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Colorado Springs, Colorado … It was a “high day” for Colorado Springs South Church, February 8, with three people from the same family joining the church through baptism.  Two brothers, Elijah and Elonzo Lujan, were baptized along with their father, Lucas Lujan, who was re-baptized as an act of re-dedication.

Lucas helped prepare his sons for baptism by studying several sets of Bible study lessons with them. Commenting on their decision, Wayne Nazarenus said he reviewed their understanding of biblical teachings and commended Lucas and his wife Asbury for their consistent nurturing of their sons in spiritual development. Lucas and Asbury were baptized by Pastor Nazarenus in November 2013.

“They consistently hold daily worship with their sons and furthered their spiritual growth by enrolling them in Springs Adventist Academy. Elijah, who is 12-years old, frequently volunteers to pray at worship services, and recently Elijah and Elonzo joined two other young people, under the guidance of church elder Jack Bohannon, to present the morning sermon at South Church,” he commented. “We are also thankful for the Colorado Springs Central Church and its pastor, Mike Maldonado, for allowing us to use their baptistry,” he added.

Realizing that many have contributed to the nurturing of Elijah and Elonzo, Wayne Nazarenus commended, “As their pastor, I am very thankful for Lucas and Asbury, the children’s Sabbath School leaders, church elder Jack Bohannon, and the teachers at Springs Adventist Academy for all they have done to help these young men grow in their relationship with the Lord.”

—Wayne Nazarenus; photos by Betty Pramberg

Denver, Colorado … I am a millennial. I am young enough to use google as a verb, but old enough to have owned mix tapes. I refuse to shop at Walmart because of the labor conditions in their Asian factories, and yet I will admit I have no idea who my state representatives are. That is the millennial generation. A passionate sea of contradiction and controversy. Our parents told us that we could follow our dreams and our hearts. As a result, we travel on a dime, fight for the acceptance of all people, while at the same time being the most narcissistic generation in history by a long shot. It’s almost as if millennials are pinned between technology and a deep need for fulfillment, and so we grab onto the new, while feeling nostalgia for the way things used to be.

One more characteristic of millennials is that we want change in our churches. We don’t do things just because that is how they have always been done. We question tradition, we are skeptical of titles, and we believe each individual should be seen, known, and heard.

Research from the Barna Group says that only 4 percent of millennials, ages 22-35, are Bible-based believers. In fact, the Barna Group says that,

• Only 2 in 10 Americans under 30 believe attending a church is important or worthwhile (an all-time low).
• 59 percent of millennials raised in a church have dropped out.
• 35 percent of millennials have an anti-churchstance, believing the church does more harm than good.
• Millennials are the least likely age group of anyone to attend church (by far).

Millennials are the most educated generation to date. Roughly 34 percent of us have a college degree. This is a generation of people who were taught to ask questions. And so we do. We ask questions of our government, we ask questions of our bosses, and we ask questions of our church.

Millennials are the most impatient generation this world has ever seen and studies are now showing that millennials will click off a web page if it takes more than 3 seconds* to load. What implications may this have for our services?

Marcus Lemonis, best known from CNBC’s hit show, The Profit, said the key to keeping millennials fulfilled and happy is to give them the “opportunity” to make a difference in the workplace.

As a church, I believe we can learn a lot from the research that is being done on millennials in the workplace. Understanding how millennials function in their careers, could help churches understand how millennials might perceive their place of worship.

We started reENVISION Change because we wanted to stand in the gap of our church and our generation. We wanted to provide a space for people to get what Marcus Lemonis called “the opportunity to make a difference.” We are living in the day and age where everyone gets to be seen and heard, and then we tell people they have to sit down and be quiet in our pews. We wanted to try something different that we hoped may attract young adults, so we started asking the people who attended our Saturday night services, to participate in them. If you are coming, could you sing a song, share a welcome, write a poem, or deliver the prayer?

The goal of reENVISION Change is to create a church environment that is based on participatory experience. Each month, a different young adult is asked to participate in the service in some way, and our hope is that every year, each person attending will have stood on our stage at least one time.

We have 50-80 people who come to worship with us each month at LifeSource Adventist Fellowship. Eighty percent of those people don’t attend our church, with probably 40 percent of those, not being Adventist at all. And we want them all to participate anyway. Because we believe the best way to feel ownership of something is to start participating in it.

After each service, we do an event that is focused on building community. That way people who come alone can leave feeling like they were a part of something bigger than themselves. We have basketball tournaments and volleyball nets, we have done spoken word poetry slams and open mic nights. We do board games and free food. Young Adults don’t just want a church service; they want a relationship, and we want to reENVISION a change that makes them feel included.

Eighteen to thirty-five year olds kept telling us that they didn’t need church, so we try to provide a culture where the church needs them.

*https://www.shopify.com/blog/75614533-marketing-to-millennials-5-massive-trends-that-are-leading-the-way

–Seth Day with Dr. Heather Thompson Day, photos by Mickey Mallory

Colorado Springs, Colorado … “We are sad to see our volunteer pastor, Marcia Armstead retire from some of the pastoral activities in which she has been involved for the past decade,” said Mike Maldonado, Colorado Springs Central Church pastor. The church family showed their appreciation for her as assistant for pastoral care with a plaque on December 28. They also celebrated her contributions with a Ministry Appreciation Dinner on Sunday, January 19.

Marcia, an ordained elder of the church, has served as a volunteer for six years. During that time, she was hostess team leader, prayer Ministry coordinator, card ministry facilitator, and coordinator of nursing home visitations. She also visited and held Communion with homebound members in medical and rehabilitation facilities.

For the past four years, Marcia has been a member of the Rocky Mountain Staff – doing much of the same. But added to her responsibilities was the title of assistant for pastoral care assisting Pastor Maldonado. “Marcia is irreplaceable, and it is heartbreaking to see her scale down from all the activities in which she has been involved. We have been blessed by her ministry and devotion to God,” commented Pastor Maldonado.

When asked what her favorite tasks have been, Marcia said: “Everything! And, especially advocating for litigants, and the unemployed.” Her greatest challenge, she comments, “is that of having to preach in Pastor’s absence, but I’m grateful that God can use anyone who is willing.”

Marcia says she will not be away from Central Church, as she is still an elder of the church and will volunteer as she is able in any area where her services are needed.

Mike Maldonado, text and photos

Grand Junction & Denver, Colorado … The second round of the Lay Pastor Training course took place at the Rocky Mountain Conference office in Denver, January 31-February 2; and in Grand Junction, February 7-9. Twenty participants took part in the Denver training and in Grand Junction, it was attended by 24 interested lay activists and local church leaders.

“Both weekends were amazing,” said Nate Skaife, Grand Junction Church pastor and main presenter and instructor. “We engaged in conversation about the significance of what happens when we die and the ramifications to our beliefs if we are wrong in what we believe. In addition, we dug deeper into important Bible texts that clarify the state of the dead belief,” he shared, speaking of the main theme of the course.

Other areas of focus included tools to help attendees mine the Scriptures for gems often left uncovered, along with looking at the process of making biblical sermons which helps not only in presenting sermons, but also in leading Bible studies and small groups, Skaife explained.

“It is always fun to work through the Scriptures,” he added.

Participating lay people were given assignments to study at the first series of lectures in September and October 2019. Mickey Mallory, RMC ministerial director, a patron of the course, said that “it was great to see how much the participants have grown since they started the program five months ago.”

“The participants were appreciative of all the support they have received from Pastor Nate,” he added. “It is exciting to think that because of the lay pastor training, we have enlarged our ministry team in the Rocky Mountain Conference,” Mallory commented.

Participants offered observations about the course, several commenting that they received “information overload … but very interesting and helpful,” in the reaction of Patrick Williams from Cedaredge.

For Wilton Helm from Aspen Park, the presentations offer “a good basis for Bible study and biblical sermon preparations.” Keith Parris from Twin Peaks church in Louisville considered the training a “good opportunity to learn and grow with others from around the conference who are involved with their local churches.”

The participants, including several women, appreciated being coached in a variety of pastoral roles. Jane Coren from Grand Junction was excited about the weekend, and that there was so much to absorb. The information she received “blows my mind,” she said.

—RMCNews with Nate Skaife; photo by Mickey Mallory and Nate Skaife

Colorado Springs, Colorado … Have you ever truly appreciated the fact that in the United States parents have a choice on where to send their children to school? There is a nonpartisan, nonpolitical public awareness effort called the “National School Choice Week,” that hosts celebrations all over the country, during the last week of January.

Some parents don’t seem to realize that many options are available today, said Michelle Velbis, principal of Springs Adventist Academy, a K-8 Christian school that emphasizes core values. “Sometimes parents aren’t happy with their school situations, but they don’t have to be stuck,” she said. “If they do a little research, they’d find they have more choice than they know.”

Springs Adventist Academy hosted an event on Thursday, January 30th at 7:30 in the morning.  Parents, students, and staff celebrated the event with doughnuts, yellow scarves, and a drawing to show appreciation to their parents for choosing SAA.

“SAA is the best school in town and is like a hidden treasure,” said parent, Nelson Rosado. “The teachers, staff, and volunteers are highly committed to God and Christian education.”

The students had a great time inviting their parents into the classroom to show them their work.

“What a joy it was to see what our children are learning! It is truly a blessing for us as parents to be included in the celebration of School Choice Week.”

Velbis commented she truly valued parents’ decision to send them to SAA, “We know they could choose a different school, but they choose ours.”

–Michelle Velbis, text and photos

Lincoln, Nebraska … During the annual music fest at Union College this past weekend, students in Koinonia, Campion Academy’s select choir, were able to grow closer as an ensemble and meet people from many other schools in the Mid-American Union Conference. The music festival choir rehearsed together for 19 hours in preparation for a vespers concert Sabbath evening.

This year there was an honors choir in addition to the mass choir. Each school contributed four students to this group, and it was directed by Melissa Clouzet. They had several rehearsals together and performed two songs during Friday night vespers.

“Honors choir was the highlight of my weekend because it gave me an opportunity to be part of something completely different from mass choir,” says Campion senior Kayla Gonzalez, “I enjoyed meeting the people in honors and finding out where they were from.”

On Saturday night, Koinonia were treated to frozen yogurt to celebrate the successful performances. While in Lincoln, Campion students joined other schools to watch the Union basketball games. They cheered on Campion alumni and supported the Union teams.

Erick Maldonado, senior at Campion, commented that “It was fun to put rivalry aside to make music and hang out with schools we normally play against in sports.”

—Ashley Halvorson; photos by Union College, Darcy Force, and Bela Cinco