In this seminar, Will Berry, a paramedic and Denver Pres member, will share what God has been teaching him in his work as a first responder. He’s had to deeply reflect on death and the world’s brokenness since he’s face to face with it every day. He wants to help us apply our faith in a world where the effects of the fall simply can’t be managed. Whether you are grieving the world’s brokenness, or you’ve been sent into chaos by death and loss in your own life, you will hopefully walk away with an expanded and more realistic view of sin and death, and an even more powerful view of Jesus and what he’s doing in the world, and in your life.

As we journey in the Christian faith, life inevitably changes: our consistency of spiritual practices can wane (like prayer and scripture reading), or we encounter times of doubt, rebellion, and discouragement. Even in these different passages of time, Flo Sares wants to help us treasure our story from beginning to end, embracing the long-term relationship dynamics of our life-long journey with Christ. She’ll help us curate some tools to help us get ‘unstuck’ in following Jesus in our every-day life and will encourage us to keep ‘carrying on’ through our various seasons of life.

With the mountains in reach and always in sight, outdoor recreation is nearly synonymous with Colorado lifestyle. LindsayHunt, an avid cyclist and skier, has spent time reflecting on the God-given desire to recreate and be active. Noticing the reasons why we recreate and the restoration it brings to our lives, will inform how we pursue it and integrate it with the rest of our many callings (work, relationships, family, worship, and more).

Some of us at Denver Pres have had experiences in the past with church or ministry cultures that were unhealthy or oppressive. Many of these cultures were deeply affected by a lack of understanding of the good news of Jesus. Mark Miller and Christian Swan examine some of these experiences for us, helping us to see what makes a church culture healthy, what patterns are potentially unhealthy, and give guidance on how we can all journey on a path toward healing with those in our community who are hurting.

When God created humans to live on his good earth, he didn’t just provide the basic necessities for us to survive, he heaped countless layers of beauty for us to enjoy. From the glories of landscape, sky, patterns, and color in nature, to the creative powers latent in each human being, we are creatures wired to reflect God by creating and participating in beauty. Steeping ourselves in beauty is not just a luxury, but a core need we share with the rest of humanity. Chris Mancuso is an architect and wants to help us notice the ways that beauty (or lack thereof) profoundly impacts our lives, whether we know it or not. In what ways can Christians participate in art and beauty to promote the flourishing of our own lives and in the world, especially where we see fragmentation and dysfunction?

Whether you've experienced trauma in your childhood or not (45% of us have) , we all have a tremendous opportunity to stop cycles of trauma and provide healing for both adults and kids. Christine Beck (RN, BSN) showed us how ACEs ("adverse childhood experiences" which are traumatic events) can have negative, lasting effects on physical and mental health far into adulthood. One part of growing in empathy and compassion for each other (in any circle we’re in) is to understand how each other’s childhoods affect our current lives. For those who have experienced more than one ACE, there is hope and a solution: stable, safe relationships. And we can all participate in the work of relationships.