February 2015 - Rocky Mountain Synod, ELCA

LANDSCAPE
Faith Advocacy
Days in CO & NM
Bulletin inserts for
Lent to be provided
The NM Advocacy Day will be in
Santa Fe, NM, on February 10.
Contact Lutheran Advocacy
Ministry-NM at 505-984-8005 or
[email protected] to
make reservations. Info at
lutheranadvocacynm.org. The
deadline for reservations is
February 5. The CO Advocacy
Day in Denver will take place at
Bethany Lutheran Church on
Monday, February 16. Email
[email protected] for more
information or visit lam-co.org.
A series of bulletin inserts will be
provided for each congregation prior
to the start of Lent, to highlight how
we are “Better Together” as the Rocky
Mountain Synod, ELCA. Please
reproduce those in your bulletins and
newsletters.
Peace in Christ
church receives
$72,000 donation
The people of Peace in Christ,
Elizabeth, CO, are overjoyed to
receive an anonymous donation
for the purpose of paying off the
church’s mortgage. We share in
their joy at the wondrous
generosity of this special gift of
$72,000!
Video contest: “Better Together”
Winning videos will be featured in Salt Lake City, May 1-3
A video contest for the Rocky Mountain Synod Assembly under the theme,
“Our Life Together,” invites creative entries! We look forward to showing
the winning videos in Salt Lake City, May 1-3, 2015.
February 15 is
deadline for leader &
congregation reports
The videos are to use the exact script below, to emphasize how we are
“better together” when we are connected with one another. The challenge
is to make the script come alive! Video entries are to be uploaded to
YouTube, and a link provided to Kent Mueller by April 15. Send your link
to [email protected]. Use this script:
Synod means Church: Better Together
Every year each rostered leader
submits a report to Bishop Gonia,
and each congregation submits a
report that includes attendance and
financial information. The deadline is
February 15 as usual. A link to easily
find the reports is posted on the
homepage at rmselca.org.
As the ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod, We are Church: Better Together
From the wilds of Wyoming
Through the Great Salt Lake Valley
Across Colorado’s mountains, Front Range, and Eastern Plains
Throughout the Land of Enchantment
To the El Paso banks of the Rio Grande
“Like” us on
Facebook
We are Church: Better Together
We are passionate about God’s love in Jesus
Love that is boundless
Love that meets you where you are
Love that anchors you in a messy world
Love that frees you to make the world a better place
Together we are a both/and church in an either/or world
One of the ways we stay connected is
through sharing photos and stories
on the Rocky Mountain Synod
Facebook page. Go to facebook.org/
rmselca to stay connected!
We are Church: Better Together
We grow together
We struggle together
We explore together
We share together
We celebrate together
Being church together allows us to make things happen that we could never do on our own
As the ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod We are Church: Better Together
FEBRUARY 2015
What is an RMS “Conference?”
Each synod in the ELCA is divided into smaller areas
When the Rocky Mountain Synod covers a geographic
area of more than 400,000 square miles, it’s impossible
for every congregation to be in relationship with all of
the others. The Rocky Mountain Synod is divided into
ten Conferences to encourage connectedness and
ministry together in each smaller geographic area.
Even that isn’t easy, though, since two of our
Conferences are entire states: Utah and Wyoming!
Most synods are smaller than these Conferences in the
RMS.
Each Conference is headed up by a Conference Dean
who is a pastor in that area. The Dean takes
responsibility for keeping in touch with each
congregation, communicating about events and
initiatives, and checking in with rostered leaders who
may be ill or facing other challenges. All of the Deans meet with Bishop
Gonia every month in a WebEx videoconference. We are grateful for our
Deans who go “above and beyond” to serve their Conference. This year, the
Deans will meet in a retreat for the first time ever, from February 2-4, at the
Office of the Bishop in Denver. Below is the list of Conferences and Deans.
Border Conference
Jerry Reynolds (Trinity – Las Cruces)
Boulder/Broomfield Conference
Pastor Steve Berke (First - Longmont)
Metro East Conference
Pastor Caitlin Trussell (Augustana - Denver)
Metro South Conference
Pastor Dave Risendal (St. Peter - Greenwood Village)
Metro / Mountain West Conference – CO DEANS
MOUNTAIN WEST: Pastor Brian Bergum
(Lord of the Valley - Granby)
METRO WEST: Pastor Penni Walsh (St. John's - Thornton)
North Colorado Conference
Pastor Sonja Pancoast (Zion - Loveland)
North New Mexico Conference – CO DEANS
Pastor Pat Holman (St. Paul - Albuquerque)
Pastor Michael Bastian (Community of Joy - Rio Rancho)
Southeast Colorado Conference
Pastor Robert Kippley (Shepherd of the Hills - Cañon City) Utah Conference
Pastor Jeff Beebe (Our Savior's - Salt Lake City)
Wyoming Conference
Pastor Brenda Frelsi (Grace – Casper)
Roster Changes
OCTOBER 2014
The Rev. LaVonne Johnson-Holt from candidacy to
Pastor St. Mark Lutheran Church, Roswell, NM 10/1/2014
The Rev. Paul Everett from Pastor Ascension Lutheran
Church, Cheyenne, WY to retired 10/1/2014
The Rev. James W. Wiberg Pastor retired from Eastern
Washington-Idaho Synod to Rocky Mountain Synod
10/7/2014
The Rev. Sarah Anderson from Pastor Epiphany Lutheran
Church, Denver, CO to Minneapolis Area Synod
10/21/2014
The Rev. Jonathan Hundt from Pastor Peace Lutheran
Church, El Paso, TX to continued disability 10/31/2014
NOVEMBER 2014
The Rev. John Michael “Jack” Schmidt from Pastor
retired to Deceased 11/4/2014
The Rev. Stephen Ingram from Pastor retired to Deceased
11/5/2014
The Rev. James Hytjan from On Leave From Call to
Interim Pastor Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, Colorado
Springs, CO 11/9/2014
The Rev. Jeanne Madsen from Interim Pastor Lutheran
Church of the Holy Spirit, Centennial, CO to Nebraska
Synod 11/17/2014
The Rev. Kevin Meyer from Pastor Bethel Lutheran
Church, Windsor, CO to On Leave From Call 11/23/2014
The Rev. Christopher Heller from Northern Illinois Synod
to Pastor Messiah Lutheran Church, Albuquerque, NM
11/30/2014
DECEMBER 2014
The Rev. Debra Engquist from On Leave From Call to
Interim Associate Pastor Bethany Lutheran Church, Cherry
Hills Village 12/3/2014
The Rev. Ruth Ann Loughry from Pastor Bethany
Lutheran Church, Cherry Hills Village, CO to Pastor King of
Glory Lutheran Church, Loveland, CO 12/13/2014
Assembly Deadlines
Information about the 2015 Assembly
will be posted at rmselca.org/assembly
as it is ready, including nomination and
resolution forms as well as online
registration.
You will also find information about the
allotment of voting members. Every
congregation brings their rostered
leader/s and two lay voting members
(one male and one female). Large
congregations bring additional lay
voting members.
Please note this series of deadlines as
we prepare for the 2015 Rocky
Mountain Synod Assembly, May 1-3 in
Salt Lake City:
FEBRUARY 10:
deadline for plenary time requests,
workshops, display requests, and
ministry booklet reservations
MARCH 5:
deadline for ministry booklet
submissions
MARCH 6 :
deadline for nominations and
resolutions
MARCH 27:
assembly registration deadline and
hotel deadline (note that you will
make your own hotel reservations)
The Office of the Bishop of the Rocky Mountain Synod, ELCA, is located on the campus of
the new RMS Lutheran Center, 7375 Samuel Drive, Denver, CO 80221. General email is
[email protected]. Website is rmselca.org. Facebook is facebook.com/rmselca. An
electronic .pdf of this LANDSCAPE newsletter is posted at rmselca.org/synod/newsletters.