QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION OF THE ECUMENICAL CATHOLIC COMMUNION Easter peace to all the Risen Easter People in the Rocky Mountain Region. I want to thank Bishop Francis for giving me the opportunity and honor to be the Interim Vicar to the community of the Light of Christ Community in the past and currently to the Church of the Holy Family. It has been a gift and a privilege to humbly serve as the representative of Bishop Francis to these wonderful spiritual communities. I feel that one of the first and foremost services of the Vicar is to pray for and with the communities one serves. I have done that and grown in my own faith. I have been very impressed with the deep spirituality of the two communities, having witnessed their committed love and care for one another, and personal holiness people showing me the essence of Christianity in a single word Christ. I have seen the Lord in these communities. During the Easter season we rejoice in Christ's resurrection, but the joy and spiritual growth of the Rocky Mountain Region continues in a special way in the next few months. Bishop Francis was here to celebrate our regional Chrism Mass and to ordain the first of two local women to the diaconate, Rosean Amaral of Mary of Magdala. He will return in June to ordain Bonnie Pino Fraser of Holy Family, and to get to know more about us at a Regional Leadership Gathering. In November he will preside at the Confirmation of the youth at Church of the Beloved, and pay a visit to Light of Christ. The Easter Alleluias will continue to ring out loudly in the next few months in the Rocky Mountain Region! Bishop Francis, thank you for gracing this truly enthusiastic region with your Easter risen presence. Let us give thanks to the Lord for he is good. "I am risen, and I am still with you." ~ Fr. Jim DeMuth Sending healing blessings to Dcn. Buddy Frisk of COB Contents Parochial Vicar Musings, 1 CHF Former Pastor Recognition and Search for the Next, 2-3 LOC, 4-5 Regional Youth Gathering, 6 PC and CCC Easter Sunrise, 7 COB, 8 MoM Easter, 9 Chrism & Ordination! 10-12 Co-Editors Kerrie Anderson, Copy twigleaf@frii.com Fr. Michael Nicosia, Layout nicosia410@yahoo.com The Journey Shared Spring 2017 1
ECC Rocky Mountain Region The community of Church of the Holy Family hosted a beautiful retirement mass and luncheon this past February for their pastor of nearly 20 years, Father Scott Jenkins. It was difficult to say goodbye to such an amazing leader, priest and friend. Since then, Holy Family has been blessed with the leadership of Interim Pastor, Reverend Denise Roberts-Graham. However, the community is now actively searching for candidates that can fill the role of permanent pastor. Church of the Holy Family is seeking a committed and visionary full-time pastor to guide the church into the next phase. This new pastor will have values that align with the mission, vision, and distinctives of Holy Family and the ECC. This pastor will have the knowledge and experience to envision creative ways to grow Holy parish and address the challenges facing churches today. Please check out the job posting at www.churchofholyfamily.org/job.php. The deadline to submit resumes is June 1st. On Sunday February 26th, we had the joy of honoring Fr. Scott's 19 years of selfless ministry with Holy Family and the ECC. His dedication and commitment to ministry among us is truly unmatched. It was a bittersweet day. We are sad to see him go, but very happy to send him into his next, lifegiving chapter with Celtic Way. Thank you to all who came from far and wide to celebrate this milestone with us! CHURCH OF THE HOLY FAMILY Rev. Denise Roberts-Graham, Interim Pastor Fr. Scott Jenkins, Pastor Emeritus Fr. Jim DeMuth, Parochial Vicar Mass: 10:00 am Sundays 16738 E. Iliff Avenue Aurora CO 80013 Jennifer LaRochelle, Administrator (303) 369-9000 jennifer@holyfamilyco.org www.churchofholyfamily.org CHURCH OF THE BELOVED Mother Kae Madden, Pastor Mass: 5:00 pm Saturdays 10500 Grant Drive Northglenn CO 80233 Mother Kae 303-426-5464; pastor@churchofthebeloved-ecc.org Fr. Paul Burson 720-254-2083 Fr. Len Schreiner 303-776-1460 www.churchofthebeloved-ecc.org The Journey Shared Spring 2017 2
Below is the text of a speech given by Vanessa Henk, Holy Family s PLT President, at the gathering: Thank you for the honor of representing Holy Family today as the PLT President as we show our gratitude to Father Scott. But how do can we thank this man who has been our priest, our pastor, our teacher, our friend? He has laughed with us, cried with us, argued with us, challenged us, drank with us, and celebrated with us. He has baptized our children and watched them grow, blessed our sports gear and our dear pets, lost at Bunko and air hockey, volunteered with us as we served our community, buried our loved ones, joined two hearts in marriage, taught us to dive deeper into Scripture, showed us the mysticism of Celtic spirituality, provided lengthy explanations on the etymology of Greek and Latin words, and scared us by saying that his homily would take at least an hour before he even started. He is our Peter he is the rock upon which this amazing church has been built. He has laid this foundation and has given us his full faith and blessing to move on without him and continue to grow our wonderful community. We thank you from the very core of our beings and we will miss you. We promise to keep your legacy going here and nurturing this seed of community you have planted in each of us. PAX CHRISTI ECC CHURCH Fr. Michael Nicosia, Pastor and Regional Vicar Fr. Stan Manickam, Pastor Emeritus Mass: 4:30 pm Saturdays 3250 Sixth Avenue Denver CO 80206 Fr. Michael 720-218-1081 nicosia410@yahoo.com Rev. Denise Roberts-Graham 64deniser@gmail.com Sue Kaessner, Administrator suekaessner@me.com www.facebook.com/paxchristi-ecc LIGHT OF CHRIST ECUMENICAL CATHOLIC COMMUNITY Fr. Teri Harroun, Pastoral Associate Masses: 5:00 pm Saturdays, 11:45 am 2nd and 4th Sundays 1000 W. 15th Avenue Longmont CO 80501 303-772-3785; churchoffice@lightofchristecc.org www.lightofchristecc.org The Journey Shared Spring 2017 3
It was a sea of green on St. Patrick's Day at Light of Christ, as members from LOC and Bethlehem Lutheran joined together to celebrate, enjoy the live Irish music and partake of a traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner. Sponsored by the adult mission team from LOC and Bethlehem Lutheran, the funds raised will support the upcoming September-October mission trip to assist the St. Vincent Mission in David, Kentucky. MARY OF MAGDALA COMMUNITY Fr. Jim DeMuth, Pastoral Director Mass: 5:00 pm Sundays 1208 W. Elizabeth Street Fort Collins CO 80521 970-217-3009 marymagdalafc@gmail.com http://marymagdalafc.org Also check out our friends of the COMMUNITY IN BOULDER Mass: 1:30 pm every first and third Sunday Community United Church of Christ 2650 Table Mesa Drive Boulder CO 80305 Mother Sheila Dierks 303-449-4302 sheiladierks1@gmail.com For more information about the ECUMENICAL CATHOLIC COMMUNION, visit http://ecumenical-catholiccommunion.org The Journey Shared Spring 2017 4
It was an Easter Egg Hunt like no other. This year, the Light of Christ and Bethlehem Lutheran youth groups sponsored an Easter Egg Hunt for all children from both communities fifth grade and younger, on Saturday morning, April 15th. It was a joyful and sweet experience for all. Light of Christ Grouth Youp (our middle school and high school youth group) painted bowls to donate to the Empty Bowls to Feed the Hungry, a fundraiser that supports the OUR Center in Longmont. The OUR Center provides meals and other needed services to help individuals and families move to self-sufficiency. The Journey Shared Spring 2017 5
The youth group from the region gathered together on Feb 10th at Church of the Beloved. Together we made pizzas, told stories, read scriptures, played games, decorated luminaries, and then walked a labyrinth together under the moonlight. The Journey Shared Spring 2017 6
Photo essay of the service in the Denver Post and a link to the video! The Journey Shared Spring 2017 7
The adults of our community reflected upon day-by-day chapters in the book Resisting Happiness by Matthew Kelly. The contents challenge one to look at the ways we resist or turn away from the very practices or habits that will bring us happiness, peace, and closer to God. Some of the chapters include Life is Messy, Living Soulfully, Let your Light Shine, Are You a Pilgrim or a Tourist? (The books are available for $3 each through Dynamic Catholicism.) A small group met twice during the forty days to share our experiences and we will have a finale conversation soon. We highly recommend the book. We also shared the traditional Stations of the Cross and a rich reconciliation service. We were blessed by an ensemble music group that uplifted our Lenten Masses with prayerful songs highlighting our Lenten journey. Our Triduum liturgy was traditional incense, foot-washing, veneration of the cross all the richness of Catholicism. We try to remember to mark time by taking a photo of our Easter Vigil and Easter morning communities gathered look at those smiling faces! At Easter morning Mass the two sides of our sanctuary took turns outdoing each other with the cheer: We've got Alleluias, yes, it's true. We've got Alleluias How about YOU? Alleluias indeed!! We are delighted to support 5 candidates for Confirmation who will be enrolled during Mass on May 13th and will be confirmed in November. They are eighth and ninth graders. The Arvada Center hosted a production of the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" and we invited our confirmation class to attend. It was an eye-opening experience for them as revealed in some of their comments: The play impacted me in that I saw Jesus as human for the first time. It was hard watching this story play out in front of me. It was an amazing play. Jesus Christ Superstar...makes me think about the story of Jesus differently. I know that for sure it has changed my view of Easter. Before, I had a very childish view on Easter, but I believe that after seeing the play, my view has really grown up. I understand Jesus better and I understand much better his struggle with God before he gave his life up for us. I was moved by instead of just reading the bible about this part, I saw it firsthand. It was amazing. Also [the production] was a new experience for me. I had never seen a musical until then. It made the crucifixion much more real. Before the play I never thought a lot of Jesus as a human than just the image of God. The play showed how much pain and suffering Jesus went through to save us. It already is making me think about Easter and Jesus differently. The Journey Shared Spring 2017 8
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Chrism Mass & Ordination of Dcn. Rosean! REGIONAL CELEBRATION AT MOM The Journey Shared Spring 2017 10
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