To: Ministers of Denver Presbytery
From: Tom Sheffield
Date: March 28, 2008
“Go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.” Mark 16: 7
The young man’s instructions to the grieving were to leave that place of death, anguish, confusion and holiness and return to the familiar place and pattern of life and work. It was in those places and times that they would find Christ. It was there that they would find the Risen One already present and already at work. Now, that the alleluias of last Sunday have quieted and you have returned to the usual places, I hope you are finding the Risen Christ in those places with you, in the familiar rhythms of your work and in the on-going times of ministry. With new eyes of renewed faith, I hope you are seeing Christ in new ways that bring strength, grace and love to you and to all you are serving.
Prayer Concerns
Among your colleagues there are many who are needing that strength, prayers for grace and acts of continued love. Please remember Fay Hill whose wife, Nancy, died on March 12. Robert Ward has been called up to active duty as a chaplain in Iraq. His wife, Victoria, wrote: “please hold him in prayer, that the remainder of his tour there will be a time of rich ministry.” Minutes before Jim Emig was to lead the Easter service of worship at Kiowa Creek Community Church, he was told of the death of his father. As I write this message, Jim is in Ohio where he will participate in his father’s funeral service. In the coming days, Kim Graber, pastor at the Southpark Church, will undergo surgery for breast cancer. On April 21, Burton Kugler will mark the forty-fifth anniversary of his ordination to the ministry. Please pray in hope, love and joy for all these friends and colleagues in ministry.
A Time to Worship
I am also hoping that the coming days will continue to bring us all closer and closer together as colleagues. That closeness can occur at the next Communion for Ministers on Wednesday, April 23, at 11:30 a.m. at Valverde Community Church in Denver. Our hosts will be the pastor of Valverde Church, Louise Jones, and Jorge Barbaran, the pastor of Iglesia Presbiteriana, which “nests” at the Valverde Church. They also will show us to a great lunch spot where we can enjoy a time of relaxed fellowship together. Please call the Presbytery Center (303-777-2453) to make your reservation for the lunch. As usual, if you are able to join us only for the service, no reservation is necessary.
There are also other upcoming opportunities for gathering together: a second Pastors’ Forum on May 7, the next Presbytery Assembly on May 27, the workshop, “The Spiritual Leadership of Elders,” with Auburn Seminary President, Barbara Wheeler on May 28 and the celebration dinner that evening. More information will be coming about all these events, but I hope you are planning now to attend.
In Peace,
Tom