April 27: Synod of Rocky Mountains

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April 27, 2016

The Latin word for “I breathe” also means “I hope.” Consequently, to inspire means that I breathe in and that I am also filled with hope. As I am inspired by the majesty and grandeur of the mountains of Colorado and the canyons of Utah, I am also inspired by the people of faith called Presbyterians in the Synod of the Rocky Mountains. Encompassing an area of over 460,000 square miles and spanning the distance between the Canadian border and the American Southwest, these people are engaging in some wonderful aspects of ministry.

An outreach ministry to a small town’s skateboarding youth is viewed as an investment in the future of Christ’s church. Those kids may never darken the doors of First Kalispell, but the goal of that local

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congregation is to fill them with the hope of God’s love. Members of Christ Church have begun engaging in a monthly dinner with their neighbors, most of whom are Hispanic. Calling their celebration “Dinner Church,” they engage in a lively worship service in both English and Spanish. It has been a successful community-building exercise. Members of a small congregation in the foothills have renovated a portion of their building into a dormitory to provide a staging area for visiting groups that come to do mission. Nederland Community Presbyterian helps to arrange service projects and to provide curriculum and even leadership to help the participating young people reflect upon their experiences. Columbine United Church is getting outside its building by equipping its members to be hubs of ministry. Each person can be a hub of ministry anywhere they are: the local community college, the financial district, mountain communities. Yellowstone Presbytery has partnered to create a student internship program for college students to serve in rural, remote and small towns across the vast and varied “Big Sky country.”

All of this is in addition to congregations and presbyteries partnering to start new worshiping communities reaching not only “nones” and Millennials, but also Burmese, Vietnamese and Hispanic populations.

As I survey the grandeur of the Rocky Mountain landscape filled with the farms on the Great Plains of Nebraska and the wonder of Wyoming’s Yellowstone, I am inspired that God’s Holy Spirit is filling the people with hope.

David Ezekiel

Let us join in prayer for:

Synod Staff

David Ezekiel, Transitional Executive

Lynn Smit, Stated Clerk

Brad Culp, Treasurer

Bobbi Hoffman, Office Administrator

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Debbie Newnum, PMA

Valéry Nodem, PMA

Clara Nunéz, PMA

Let us pray

As God breathed life into Adam, as Christ breathed upon the disciples, may we, O Lord, be aware that your Holy Spirit is always breathing new life into your church. Inspire us, fill us, for your breath gives life, vitality and hope. Amen.