Shepherd of the Mountains Seeks a Pastor

Gregg’s Reflection

Genie and I moved full time to Colorado in 2019, after spending months at a time out here for 20 years. Genie grew up in the Lutheran Church, and I was baptized there with our son. So, we looked for a Lutheran church when we moved. Three things drew me to Shepherd of the Mountains. They were doing a book study on Richard Rohr’s The Divine Dance. They had a Sacred Space gathering where someone would read a poem or reading, and the group would do Lectio for an hour. And, they had a Meditation Walk once a week around Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.

We settled in here five years ago and have made wonderful friends, and have helped start small groups as a connecting place. Our long serving, well-loved Pastor, Ron Bockhaus, retired this spring. Part of his legacy is a contemplative heart in our body of Christ. Sacred Space continues weekly on zoom, and we are doing a Joan Chittister book study now.

I find myself co chairing our Call Committee as we seek a new pastor. Here is the church building we completed in 2009. We paid off the mortgage a couple of years ago. Our location in Estes Park, the most popular tourist destination in Colorado, brings a constant stream of visitors to our worship. Many return year after year.

Shepherd has a strong connection in our Estes Park community, collaborating with other churches and local nonprofits to serve those facing food and housing insecurity. We have taken over 40 trips down to Alamosa to serve La Puente Mission. La Puente serves the hungry and homeless in the San Luis Valley, a very cold, harsh environment with numbers of homeless veterans living in difficult conditions. We helped establish a charitable endowment supporting them that has raised over $1 Million.

When we got here, I was amazed at the level of service and outreach from our small gathering of Lutherans. We have many retired executives and college professors in our midst, and our greatest opportunity is to reach those relocating to Estes like many of us did in mid life. We are excited about our future, and sit in patient trust and prayerful discernment for the next Pastor God will send us.

Here you see a view from the Narthex into the Sanctuary.

I have posted our Ministry Site Profile which goes into great detail describing us and what we are looking for in a pastor. The ELCA is in full communion with the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ, the Reformed Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Methodist Church. We can call a pastor from any of those denominations. We seek a leader who can cast vision and draw people to enthusiastically embrace a new future here.

Pastor, if you have an interest in being considered, contact pastor Will Johnson at the Rocky Mountain Synod office. Find his contact information here. If you know someone who might be interested, please pass along this web link.

Blessings, Gregg Burch

Here is our Sanctuary. We can sit in church and see the distant ridge line of Rocky Mountain National Park.

And, finally, our front entrance.

Here you see Estes Park, the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. There are wonderful artistic and cultural opportunities in Estes. We have many restaurants in town and festivals happen almost every month here.

We are 45 minutes from Boulder, and hour and a half from Denver and the airport. Loveland is a half hour down the hill, and Fort Collins is 45 minutes away. Longmont and Lyons are two more gateway communities close by. We have three universities and several junior colleges in this geographical area. Just to our south, Peak to Peak Scenic Highway heads along the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Downhill skiing is available in Eldora, near Nederland about 45 minutes away. Cross country skiing opportunities abound in Rocky and the Indian Peaks. Fly fishing is great here too. People continue to be astounded when they get their first glimpse of the Estes Valley.

Brainard Lake in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area, just off Peak to Peak Scenic Highway, 30 minutes south of Estes Park.