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| 4/27/2007 11:39:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Risen Lord Lutheran Church Pastor Beth Graham excitedly awaits the April 22 formal ceremony recognizing the church as a fully constituted and incorporated congregation. (Photo by Debra Orecchio /The Flume) |
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Risen Lord Lutheran Church celebrates organization
by Debra Orecchio
Risen Lord Lutheran Church celebrated its passage from mission congregation to fully constituted and incorporated congregation at an organization celebration on April 22.
The transition means the church is now a permanent entity, according to Pastor Beth Graham.
About 200 people attended the service and ceremony, which was held at St. Mary of the Rockies Catholic Church.
Several other clergy from around Colorado also attended the ceremony, including Abbot Warren Heidgen from St. Mary, Rev. Phil Mason from St. Laurence Episcopal Church, and Rev. Bill Stroud from Deer Park United Methodist Church.
"The other pastors were there to be supportive and to share in the joy," said Graham. "They even brought some of their parishioners with them."
Members of the congregation who have left the area even attended, including Toni and Bruce Holte, who have moved to Texas. Everyone enjoyed a party afterwards in the fellowship hall.
Bishop Allan Bjornberg of the Rocky Mountain Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, gave the sermon. He thanked Graham for her persistent work with Risen Lord.
"What fun it is to bring a church into being," he said.
Pastor Jim Hytjan, assistant to the bishop, said with a smile, "The answering of a prayer is not an ending but a beginning. This is a beginning."
Getting to this point has not always been easy, particularly because of people moving into and out of the area. But it's been a wonderful process, Graham said.
Jerry Kroninger, who described himself as a "life-long Lutheran," has been a member of Risen Lord since 2000. He feels it's been a great experience.
"I've seen the church evolve," he said. "It's exciting to be a part of that."
Rosey Nelsen described it in one word: "Thrilled."
During the ceremony, a shocked and tearful Graham accepted a gift of $10,500 from David Roll, representing Missions 25.
Missions 25 is a group of dedicated Lutherans who volunteer to contribute $25 each time a new mission church is organized in the Rocky Mountain Synod.
"I was very surprised," said Graham. "I knew we would be receiving a check, but I had no idea how much."
She added that receiving that gift was such a thrill for the people of the congregation. And for some, it was a surprise.
"It's such an affirmation that people care enough about a new congregation," she said.
Graham also shared a card from St. John's Parish in Craig, Iowa, which was her first parish. The card included a gift of $200. She added that it is a struggling rural congregation; for them to send that much money is a large gift.
Risen Lord Lutheran Church was first formed in 1996. Its first worship service was in October 1996 at the Aspen Park Community Center. In March 1997, it was approved as a "synodically authorized worshipping community," according to Graham. She was appointed the mission development pastor in November 1999.
Graham graduated from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. Her first appointment was at First Lutheran in Longmont, where she was for five years. She was at St. John's Lutheran in Craig, Iowa, for over five years.
Prior to becoming a pastor, Graham was an elementary school teacher in the inner city of Denver for 18 years and in a three-room schoolhouse in New Jersey for one year prior to that.
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