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

On the Border: El Paso Caught in the Middle
An MSNBC article explains how the immigration debate has shaken the city of El Paso. As we prepare for the 2009 Synod Assembly to take place in El Paso, we are mindful that the Rocky Mountain Synod's territory includes the largest city along the entire US-Mexico border. You will find the article interesting and relevant to our mission and ministry there.

"Women in Ministry Retreat" Slated for September
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. with refreshments and facilitated personal check in and will end in the early afternoon on October 2. Please keep this date on your calendar.

Facilitating the retreat is Vicki Samland, M. Div. who is Programs Coordinator at the Conflict Center in Denver. She will speak to us about conflict, communication and dealing with unhealthy responses to conflict and how to have creative healthy response to conflict. Each participant will bring to the discussion ideas and thoughts about how women leaders in the church approach conflict. if you have questions, please e-mail Pastor Connie Winter- Eulberg at LCMCSU@lamar.colostate.edu.

"Invitation to Prayer and Living in the Presence of God" Series Retreat
You are especially invited to a retreat and optional follow-on series hosted by Lord of the Hills Lutheran Church 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, which is offered to adults, 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.

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). The optional follow-on series continues on five 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. Please contact the church at 303-617-9884 to register and/or to get more information about the retreat and follow-on series.

Coaching 101
A Coaching 101 workshop will be offered noon to noon, Thursday and Friday, October 4 & 5 at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 2400 South Colorado Blvd., in Denver. 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 .

"Natural Church Development"
Natural Church Development (NCD) is a process of looking at a congregation by evaluating the quality of eight essential areas of ministry: leadership, small groups, worship, evangelism, spirituality, relationships in the congregation, congregational structures (i.e. organizational, future planning), and gift-oriented ministry. In evaluating each of these areas with a survey given to 30 members of the congregation and pastor(s), one or two areas become the focus of conversation, study and prayer in the congregation with goals established to be worked on over the next 8-12 months. In the ELCA, coaches from outside the congregation guide the NCD process in each congregation. (See Coaching 101 workshop above for the October training.)

For more information, go the ELCA web site ( www.elca.org ), click the Churchwide Units on the left hand side of the front page, find and click on Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission. On the right side of this page, click on Renewal of Congregations which will allow you to then click Natural Church Development on the left side of the page. You may also contact Pr. Jim Hytjan @ 800-525-0462/303-777-6700 or james_hytjan@rmelca.org for more information.

Bishop Bjornberg's List of Suggested Reading
If you missed them in previous editions of the newsletter, we bring them to you again. Here are the three books that Bishop Bjornberg has suggested for rostered leaders in the Rocky Mountain Synod this year.

Giving to God: The Bible's Good News About Living a Generous Life
by Mark Allan Powell
(Eerdmans, 2006)

Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader: How You and Your Organization Can Manage Conflict Effectively
by Craig E. Runde and Tim A. Flanagan
(Jossey-Bass, 2007)

Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith
by Diana Butler Bass
(Harper, 2006)

These three books are available through Amazon.com but you should also check with your local bookseller for these titles. Happy reading!

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.

This spring, six cyclones hit Madagascar, some with winds up to 120 mph. The cyclones ravaged the immediate area in its path and left considerable damage on the Northeast and Northwest regions. This is the first time that Madagascar has been struck by so many cyclones in such a short period. Seasonal rains have been made worse by the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) moving slightly south, resulting in continuous rains - from the end of December 2006 to the present moment - and resultant flooding.

After the passage of the cyclones, people affected by the disaster, and especially those living in rural areas, were not able to eat their staple food: rice. Their grain storage has been flooded and their fruit trees were damaged together with their cassava plants. In the most isolated areas, people were obliged to go into the forest to collect wild tubers and green fruits or to find any wild animals worth hunting. For them, food is a primary need and it is essential to help these communities to recover.

As the winds were very strong especially in the East Coast, most of the roofs were blown away and the huts knocked down, leaving a lot of families homeless. Public buildings such as schools and hospitals were also damaged. Usually, homeless families do not wait for external support to rebuild their hut. However, some reconstruction kits such as tools and other building materials need to be distributed to allow the population to basically repair the public buildings and their houses.

Action by Churches Together (ACT) member Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM) is appealing for support to enable them to provide immediate needs including targeted food distribution, non-food items, basic recovery items and the rehabilitation of schools damaged by the cyclones.

This includes food items such as rice, beans, oil, and sugar, all staples for the local population. Non-food and rehabilitation items include metal sheeting materials, seeds, water purification liquids, and medicine. ACT is a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide.

The ELCA has committed $25,000 to be sent through ACT to aid the critical needs of the Malagasy people in this project implemented by the FJKM.

More information can be found at: www.elca.org/globalmission

Contributions can be sent to:
ELCA Disaster Response
P.O. Box 71764
Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764
Please designate gifts for Cyclone Relief Efforts in Madagascar.

or call
800.638.3522
with a major credit card

Rainbow Trail Open House
On Saturday, September 8, Rainbow Trail will be hosting an open house as part of our 50th anniversary celebration. This will be a great day to show off your camp to your friends and enjoy being in the mountains in the fall. There will be many camp activities happening including archery, ropes course, self-guided tours and a fabulous free barbeque lunch. Enjoy just being out in God's creation. The festivities begin at 10:00 am. For more details, click here.

Marathon of Giving! As a part of the year long celebration of Rainbow Trail's 50 years of ministry, you are invited to participate in RTLC's marathon of giving.

This is a great chance for you to support the great ministries of Rainbow Trail while you support Dave Jarvis (camp director) during his latest marathon this October in the Chicago Marathon. He will start at the back of the 50,000 person pack and will pass as many people as possible during the race. You can donate based on a portion of a cent (example a 1/10 of a cent) all the way up to a $1.00 a person or anywhere in between. OR you can give one set amount for the race. For example, if he passes 20,000 people, at a penny, your gift would be $200. Either way, this will be a fun way to make a world of difference in Rainbow Trail's ministries. The number of people passed will be based on official race results. Click on the link below to download the support form. Support Dave and give camp a boost at the same time!! It's almost as good as running it yourself! (Click here to download the form.)

RTLC Wearever Contest
Do you have a great photo of yourself wearing Rainbow Trail gear somewhere unique and cool? Then you might want to enter it into the RTLC Wearever Contest. Send pictures of you from around the world wearing your RTLC clothing to dave@rainbowtrail.org by September 30, 2007. Only pictures in digital format will be accepted. No photoshopping of photos please. Prizes include a free week at camp! For more contest details, click here.

You Are Invited To Walk Wisdom's Path!
The Lutheran Social Service of Utah 7th annual education trip to Rocky Boy Indian Reservation happens this September 14th-22nd!

Held during Native American Week with Our Saviour's Lutheran Church and the Chippewa and Cree tribes, a few of the week's festivities include: worship with Our Saviour's, Aboriginal Art on the Reservation workshop, traditional prayer sweat, a teen's pow-wow preceding an all reservation pow-wow, Ultimate Warrior competition, Water is Sacred workshop, art and sports events.

The cost is $170.00 for transportation and $250.00 for room, board and registration. Only a few spaces remain so call today to confirm your reservation! 801- 588-0138 or email: lssutah@yahoo.com

In August, the Churchwide Assembly endorsed "Book of Faith: Lutherans Read the Bible," a five-year initiative to promote study of the Bible. The initiative grew out of a proposal the North Carolina Synod made to the 2005 Churchwide Assembly. It was adopted by a vote of 1,000 to 19. A companion recommendation, adopted 956 to 68, gave specific suggestions for ways to "invite and encourage all members, expressions, institutions and partners of this church to commit themselves regularly and increasingly to hearing, reading, studying, sharing and being formed by God's Word."

What is the Book of Faith?
The Book of Faith is an initiative of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Book of Faith initiative invites the whole church to become more fluent in the first language of faith, the language of Scripture, in order that we might live into our calling as a people renewed, enlivened, and empowered by the Word.

The Bible is a book of faith.
The Bible is the written Word of God that creates and nurtures faith through the work of the Holy Spirit and points us to Christ, the incarnate Word and center of our faith. The Bible invites us into a relationship with God, making demands on our lives and promising us life in Christ. The Bible tells the stories of people living their faith over the centuries and, through its demands and promises, forms us as a people of faith.

The language of Scripture is our first language of faith.
The Bible teaches us about God, about the world, and about ourselves. We become renewed, enlivened, and empowered as the language of Scripture forms our hearts, our minds, our community conversation, and our commitments.

We have a calling as the people of God.
Part of our calling is to know, hear, share, and be rooted in Scripture.

We are renewed, enlivened and empowered by the Word.
As we live into our calling as people who are formed by Scripture, we become renewed in our faith, enlivened through the Spirit, and empowered through the cross of Christ to serve God and neighbor.

The first year of the Book of Faith initiative centers on inviting everyone to join the conversation, to make a commitment and to become part of the initiative. To begin your journey in becoming more fluent in the first language of faith, please go to the ELCA website.

If you find dealing with copyright permissions to be puzzling, or just time-consuming, it's OneLicense.net to the rescue! OneLicense.net is an annual subscription that makes it easy for churches and religious institutions to obtain music reprint permissions from a multitude of publisher members. Likewise, organizations holding conventions or conferences can get copyright permission through OneLicense.net for the music they use with a one-time event license. OneLicense.net also makes it easy for both churches and music publishers alike to record all usage for an equitable distribution of royalties to composers and authors.

OneLicense.net is affordable for any church or organization. Determine the category of license and corresponding fee based upon the total average weekend attendance at all services or the estimated number of participants in your event. "Events" are conventions, conferences, workshops, revivals, missions, retreats of up to one week in length. "Single use" is a one-day license and covers one or more services within a 24- hour period.

A few of the of the current roster of premier publisher members include Abingdon Press, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, GIA Publications, Inc., Hope Publishing Company, and Les Presses de Taizé.

For a more complete list of publisher members, the various licenses categories and fees, and the reporting process, please go to the OneLicense.net website. .

You may also contact the OneLicense.net office:
Tim Redmon, Administrator
800-663-1501
timredmon@onelicense.net