APEIC New Worshiping Community has first gathering!

ALL PEOPLE ECUMENICAL/INTERCULTURAL COMMUNITY (APEIC) is an ecumenical, intercultural, interfaith and international community of worshippers that seeks to claim, live and proclaim the vision of the Pentecost church gathering, (Joel 2, Isaiah 66:18, and Acts 2). APEIC values, incorporates and celebrate differences. It is in fact an intersection where differences meet. People from every nation, tribe and language are invited and welcomed to freely and safely share their different faith journeys in a secure and supportive environment of love and respect.

For long we build churches and worshiping communities of sameness and similarities and yet, a Gospel that intended to be global with the intention of “making disciples of all nations” cannot be limited to one people, one race or one culture. A church that was born globally (Acts 2) cannot be contained in one form of worship or one form of spiritual practice.

How we do this? Well, come and see!

Worship: 5:30pm Second Sunday of each month! (Current) @ Grace Presbyterian Church in Highlands Ranch

New Worship time will start January 2024 will be at 5:30pm the First Sunday of the month!

Questions? Contact Rev. Raafat Garagis at rsgirgis@icloud.com

New Online Directory is launched!

We have a new online, cloud-based directory!

To access, from any browser, simply go to directory.in-c.net/denver/. You will need a personal passphrase to gain access. Please note, this first step cannot be done on smartphone, you must do this initial step to get your passphrase from a desktop or laptop.

Watch the video below to learn how to discover your personal passphrase. Your personal passphrase is unique to you. Please do not share it with anyone, this is how we keep our information secure.

If you need help, please contact Brontë or Beth at the office for assistance! 303.777.2453

*We have learned you cannot do this first step, to discovery your personal passphrase, from your smartphone, but once you have it, you can use the directory from your smartphone.

Fourth New Worshiping Community Incubator Leader is Hired!

Fourth NWC Incubator Leader Hired!

Many of you have had the chance to meet our three New Worshiping Community (NWC) Incubator Leaders that began their work in the first quarter of the year. Bethany, Raafat, and Evan have begun their ministries in our presbytery and we are looking forward to seeing how God continues to use them to gather new communities.

We are happy to announce the hiring of our fourth and last NWC Incubator Leader, Rev. Karla Lara Maldonado. Karla began her work this week and will be focusing on starting a new ministry that primarily reaches the Hispanic/Latino community in the northern part of the greater Denver metro area.

The NWC Incubator initiative is made possible thanks to the generosity of Jane Hays. Thanks to the bequest she left of $1.9 million we have been able to support the salaries of the leadership of existing NWCs, while also supporting the new Incubator Leaders.

We are thrilled to welcome Rev. Lara Maldonado as NWC Incubator Leader. You can read more about her in the bio below. May God continue to guide Denver Presbytery as it seeks to support and create space for new expressions of church in our midst.

Meet Karla

Karla has a Master of Divinity from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. She received the Carl Kilborn Award from the president to the graduated senior with leadership and potential for ministry and academic excellence. She also has graduate studies in Science and Administration in Mexico.

Karla served in First Presbyterian Church in Weslaco, Texas [FPCW], launching several missional and evangelistic projects, from Bible Study to creating a community garden to a food pantry. God blessed her with guidance, creativity, and effectiveness during her service there. 

Commenting on the ministry of FPCW, a seasonal resident of Weslaco said, "I have visited nine other churches in the area, but I prefer to drive 30 min to FPCW because this church is alive and is truly serving. Other churches say, 'Remember us in your will,' but this church focuses on mission and evangelizing its neighbors. I will move my membership from Minnesota to Weslaco."

Born in Reynosa, Mexico, Karla moved to the U.S. with her family due to her husband's job relocation. Orlando and their two sweet daughters, Sarah and Emma, are Karla's best motivation and inspiration.

Karla loves to sing, laugh, and have fellowship. She enjoys having conversations with people from different ethnicities, religions, and walks of life. In Denver Presbytery, she feels called to reach families through dance, exercise, and art that involve making new friends, sharing meals, and meditation. She can be contacted via email at revkarlalara@gmail.com.

Now Accepting Applications for General Assembly Commissioners and Young Adult Delegates

So, you want to be a General Assembly Commissioner...
The General Assembly consists of commissioners elected by presbyteries. Half of the commissioners will be ruling elders, half will be teaching elders. Few will ever have been commissioners to the General Assembly before, but most will have served in one of the other governing bodies of our church: the session, which provides care and oversight of a local congregation; the presbytery, which provides care and oversight of a group of congregations; or the synod which provides care and oversight of several presbyteries. NOW LOOKING FOR GA COMMISSIONERS FOR 226th General Assembly in July of 2024!

Check out this factsheet, What Commissioners and Advisory Delegates Can Expect at the 226th General Assembly (2024).

Being Presbyterian is unique in many ways -- how the church is governed and how decisions are made, and by whom, for example. Watch this quick video below that explains business at General Assembly.

Church Financial Leadership Grants Available Now

If you are a pastor, commissioned ruling elder (CRE), a leader of a 1001 New Worshiping Community or a member of a stewardship team we have Church Financial Leadership Grants available for you. The grants will enable you to institute best practices for church financial leadership, introduce you to new models of giving and stewardship, and offer you new ways to talk about money and form generous disciples within your church.

Who can apply?

• PCUSA pastors

• Commissioned Ruling Elders

• 1001 New Worshiping Community leaders

• Church member attending the event with their pastor

What do the funds cover?

The grants are matching funds to help cover half of the cost of:

• Registration fees

• Transportation

• Lodging

• Meals

• Other expenses

The other half of the funds will need to be provided by the church or another source.

What events can I use the funds for?

• Stewardship Kaleidoscope

• Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising (ECRF) through the Lake Institute

• Other church financial leadership events (subject to approval)

What is the deadline?

For Stewardship Kaleidoscope, we are asking that applications be sent in by Tuesday, August 15 so that we have time to process the application and send out the funds prior to the start of the event. Applications received after the deadline or for the ECRF program will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Once we receive your application, it may take up to six weeks to process.

May HYBRID Assembly Highlights

The May 23rd Stated HYBRID Assembly was held On-line via Zoom and On-Site at First Presbyterian Church of Brighton.

Thank you First Presbyterian Church of Brighton for your hospitality and welcome. Special thanks to Meril, Linda, and Margaret along with Joe and Julia and many others for providing a wonderful meal and hospitality. 

The Revised Ominbus was passed. 

August Assembly will be in person on August 19, 2023 and the Location is coming soon!

Our tech crew was AMAZING and made the magic happen at Assembly! Thank you to First Presbyterian Church of Brighton crew Bill and Tom along with DenPres Team–Beth, Brontë, Steve, Fernando, Chuck, Dee, Kenny and Bethany for their help behind the scenes!

Worship
In the Spirit of Pentecost, worship was woven throughout our time as we heard the Word (Isaiah 55:8-11, Romans 11:33-36) and sang Amazing Grace in many different tongues including Korean, Kikuku, Spanish, Twi, and Vietnamese, Thank you Pastors Evan Amo, Jemimah Ngatia, Tu Minh Bui, Lemuel Velasco, Louise Westfall, George Wilson, and John Yu, for their leadership among us. 

Generative Activity | Dee and gretchen
What we know is we come to presbytery meetings for a variety of reasons, whether it be work, worship, inspiration, or connection.  One way we explored connection with one another was through presencing- a way of communicating what was  going on with us in the moment.  Presencing is a way we placed our voices in the room, where we saw each other and they saw us. The invitation was to notice what we were feeling or thinking, and make a sound that matched what we were noticing in our bodies and spirits. This sound was shared with our neighbors. This was a way that we connected, communicated, and noticed one another.

Lead Presbyter Report | Rev. Dr. Dee Cooper
There is great excitement about the ways in which Denver Presbytery is living into being a Matthew 25 Presbytery in many ways.  The Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA)  has released a video and commercial that is in national syndication on PBS, CNN, and other channels about the PCUSA and Matthew 25. The videos can be found here and at the end direct viewers to local Matthew 25 congregations. We shared yard signs for our Matthew 25 congregations, as an additional way they could be recognized.

Agency Review Task Force Report | Rob Habiger 
The Servant Leadership Development Committee (SLDC) would love you to consider serving. We invite you to fill out a Passion Discovery Form (PDF) about your gifts. Thank you to the SLDC members who were with us to answer any questions and connect with folks about serving. 

Servant Leadership Development Committee (Committee on Representation) | Sarah Pascoe
At the February Assembly we voted in the leaders of the Ministry Relations Committee Core Team, however Rev. gretchen Sausville is no longer able to serve in that capacity as she is our Stated Clerk. The Servant Leadership Development Committee brought forth a motion to elect Joanna Douglass to the Ministry Relations Committee as leader for the Resources and Discovery Team, which was approved.

Finance & Property | Pat Queen
Generative time was with a lens of our  Mission, Vision, and Values and Matthew 25. One of the tenants of being Matthew 25 is eradicating systemic poverty.

The motion to sell a parcel of land by the First Presbyterian Church of Brighton, to the Brighton Housing Authority in order to build low income housing, was inspiring.

We watched a NBC Today show segment about how communities of faith are being the body of Christ as they eradicate systemic poverty. We heard from Rev. Dr. Chris Spotts about the discernment process for his congregation to come to this faithful decision. We had expanded discussion time together using the Committee of The Office of General Assembly Equity Minded Decision Prompts.

The Assembly approved the First Presbyterian Church of Brighton’s request to sell 5.822 acres of their property to the Brighton Housing Authority for not less than 90% of the assessment for $1,150,000 payable in 2 installments. 

The Finance and Property Committee brought two motions in order to establish a line of credit for cash flow purposes. 

The Assembly approved a line of credit be established with PILP (Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program) at a rate of 5.4% (variable) for the amount of $200,000 to cover cash flow issues. 

The Assembly approved the required collateral for the line of credit be Denver Presbytery Grant Street Proceeds fund invested with Gill Capital Partners currently valued at $3,165,243.

Generative Time 

As a Generative activity we did a word cloud from Aha slides answering “what we love about springtime in Colorado”.

Stated Clerk Report | Rev. gretchen Sausville
The Church Leadership Connection (CLC), the call system for pastors and congregations, has an updated platform that the leadership will begin training on. If you need help, please contact us. 

Rev. Richard Aylor, Pastor of Church of the Hills, will be installed on June 3, 2023 at 2pm, all are welcome!

Partnership of Zimbabwe and Denver Presbyteries
The PZDP delegation was commissioned for service to Zimbabwe with liturgy and laying on of hands. Thank you to JoAnn Goss and Julia Henderson for your words and prayers, to our delegation for your service, and to our assembly for raising your voices in song.

Dee Cooper | Lead Presbyter
Kim Graber | Nakai Task Force from St. Paul PC
Rob Habiger | Central Fund from Central PC 
Celeste Habiger | Mission Partnership from Central PC
Deanna Heyn | Zimbabwe MP and Orphan Care Center from New Hope PC
Josphat Ombacho | Central Fund and Mission Partnership from Neema

Meeting was adjourned with prayer.