Denver, Colorado

There is Room For All in the House for All Sinners and Saints

There is Room For All in the House for All Sinners and Saints
http://www.houseforall.org/

“We wouldn't be here without the support of the ELCA and other congregations,” said Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber, mission developer at House for All Sinners and Saints, Denver. “Our weird little congregation of 20-to-40-somethings is emerging in Denver's core, where church couldn't be more irrelevant to many people who had negative experiences in other congregations.’”

The pastors who knew me encouraged me to pursue this ministry.”

Good relationships with other pastors and Mission Partners are vital for Bolz-Weber's ministry. “Denver isn't Luther land, and here, pastors hang out and celebrate what is going well,” said Bolz-Weber. “It is important that there be no competing franchises and that pastors be collegial.”

Bolz-Weber initially developed Mission Partners through preaching in other congregations before turning to electronic technology. Many of the subscribers to the congregation’s internet page became long-distant partners.

Mission Partners closer to home also have responded with surplus candlesticks, purificators, Advent banners, and an entire set of paraments.

Bolz-Weber describes the congregation as “Orthodox Lutheran,” with an emphasis on traditional Lutheran liturgy and preaching. “We chant the Psalm, and I preach grace,” she said, but we look different because we are contextual to our social situation.

Meanwhile, most of the members were raised Christian but were not regularly attending or not attending at all when they joined us.

Bolz-Weber’s priority for reaching out to these new and potential members is to be “as present in the community and in people’s lives as much as I can.” She added, “There is really very little reason to spend time in an office. I do all my work in coffee shops.”