Unleashed Magazine Issue 3

Unleashed MAGAZINE

Abiding Hope Church FEBRUARY 2022 ISSUE 3

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Saturday- 5:30pm Sunday- 8:15am & 10:30am Online: Sundays at 9:00am Watch recent services at abidinghope.org

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6337 S Robb Way Littleton, CO 80127 303-972-1283 info@abidinghope.org abidinghope.org facebook.com/abidinghope instagram.com/abidinghope

PUBLISHER | ABIDING HOPE CHURCH EDITOR IN CHIEF | STEPHANIE HARPER EDITOR & DESIGNER | REBECCA BURRIS Send questions or additional content to: stephanie@abidinghope.org OR rebecca@abidinghope.org

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Table of Contents Letter from Pastor Doug........................................................................4 Ministry Highlights What Authentic Worship Means to Me......................................6 The Second Wind Walk/Run Event..............................................7 I AM Retreat & Confirmation.......................................................8-9 Welcome to Sanctuary.................................................................10-11 Pet Blessing...................................................................................12-13 All In Fall Retreat...........................................................................14-15 Trunk or Treat...............................................................................16-17 Thanksgiving Baskets...................................................................18-19 Celebrate the Light.......................................................................20-21 CLM Advent Focus.........................................................................22 Fit for LIFE/Dad Bods....................................................................22-23 Unleashed Ministry Highlights..............................................................24-25 State of the Church.................................................................................26-27 Family Support Network........................................................................28-29 Contemplation Corner............................................................................30 Preschool & Kindergarten Update........................................................31 Blessings in Action...................................................................................32-33 Ongoing & Upcoming Events.................................................................34-36

Dear Siblings in Christ, Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you for taking a moment to read through this edition of Unleashed Magazine. This semi-annual publication seeks to share real stories of real people living as the heart, hands, and feet of Jesus in the world.

Our prayer is that these stories will inspire you to greater awareness of God’s presence in your life and lead to more intentional action through worship, relationships, service, and generosity.

We also hope that you will utilize the stories and information about the variety of our ministries to find opportunities for you and your family to become more engaged within the life of Abiding Hope.

Please reach out to us if you have any questions or seek more information.

We thank God for you and pray that Unleashed Magazine will be a blessing to you in your ongoing journey as a child of God. With abiding hope, Pastor Doug

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Ministry Highlights

Ministry Highlights

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What Authentic Worship Means to Me By: Kim Gnagey, Director of Worship Arts

S

inging in front of people is something I’ve been doing since before I can remember. I was a toddler, the same age as many of the preschoolers here at Abiding Hope, when my dad took me up in front of our Methodist church with his guitar to sing “Jesus Loves Me.” As a child, it was just a thing I did and I knew it made people happy. Somewhere along the line, I learned to be critical of my own performance, and that critical voice has been crippling for me many times in my life. Performance anxiety and perfectionism are things I still battle with to this very day outside the walls of the church. This seems uncomfortably timely to write about as my graduate voice recital is creeping up at the end of January.

One of the many things that drew me to Abiding Hope was the term “Authentic Worship.” The Abiding Hope culture has authenticity in spades, and I am deeply grateful to be a part of this community. As a worship leader, I sit down at every service ready to immerse myself in God’s love and to be a channel for that love to pour through me. I’m not thinking about how perfectly or imperfectly I’m playing or singing the notes. I am open, present, and blissful. My often chattering mind is quiet. The only struggle is to return to that space when I have to “check the mirrors,” if you will: check in with the other musicians, check in with the page in front of me, check in with what is happening in the room.

The most satisfying feedback is to hear the voices of the congregation and to feel the thickness and stillness of the atmosphere as we all are immersed as a community in God’s love.

Over the last couple of years, God has provided a new challenge to my life, which is to bring the authenticity of my worship leading more intentionally into my performance life. It wasn’t until rather recently that I started exploring the idea that my fear of not being good enough in a performance setting is actually a very selfish one: if I have a gift and I bury it under my own insecurities and fear of how it will be received, I’m not offering it up to God to allow it to multiply in ways I couldn’t even fathom. Moreover, my identity is not my music. My identity is “child of God,” and every thought and action, interaction and reaction, is an opportunity to engage in authentic worship. I pray today that you and I can both engage that love song with the Lord in a fresh way, and I look forward to when we meet again to sing our love songs together.

Abiding Hope returned to in person worship the weekend of August 14/15, 2021 after ceasing in person gatherings since March 14/15, 2020.

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The Second Wind Walk/Run Event By: Evan Lim

The Second Wind Fund Event is special because it shows that our community can come together to make change in the lives of others. I’ve always felt that there is a feeling of hope and freedom that emanates from the people engaging, whether they are running or walking. Growing up, I had a teammate complete suicide. I’m glad that Second Wind specializes in creating the feeling of hope, joy, thankfulness, and a love for life so that more youth give themselves a second chance or second wind. It is important that people like my friend and his family don’t need to suffer alone or miss a loved one because of suicide. I am proud to support Second Wind and their mission.

Abiding Hope has supported Second Wind Fund since it’s formation. If you would like to learn more about the life-saving work that Second Wind is doing, visit the website here: thesecondwindfund. org

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Middle School Retreat

From October 15-17, 2021, 20 Middle School students and adult guides went up the mountain to Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp for the weekend.

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Confirmation 2021

On October 26, ten of our students and their adult guides celebrated their faith journeys in a Service of Affirmation at Clement Park.

Congratulations to all our 2021 confirmands:

Cassidy Anderson Treyton Benfield Patrick Betts Amelia Campbell Hannah Corneillie Lizzy Dassow Katelyn Hertel Kaylee Mitchell Wes Swickard Savannah Zerr

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Welcome to Sanctuary By: Pastoral Intern Lindsay Bates

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or better or for worse, the pandemic has taught us to hold expectations lightly. It seems for most people, every plan we’ve made in the past two years has come with an air of hopefully; we plan trips, buy tickets to concerts, sign kids up for activities, and even plan meals with friends with an awareness that it might be replaced by quarantine or zoom.

So when we had no idea what to expect on the first night of Sanctuary at Abiding Hope, it almost felt normal. Just another day in 2021 where we cannot envision what is going to come about.

Sanctuary was a gamble. It came out of the observation that we have all experienced trauma, joy, grief, and loss throughout the pandemic, and that we have created new patterns in our lives during this time of separation. The past two years have taught us to be numb to uncertainty and stress in

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a dramatic way. It is precisely these moments in life, the uncomfortable times, when we are called to walk together as the church. So we invited everyone, tall and small, wrinkled and still growing, grieving and full of hope, to gather, trusting that the Holy Spirit would move through our community.

And the Holy Spirit showed up.

Sanctuary is a space of respite, of deepening relationships, and building an awareness of the trauma you, we, the Church, and the world, have lived through. Each gathering looked different as we experimented together. One week we looked through pictures and picked one that represented our last year (everything from floating balloons to pouring rain). One time we made a pile of milestones, slowing down enough to remember that important things have happened even in a pandemic

void of many usual mile markers. One evening we talked about our grief from lost loved ones to lost experiences and events. The people who came to Sanctuary reported that it was “so nice to meet people at Abiding Hope we didn’t know,” and “I needed that, I had no idea what I was carrying with me.”

One week, a game of Uno broke out while people were still gathering and snacking, and I watched as a first grader and someone who’s retired shared their experiences, learning about each other’s days, what they thought the rules to Uno should be, what they’d been watching on TV lately, and what it felt like when the COVID lockdowns first began. That’s the Holy Spirit showing up, drawing people together who probably wouldn’t have met outside the church, and who don’t find space to talk on a Sunday morning.

When we read the Psalms, Job, Acts, and most books of the Bible we are reading an account of how God’s people have grieved, have walked together in uncertain times, and how God has been with and in our world all along. Sanctuary will be continuing in 2022, as creating space to process life together is still who we are called to be as the Church. Everyone is invited to join as we learn, move our bodies gently, share stories, and gather together again.

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Pet Blessing On October 10, all sorts of God’s creatures gathered at Powderhorn Park for our annual Pet Blessing service.

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All In Fall Retreat November 19-21, High School students and adults traveled to Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp. It was a powerful weekend where our students lived into their brokenness and claimed “NOT EVEN” that can separate us from the love of God.

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Trunk or Treat On October 31, we had over 400 ghosts, goblins, princesses, and other fantastic creations come to the church parking lot for our 2nd Annual Trunk or Treat. The trunks were very creative and were voted on for the best, silliest, & scariest!

Winner: Silliest

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Winner: Scariest Winner: Best Honorable Mentions All the trunks were so great! Here are a couple of other favorites.

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Thanksgiving Baskets On November 18 & 19, hundreds of volunteers gathered together to assemble 1,500 baskets to provide meals for families for Thanksgiving.

Our incredible congregation raised $43,796 for the baskets.

Baskets were distrubted to those in need through several organizations including: Crawford Elementary School Denver Rescue Integrated Family Community Services City Church Harvest Highline

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Celebrate the Light FROM STAGE TO SCREEN

By: Glenn Hecox, Lead Servant for Worship Life

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rom crisis comes opportunity. None of us have been able to escape the chaos and crisis stirred up by pandemic living. It seems every area of our lives has been impacted and almost all the shifts we’ve had to make came out of necessity. However, the crisis also created opportunities for us to engage in new thinking and discover new skills. Such is the case for our worship life at Abiding Hope, including our Christmas worship experience, Celebrate the Light (CTL).

How do you take a live, staged Christmas production consisting of nearly one hundred participants with a preparation time of nearly five months and transition to an online digital experience in just two months? Obviously, not an easy task, and one that would not be possible without a Community That Loves (also, CTL).

Perhaps a better question with which to start is, why pivot and create CTL as a digital experience?

For CTL 2020, it was clear that members of the Abiding Hope community would appreciate and benefit from experiencing a Christmas message of hope during some bleak times.

With in-person activities closed, the digital option was our only option. Unfortunately, the pandemic did not recede enough to allow for an in-person experience of CTL 2021, so we made the decision to go with CTL online 2.0.

It might have been an easier decision to simply place CTL on a temporary hiatus during these times, but as we now know, we would have missed out on a major opportunity.

The theology in which we are immersed here at Abiding Hope enables us to experience every story (whether in life or in scripture) through a different lens than that of most faith

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communities. It is important to us to provide this opportunity for all people, and by moving CTL out of our worship space and onto digital portals, we can do just that.

Without a doubt, the process of creating an online experience is far different than creating one for the stage - in vision, design, and production. Because of our unique theology, there are no available resources from which to draw on concept or content. Everything is envisioned, created and written “in-house,” and requires Spirit-led teamwork in order to implement. The beautiful theological precision of Pastor Doug creates an impeccable foundation on which to build. Exploring creative ideas through the imaginative mind of Pastor Jay helps develop the conceptual structure. The content is then made complete with the artistic and inspired writing skills of Glenn Hecox and Stephanie Harper. CTL is now ready to move into production mode.

As indicated before, CTL would not be possible without a Community That Loves. We are blessed with exceptionally talented people who say “yes” to help bring this message into the community. The production process begins with discussing the vision and content with fellow director, Paul Manutes, who enhances the product with his incredible directorial experience and skillset. At this point, we bring our professional videographer on board and discuss details surrounding the project, making plans to best capture each scene. Then the challenging work of creating a schedule begins – a process that feels much like completing a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle.

Finally, it’s time to work with the true talent of the production – our musicians and actors.

Our narrators worked with Paul in the studio, while our musicians engaged in a two-step process - first in the studio to record their

voice, then out on location where the scene was filmed. Each scene requires about four hours for filming and recording and can be met with a myriad of challenges, particularly when filming outdoors. It was incredible to see the participants’ determination to help deliver this message through their time commitment and the amazing patience and agility they demonstrated throughout the process.

Once all the material is captured, we engage in an editing process including both audio (Stephen Bailey) and video (Glenn). This tedious process requires over 500 hours to complete and is filled with decision after decision, each having a direct impact on the clarity of message and quality of the product.

This is the digital CTL process in a nutshell, and while it may not have been through blood, sweat, and tears, it did involve burns (candles), chills (chilly weather), and a lot of laughter. The true joy in the process came from working with a Community That Loves – a group of people that so believes in our message of love and life that they sacrificially decided to choose love and to choose hope in order to share the message to all who will listen. For those involved in the process, we cannot thank you enough for your time, talent, and energy. For those of you in the community, if you haven’t watched it, put it on your watchlist. And for those who have watched it, be sure to share with those that you love. By doing so, we will expand our Community That Loves, one view and one person at a time.

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CLM Advent Focus

Thank you to the loving and generous people of Abiding Hope. We raised over $43,000 to support the poorest of the poor in Haiti. This provides real change in these women’s lives by giving them a chance to live with dignity and hope. I am continually humbled by the selflessness of our community.

Mesi!

Cindy Johnson, Head of the Haiti Team

Fit for LIFE! By: Pastor Jay Gamelin

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We began DAD BODS three years ago as a way for guys to gather to change our overall health. We tell people, this is not a workout that will get you RIPPED, but it is a workout that will help you feel confident about getting under the sink to fix that leak, to play with your children with energy, and feel more in control of your mood. We target different types of workouts to bring good stress to different parts of our bodies, from weights to yoga, kickboxing to core-strengthening.

Dad Bods meets every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:30am in the Abiding Hope gym for a medium-intensity 45 minute workout that includes warm up, cool down, and a 5 minute meditation that helps us to connect spiritually.

Remember how it felt when you were young?

You could just POP off the floor without thinking about it, rake the yard without having to do it in stages, and reach high above your head without wondering what your back was going to do. But our bodies do get older and our activity level can decrease. Over time, we just don’t feel as good as we used to. But we can change this. When we create a healthy habit of exercise, we can increase our physical health by working on coordination, balance, flexibility and strength at maximum range of motion. The by-product of a steady exercise schedule is not just physical; We are affected mentally as we release positive hormones and a “Dad Bods has been a great way We are now excited to begin feeling of accomplishment. to keep me accountable to my a new group to gather people We are affected emotionally fitness but more importantly a interested in improving their as this improves our selfway to connect with others and overall health called Fit For image, even when we may Life. This group is for male, not see a physical difference. share a workout.” - Matt Goman female, and non-binary It improves our social life by gathering with people ages 18 and up, who want to be more other people who quickly become friends. It coordinated and flexible, increasing their improves our financial life as increasing our balance and strength. This group will meet health often means fewer trips to the doctor. beginning on Mondays and Wednesdays at So, to feel better about our whole life, we 3:30 in the Abiding Hope gym for a 45 minute need to include our physical life as part of session that will include a wide variety of being an integrated person. workout regimens that target the whole body to increase overall fitness. Fit For Life is about

helping people achieve a sustainable level of fitness that allows them to feel good all the time and not just a season, creating a community of friends to support one another in feeling better about ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. And thanks to a $1500 grant from the ELCA, we are now able to provide equipment for our workout attendees and training for our workout leadership.

As always, when beginning a new workout regimen, we encourage you to check with your physician. Ask your doctor about how you might make a workout work for you. Join us!

“When I first started Dad Bods, I thought Pastor Jay was a nice and gentle guy... well, now I know why. The bright side is I’ve never talked so much to God as I try to drag myself across the gym floor.” - Matt Burris

Dad Bods: Tuesday/Thursday, 5:30am, Gym Fit for LIFE: Monday/Wednesday, 3:30pm, Gym

Dad Bod Participants

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Unleashed Ministry Highlight CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS

A Short History of the Crucial Conversations Team Crucial Conversations began with our small book group in 2018 that became interested in reading and conversation around social justice issues. As we had these conversations, we wanted to invite other voices in our faith communities into these “crucial conversations.” Michelle Healy joined us from Atonement Lutheran and inspired us with what Atonement’s Faith In Action team was doing in moving from conversation to action. Some months later we participated in the course, “Dialogues on Race,” with some members of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Denver led by Pastor Joel Rothe. We felt that we could replicate the course at Abiding Hope. We approached Pastor Laura Bostrom with the idea, and she took the lead on helping us bring it to fruition in Fall of 2020. We owe her a debt of gratitude. Members of Christ the King and Atonement joined us for that series. We have hosted 2 other series in 2021: “Dialogues on Environmental Justice” and “Dialogues on the “Refugee Crisis.” Beginning in January, we will be hosting a 3-part series entitled “Gun Violence in America.” We hope to continue having these “crucial conversations” for a long time to come and invite anyone interested to join us.

I have felt for a long time that our conversations about things that matter, even those that are divisive and controversial, should not be limited to our living rooms, but need to be a regular part of our faith life. I was glad to know many dear folks in our faith community felt the same way. Our deeper Crucial Conversations have opened my eyes to more stories of individuals and communities that are marginalized, to a deeper understanding of social justice issues in our world, and to ways we can act that stay true to the Gospel message. I love that a caring community, including members of other faith organizations in our area, has grown around these conversations. I love that we have a call to action component with every series where we share resources for opportunities, and that help each one of us determine how and to what level we are capable. I have felt God’s Spirit move me in a bigger way, realizing that our conversations are only the first step. That is daunting and it gets me out of my comfort zone, but as one author put it, “ No one can do everything, but everyone can do something”.

-Karen Carpenter 24

The Crucial Conversations series of three topics (racism, the environment, and the refugee crisis) are all critical and immediate matters in our world. The intellectual discovery from the conversations was rich and engaging. However, the nagging question during all of the conversations was “what can I do about such difficult problems?” Dedicating 90 minutes a week for our discussions was the easy part.

Making time in my life to work on these issues was not. I am learning that I need to accept that this probably will be out of my comfort zone and maybe I won’t be good at whatever needs to be done. It would be so much easier to just enjoy the exchange of views and to learn about these issues.

But God calls us to get involved, to help, to struggle to make things better. While my discernment of where to serve isn’t over, I can no longer stand on the sidelines.

-Ralph Morgenweck

When our church book group started reading stories about challenging topics around environmental and social injustices in the world, I remember feeling angry, hopeless, heartbroken and ashamed. It would have been easier to turn away from the stories and the people in them but moving forward with others in faith gave me courage. I was inspired into action by others in our group who were also asking the very tough question, “What can I do now to make a difference”?

In her TED Talk about fighting climate change, climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe says that the most important thing we can do is, “talk about it” and the best place to start difficult conversations is on common ground. Crucial Conversations found a common ground: our desire to walk in Jesus’ footsteps and live out God’s purpose for the sake of the world. By sharing stories, learning how to listen to others without judgment, bringing people together in relationship, this ministry invites us to live out God’s purpose and support each other along the way. Crucial Conversations challenges me to live outside my comfort zone and allow the Spirit to lead me on my journey. It reminds me that I don’t have permission to look away from injustices for my own comfort. Most importantly, it gives me hope.

The reasons why I joined the Crucial Conversations group is to give a raw and different perspective from a diversity and inclusion point of view. I also want to bring more togetherness by using my podcast platform, Conductors of Change with Dr. Doug Hill.

-Allan Squire

-Mary Chapel My wife Nena and I got involved with the Crucial Conversations team in 2018, and the experience has been transforming us ever since. We have learned a great deal about race, environmental justice, criminal justice, life as a black man, and the refugee crisis. But more important than the knowledge we’ve gained, are the feelings and emotions that have infiltrated our hearts. We are experiencing powerful feelings of compassion towards the people in our world who have been mistreated, abused, ignored, falsely accused or otherwise marginalized. We are searching our souls and asking ourselves tough questions like, “Why is it that we have been able to live relatively comfortable and privileged lives while other children of God are being forced to overcome massive obstacles?”

These Crucial Conversations are causing us to ask what we can do to lessen the physical and emotional pain that so many of God’s kids are enduring. In partnership with Lutheran Family Services, Nena and I are planning to organize a team to co-sponsor a refugee family immigrating to the United States. Without our participation in crucial conversations and the gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit, we probably would not be undertaking this endeavor.

-Bob and Nena Steger 25

State of the Church NICOLE & THE LOGO

By: Rebecca Burris, Director of Communications By now I hope you have seen our new logo. We have been in the process of rebranding for two years and I would like to share a little bit about the process and what to expect going forward.

In early 2020, before Covid hit, I sat down with the Lead Servant Team and discussed who we were hoping to see walking through the church doors. Who is our target audience? The consensus was that we needed to focus our attention on younger families. With this in mind, I proceeded to do a lot of research of who younger families are in Littleton and the suburbs of Denver. I learned about a variety of things about these families including spending habits, attitudes towards organized religion, demographic makeup, social class, and even if they have cars or own their homes. From all of this information, I was able to narrow down the research and create a profile of our target audience. Meet Nicole:

Nicole Pierce Littleton, Colorado

Age: 38 Marital status: Married Sex: Female Parental status: Has two children in elementary school

Psychographics

Religious Affiliation Religion Identity: Believes in God but does not identify with a denomination Background: Grew up going to church sporadically, attended on most major holidays Family: Husband does not identify as religious, but is open to family going to church. Children have a basic understanding of God.

Habits: shopper of the family, mindful of Socio-Economic Classification finances, cooks, tries to add fitness into her schedule when possible, majority of her focus is Household income: $80,000 on her kids Lifestyle: focused on family life, looks for experiences for family including local/travel, active in health and fitness, drives the kids to and from activities Interests: active on social media, uses TV streaming services, looking for meaningful experiences as a family, will listen to podcasts and music in the car, reads books Values: loves family, interested in having family participate at church, values relationships

Occupation: Works part time in graphic design Education: Bachelor’s Degree Household description: Single family home in Littleton suburbs Home environment: Lives with husband and children

Understanding Nicole is very important to my work and how best to position the church in reaching and welcoming new families. One of the first things we looked at is our logo and the brand of the church. Do we keep the same logo? Do we just make slight changes? Do we need a new logo? To help with this process, we created a branding/marketing team. The team consisted of Pastor Doug, Judy Leidy, Paul Manutes, Stephanie Harper, Dana Hess, and myself. All of these members have important skills including marketing, writing, and knowing church history.

My next step was to talk with the Nicoles in our community. In spring 2021, I proceeded to interview 10 Nicoles who are somewhat affiliated with the church but don’t actually attend (i.e.

Preschool moms) and 8 Nicoles who are active members of the church. I asked a wide range of questions hoping to gain insight on spiritual practices, homelife, feelings on our church and our logo, their hopes and fears, etc.

The information I gathered from the interviews was very insightful and helped the marketing team direct the vision for the logo and new brand. Many of the Nicoles described Abiding Hope as love, light, all means all, welcoming, relationships, and uplifting. The dove logo, although positive overall, created responses like peace, flying, birds, and global. We wanted the logo to represent the love and light that so many Nicoles attribute to Abiding Hope. After a rough start with another company, we hired Union5 who is co-owned by Laura Wilson, a “Nicole” that attends our church. After a couple of months of design rounds and meetings, we excitedly landed on the new logo.

We believe this new logo really embraces the love and light of Abiding Hope and truly projects who we are and who we want to be.

Going forward, you will see the dove logo replaced with the heart logo. We are working intentionally on bringing in new families to the church and creating ministry opportunities to support this demographic. Please help us by warmly welcoming any newcomers that arrive at the church and invite others to join us. Relationships were one of the most important values that the Nicoles had discussed and it is all of YOU that create and maintain those relationships.

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Family Support Network FAMILY LIFE

By: Pastor Jay Gamelin, Lead Servant for Family Life “Starting over is never easy.”

I

heard these words when I was a young college student who spent a year away from school to return reinvigorated, alive, and ready. It was still hard.

Restarting our ministries after the hiatus brought about by the pandemic has brought us lots of wins, as well as opportunities to learn and grow. First, we weren’t sure who was going to return and who would wait until things calmed down. We weren’t sure if the old patterns of ministry could just pick up like nothing ever happened (spoiler alert, they can’t) or if we needed to rethink and retool our ministries (spoiler alert, we did). We have seen great fruitfulness in some parts of our work together. In other areas, we are struggling to regain traction and find a way forward.

Sounds a bit like our whole lives right now, yes?

So, where do we start? We start with our hopes and vision for the Family Support Network. We believe our purpose is to support families in becoming spiritually healthy and emotionally supportive. We believe a good measure of our ministry is if people adopt a new life and culture in their homes, one that is open and mature in how they handle one another’s mental and emotional life. We want a culture of families who honor all ages as spiritual people in the journey of life, guiding them in their purpose.

We want a culture of people who can come to this place at Abiding Hope and be loved and accepted as they are and who then take this culture home with them.

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We just want to change the world.

We are seeing great fruit from our work. We had twelve 9th grade students gather in the mountains with trusted adults, as well as juniors and seniors in high school, to explore who God is calling them to be on the I AM retreat. We have dozens of students gathering at our Affirm gatherings as they work toward their Affirmation of Faith (confirmation) with peers and guides.

We see families with 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders gathering at CLUB345 on Sundays to discuss how we can grow healthy patterns of communication in our homes. And we just relaunched our Children’s Church with 18 gifted servants who are excited to lead a healthy conversation centered on stories in the bible.

We are also learning and growing. We are launching our new Family Life Sundays in February to support little ones and their grown ups. We are working toward stronger gatherings for CLUB345 and our Middle School ministry, NO1OUT. We are looking toward a Family Retreat in the fall for a weekend-long time to grow together.

We are also seeing families struggling. We are seeing much higher levels of stress and anxiety in our children. We are seeing caregivers and grandparents who have not seen their own in months upon months. We are hearing from parents that they are seeking ways to grow faithful practices in the home, or finding new ways to communicate in their household, but just don’t know where to start.

As my friend Jim Blalock once told me, “You start by starting.” There is no magic button, no threestep solution. To make a change, you have to start making a change. In other words, you have to show up and take a step forward, if you really want to grow into a vision of life and love as

children of God. I want to encourage you and your family to make your way to the many amazing culture-making opportunities we offer at Abiding Hope, places where you can find a space to be you, be loved, and be equipped in house and home to become healthier and more vibrant. Look through this magazine and see where you or your family fit, and then show up! Showing up is half the battle.

And, if you aren’t sure where to start, contact me at pastorjay@abidinghope.org. I’d be happy to lend a hand.

Pastor Jay

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Contemplation Corner Tied Up in (Holy) Knots

By: Pastoral Intern Lindsay Bates I have had a hard time praying lately. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t know how much longer I can pray for an end to this pandemic. I don’t know how to make my prayers for healing, that there would be less depression, loneliness, cancer, violence, and hate in our world, sound new and fresh. Quite frankly, I’m bored with my own words.

If you are feeling similarly, I’d like to invite you into the practice of praying using knots.

A friend taught me this way to pray a long time ago, and it’s been extremely helpful in my life when I have struggled to find the words. It’s also why I frequently have a piece of green rope on me, if anyone’s been wondering…

Get a piece of rope, yarn, string, really anything you can tie and also untie.

As you tie up your rope, pray: God build connection in our world.

As you untie your rope, pray: God, erase the (k)nots from our world.

Repeat (I recommend doing this in at least 45 second increments. If you stop repeating the words and just focus on tying and untying your string, that’s great too.)

Amen When we release ourselves from needing the “right” words to pray, or even from needing the energy to think about what to pray, we experience the freedom of trusting that God knows what we need.

When we engage our bodies in prayer even in a small way, it triggers different neural pathways in our brain, bringing our faith from our brains and into our bodies and experiences. God knows what is tying me up a lot better than I do.

God sees the possibility of connection in our world a lot more often than I do.

Tie your rope on your keys, a bag you carry around, or place it somewhere in your home where you sit frequently and when you see it, take 30 seconds to pray and tie your knots, no eloquent words necessary.

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Preschool & Kindergarten Update

Greetings from Abiding Hope Preschool and Kindergarten!

By: Erin Fisher, Director of Schools We have had an interesting couple of years. We have gone from a complete shutdown for 10 weeks starting March 16th of 2020 to being jam-packed full with a waitlist again. While we were closed, we came up with a Covid Pandemic Plan and have made revision after revision as new information came out. We worked to figure out how we could re-open, safely; we were cautious about opening and did so at half capacity for the summer of 2020.

Fall of 2020 we were full again and took things day-by-day. We managed to make it from June of 2020 through August of 2021 only quarantining 2 classrooms. Summer of 2021, with a lot of creative thinking, we were able to reincorporate field trips for our older campers. We had buses making multiple trips, shuttling children in groups so we could space out on the bus. All of the field trips were outdoors at different parks and open spaces and the kids were just happy to be around other kids!

Running a school and childcare center during this pandemic has been, and frankly still is, a cycle of frustration, flexibility, a lot of pivoting, and lessons in self-awareness. As a staff, this has been very stressful, but ultimately we are in this for the families we serve, the church, and for each other.

Miraculously, as other centers have closed their doors and have lost staff, our doors are open and by the grace of God we are doing quite well. We have maintained and even gained quality staff at our school. In fact, we are doing so well that we are able to continue our vision to expand.

We have secured a loan and are looking for a property with a few acres where we can open a nature-based learning center. This will be an integrated school serving neuro-typical and neuro-atypical children ages 2.5 to 6 years old. This facility will also offer additional services to children with special needs or delays during the school day. We feel blessed and excited to finally be able to make this dream become a reality. The children who walk through our doors are precious, hopeful, and full of joy. They are a constant reminder of our purpose for being here and motivation for us to always try to be better.

“Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. Mark 10:15-16

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Blessings in Action Digital Worship Hosts

By: Stephen Bailey, Director of Digital Arts I am an introvert. This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise considering that I work with technology in my career and usually get to hide in the back of the room behind a screen during worship services and other events. Meeting new people is always a little frightening to me and I often stare in wonder at people who volunteer(!) to go and greet the congregation as they enter the building.

So many new faces; so many hands to shake; so many conversations; so many opportunities for an awkward faux pas or blunder!

Certainly, it takes a special kind of person to be that first smiling face to meet people at the entrance of the building. It takes an even more outgoing, energetic, caring, and servant-minded individual to do this same kind of task for an online worship service. Computers have a way of depersonalizing an experience. In my opinion, worship should be an experience that feels very personal and that brings a community closer to one another. The people who interact with an online worship community need to be veritable extrovert superheroes…

Fortunately, Abiding Hope has been blessed with two such people in Jason Henkels and Lisa Selzler.

Jason joined Abiding Hope in 2007 and says his initial reservations about the church were overcome when he saw AH pastors and congregation members “putting their faith into action.” Jason works in the staffing industry, putting crafts and trade people in touch with potential employers (and vice versa). Jason enjoys outdoor activities and spending quality time with his wife, Kristy, son, Cody, and dog, Tucker.

Lisa moved to Colorado from Texas during her senior year of high school and has been a member at Abiding Hope for about 20 years. Lisa works as VP of Efficacy for a small firm that does planning and advising for non-profits and public agencies and she and her husband, Gene, are proud of their two daughters, Veronica and Marika, who live on the east coast.

Jason and Lisa both agreed to serve as online hosts in the Spring of 2020. When I spoke with them for this article, both said that some of the challenging elements of being online hosts comes from the way that worshipping online differs from worshipping in person: “it [can be] a struggle to keep the welcomes fresh without sounding trite or repetitive so that those joining us know they are truly welcome and that we are delighted to ‘see’ each and every one of them,” Lisa says. Lisa and Jason both mentioned a desire to make each member of the online worshipping community feel individually welcomed, seen, and valued.

Both Jason and Lisa also expressed that one of their favorite parts of the online worship experience is the opportunity to pray with those who attend church online. Jason says, “praying with those online worshippers that requested a ‘private prayer chat’ was magical… …praying with people was huge in my effort to learn to ‘listen to learn’ and not just ‘listen to respond.’”

Lisa says that, while online hosting has been the highlight of her week recently, her favorite role at Abiding Hope has been the “crazy lady who sings loudly off-key, claps on the 1 and 3, dances like it is still the 70’s, and always uses the hand motions for those songs she learned in youth group!”

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Jason encourages anyone to “get into one of the many ministries Abiding Hope offers… If you are looking to get more involved and don’t know where to start, look for me: I’m the taller guy that can usually be found in the narthex at the 10:30 service, or online.”

As a new addition to the Abiding Hope staff, and someone who was quite recently welcomed to online worship by Jason and Lisa for the first time, I can say that they do an amazing job of making our online worship space into a community.

On my first Sunday in online worship, they both were incredibly welcoming and warm, joked with me, and made me feel like I belonged right away. I could tell how much they enjoyed interacting with each other, and how eager they were to welcome people into the warm, jovial friendship they share.

Lisa and Gene Selzler

I am deeply grateful for the work and care that Jason and Lisa have put into online hosting over the course of the last two years and I’m proud for this opportunity to show off these two blessings in action to the rest of the Abiding Hope community.

Jason, Kristy, & Cody Henkels

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Ongoing & Upcoming Events SERVE

Family Promise

Details: February 27-March 6 and May 1-May 8. Contact Christine Simcox, scbdsimcox@msn. com

one-to-one Christian care for our local community. And there is no cost to the care receivers.

Servant Tour

Family Promise walks alongside families in our community experiencing homelessness. While we will not be hosting families at Abiding Hope in 2022, there are many ways to get involved including helping with meals, transportation, and hosting families at a static site.

Details: July 22- 29, TBD. Contact Pastor Jay, pastorjay@abidinghope.org Every year a group of our Senior High students and trusted adults travel somewhere in the country to learn to serve out of love. The ELCA National Gathering has been canceled. Servant Tour is still ON, further info will be announced.

Rescue Mission

LEARN

Details: We serve at a variety of times throughout the year. Contact Susie Gamelin, suegamelin@gmail.com The Denver Rescue Mission is a ministry which seeks to provide shelter, food, and care for the vulnerable in our community. Opportunites include serving meals.

Abiding Hope Angels

Details: If you are in need of help or would like to be added to our list of Angels, please email Cheryl Schaal at cherylschaal66@msn.com The Abiding Hope Angels are servants available to help members of our community with various needs. Angels are available to do everything from helping with transportation, to picking up groceries, helping procure necessary items, and whatever else. This ministry provides a wonderful opportunity for our members to care for one another.

Spain

Pastor Jay will be leading a group on pilgrimage to explore “The Golden Age of Spain” from April 18-28. Stay tuned for more transformational travel opportunities.

Graceways

Details: Join us at 10:00am on Thursdays in room 102. Contact Cheryl Schaal, CherylSchaal66@msn.com Graceways is a weekly group that meets to build relationships through theological learning. Sessions are often led by pastors or other teachers.

Crucial Conversations

Details: Watch Home Connections for more info on meetings. If you are not already on the CC email distribution, please email the CC Team at mechapel@gmail.com

Our Crucial Conversations team at Abiding Hope offers “Dialogues” series throughout Details: If you are interested in becoming a care the year with the purpose of striving toward minister or in receiving care, contact Lindsay God’s vision of oneness with all of Creation Bates lindsay@abidinghope.org by facilitating conversations on important environment and social justice issues through Abiding Hope offers one-to-one care ministry compassionate dialogue and a faith-based support for individuals who face overwhelming, lens. life-altering, stressful, or difficult life situations.

Abiding Hope trains unpaid servants to provide

Care Ministry

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Ongoing & Upcoming Events Spiritual Companions

Details: We meet at 10am every 3rd Saturday of the month in room 102 or on Zoom. Contact Sue White, susankwhite@msn.com

need child care, Abiding Hope Preschool can provide for $10 per session. Contact Pastor Jay, pastorjay@abidinghope.org

We started FIT for LIFE for people who want to Are you seeking to expand your experience of get started with feeling better through group worship, praise, & prayer life through spiritual workouts and mindfulness with Jay Gamelin, practices within a group of companions to a certified personal trainer. You bring a yoga deepen your intimacy with God? Come meet mat, water bottle, and hand towel, we’ll with Spiritual Companions as we learn and try a provide the rest. variety of practices.

Jan/Feb: The Examen Dad Bods Mar/April: Forgiveness Details: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30May/June: Prayer Labyrinths 6:15am in the Abiding Hope Gym. Contact Pastor Jay, pastorjay@abidinghope.org

Wednesday Morning Men’s Bible Study

Details: 6AM via Zoom, Contact Doug Coventry for details; douglascoventry@aol.com This bible study is a self-led group of openminded, compassionate men sharing life experiences.

Pastor Chats

Details: In between services on Sunday around 9:30 in the worship center Theological conversations between services to encourage participants to dive deeper in faith.

Women’s Book Study

Details: Meets once a month on Thursdays, Contact Pam Nesselhuff at Savvypjn@comcast. net for more information and to get a brochure

A medium-intensity, 45-minute workout that includes warm up, cool down, and a 5-minute meditation that helps us to connect spiritually.

FAMILY LIFE OFFERINGS Sanctuary

Details: March, contact Pastor Doug at pastordoug@abidinghope.org Addressing the pandemic as a community.

Children’s Church

Details: at our 8:15 and 10:30 services on Sunday This is a special time following the Children’s Message where kids in 2nd grade and younger are invited to come to the Music Center for conversation and play-centered on stories of faith.

This group meets monthly to discuss a wide range of books and share time in community together. All are welcome. Though many women have come and gone, we have had the same Family Life Sundays core group of women meeting for over 20 years Details: between our two services from 9:30 to now.

10:15 we will gather in the newly remodeled music center

MOVE

Fit 4 Life

Details: Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:304:15 in the Abiding Hope Gym; free unless you

This is a new weekly offering for families with younger children that includes music and song, teaching and fun, inspiration and art.

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Ongoing & Upcoming Events Nursery

Details: offered during all worship services and some events Babies and toddlers 0-3 are welcome to join us in the nursery during worship. Our qualified staff consists of an adult leader and teenage helpers who are CPR/First Aid certified.

Club 345

Details: We will meet as a part of Family Life Sundays at 9:30 in the Music Center every week.

CLUB 345 is for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders along with their families. We start with a game, introduction, and theme, then gather as students and adults to grow in life and faith together.

No1Out/AFFIRM

Details: For announcements and reminders, please sign up for REMIND here: https://www.remind.com/join/no1out We meet once a month for AFFIRM, a time to grow in our life of faith. This is for EVERY Middle School student, but required for students looking to be confirmed. We also meet once a month for fun, games, and getting to know one another.

All In Senior High Ministry

Details: For announcements and reminders, please sign up for REMIND here: https://www.remind.com/join/all-in2021 All In is a space where whoever you are and wherever you are from, you are welcome, and not only welcomed but embraced. Our Senior High ministry meets twice a month for worship, conversation, games, and more.

Preschool

Find out more about our preschool by visiting abidinghopepreschool.org 36

Rainbow Trail Family Summer Camp

Details: Two options, July 3-9 and August 7-13 Register directly through Rainbow Trail at rainbowtrail.org

Upcoming Holidays Lent Lent begins Ash Wednesday, March 2 Online worship will be sent out that day In person worship at 7:00pm

Throughout Lent, you will receive an email on Wednesday with the devotions and digital services. With the exception of Ash Wednesday, all Lenten Wednesday worships will take place online. More details TBA.

Holy Week

Maundy Thursday, April 14 A self lead practice TBA Good Friday, April 15 Digital worship with a watch party at the church

Easter

Easter Saturday, April 16 & Sunday, April 17 In person and digital worship Times TBA

abidinghope.org