Saving Jesus Redux

Join us on Tuesday nights beginning May 21* for our 12-week serieis, Saving Jeus Redux. 

Tuesdays, 6:00 p.m.
*no sessions on June 18 or July 16
$5.00 if you want printed materials.

Have you always had questions about some topics, ideas and doctrine but were afraid to ask because you thought people  would think you were a heretic, or worse yet, would kick you out? Then join us for our 12 week discussion for what will prove to be an enlightening and challenging journey. 

Each session seeks to expose participants to observations and ideas about Jesus that have been longheld by theologians and lay-people alike. Many of the ideas have simply failed to “trickle down” into our churches or small-group conversations. Saving Jesus Redux will prime participants to be part of the fabric of a vital Christianity already being woven by both “church alumni” and those still in the church who are working to reclaim an ancient and authentic understanding of what it means to be a “Jesus follower.”

May 21, Session 1—Intro: Jesus Through the Ages
May 28, Session 2—Who Was Jesus
June 4, Session 3—What Can We Know About Jesus (and How)
June 11, Session 4—The World Into Which Jesus Was Born
June 18 — NO SESSION
June 25, Session 5—Jesus’ Birth and Incarnation
July 2, Session 6—Teaching of Jesus: Wisdom Tradition
July 9, Session 7—Jesus’ Program: The Kingdom of God
July 16—NO SESSON
July 23, Session 8—Jesus’ Ministry of Compassion
July 30, Session 9—Who Killed Jesus?
August 6, Session 10—The Atonement
August 13, Session 11—The Resurrection of Christ
August 20, Session 12—Why Jesus is Worth Saving?

Milagro and Marnie featured in Chieftain article

http://www.chieftain.com/religion/everyone-is-welcome/article_67e07e6c-7d5c-11e2-9f9a-001a4bcf887a.html

Everyone is welcome
Milagro’s new pastor sees inclusion as key to salvation
By LORETTA SWORD
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Marnie Leinberger had been away from Pueblo — and church — for 26 years when she returned in 2006 from Arizona.

She had joined the ranks of the “nones” — the “spiritual but not religious” — after leaving the Catholic faith of her childhood and trying several other traditions in hopes of feeding her yearning soul and her questioning mind.

She was pleasantly surprised by the growth she noted in the hometown she’d left as a high school freshman. She was even more pleased by what she found when a friend convinced her to try Milagro Christian Church. She’s been attending faithfully since then.

She was named pastor in February, nearly a year after Rev. Amy Piatt and her husband Christian, who was musical director, left to lead a church in Portland, Ore. Leinberger and two others shared pastoral duties until the congregation asked Leinberger to take the role.

Had anyone suggested in 2006 that she someday would be a pastor, “I would have laughed and said ‘never.’ But I’ve come to realize that whenever I say ‘never,’ God seems to say ‘double-dog dare ya’,” said Leinberger, 46.

Actually, it was the Piatts who first encouraged Leinberger to consider going to seminary and working her way into an associate pastorship. She had spent long hours with them discussing her most troubling questions and personal beliefs about Christianity, Scripture and faith.

Milagro is a Disciples of Christ church. The denomination is known for its encouragement of individual exploration, and for “welcoming everyone to the communion table” without restriction or rules, Leinberger said. She was drawn to Milagro primarily because the congregation included “lots of misfits and rejects” that many other churches exclude, whether by formal doctrine or through more subtle means.

Following a meandering career path that included managerial positions with agencies that served “developmentally different adults” and indigent alcoholic women, Leinberger now works full-time in the 4-H program at Pueblo’s Colorado State University Extension office and parttime at Milagro, while also completing her studies with Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Okla.

Although she had never imagined being a pastor, Leinberger is grateful that others saw that potential in her and ignited it.

“I couldn’t have been plopped into a more welcoming faith tradition.

This is perfect for me,” she said. “We have a lot of people here who normally just ‘don’t do church’ because they’d feel weird anywhere else. But they can bring that sense of isolation and alienation here.

They can come in all their brokenness and find out they’re not alone — that their brokenness might even be healing for someone else.”

Pastoral Message

A pastoral message from Dr. Rev. Sharon Watkins, Genral Minister and President of the Christian Church  (Disciples of Christ).

From her message:

"Among Disciples, a core manifestation of our unity with diversity has always been the open Table. Knowing that the Table is the Lord’s, we make room for whoever will come at Christ’s gracious invitation. All are welcome. Diverse though we may be, we, too, call ourselves by one name: Disciples. Our challenge (as individual brothers and sisters in Christ and as congregations) is to help each other feel welcome and also safe at the table of our Lord."

You can download a .pdf of her message on her blog at the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) website, and watch the video:

Spring Feast Registration Information

Spring Feast registration information is now posted on the Central Rocky Mountain Region website. This is a wonderful opportunity to get to meet other Disciples of Christ members throughout the region. There will be registration forms available at the church. Please plan to attend this wonderful event.

Be sure to check out the Central Rocky Mountain Region wesite for full details. http://www.centralrockymountaindisciples.org/?page_id=1071

Memorial Tribute to Pat Pumphrey

The congregation of Milagro would like to express our gratitude for the memorial donation made for Pat Pumphrey. We were very blessed by the gift and were able to purchase new chairs for the sanctuary. These chairs allow us to more comfortably seat our growing congregation and makes the space more flexible so that we can better serve the community.