take action to end global poverty. If you're interested in learning about opportunities to make your voice heard to combat global poverty, please sign up for the ELCA e-Advocacy Network at www.elca.org/advocacv/ .

The Center for Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary equips preachers to be faithful and effective in their ministry of proclamation. Theological and practical education does not end with a theological degree, but rather only gathers speed! Recognizing this, the Center for Biblical Preaching is committed to the lifelong learning of preachers. It does so by offering a variety of educational events and resources that strengthen and sustain preachers in their craft and calling.

In the Company of Preachers is a preaching resource brought to you by the Center for Biblical Preaching and Luther Productions at Luther Seminary. This quarterly audio collection of sermons offers preachers both a continuing education element and an invitation to be renewed in their own faith and ministry through the preaching of others. Luther Seminary biblical preaching faculty and guests provide teaching comments, paired with sermons that reflect the theme. All of the sermons were preached during Luther Seminary's daily worship in the Chapel of the Incarnation.

The cost:
$59.95 for CD subscription (released quarterly)
$49.95 for audio download (released quarterly)
You may also download the introductory edition free of charge!

Themes that are being offered:
Opening the Sermon (July 2007)
Preaching the Old Testament (October 2007)
Closing the Sermon (January 2008)
Telling the Story (April 2008)

To find out more about this resource and others offered by the Center, please go to their website: www.luthersem.edu/cbp/