We are excited to welcome Smoky Hill Baptist Church of Centennial, CO to the Rocky Mountain Church Network. Smoky Hill Baptist Church recently voted to become part of the RMCN.
Vision Statement
“To touch the world with the Word of God, motivated by a passion for God and compassion for people.”
Mission Statement
Smoky Hill Baptist Church is dedicated to sharing the love of Christ through evangelism, discipleship, ministry, fellowship, and worship. We seek to be compassionate and theologically conservative, as liberal as the love of God and as inclusive as the great invitation of God to man …“Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)
Pastor Dan Dilley
Pastor Dan Dilley was born and raised in Canon City, Colorado, where he enjoyed family, sports, and outdoor activities. After graduation from Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado, Dan began teaching Physical Education, Health, and Fitness in the public schools in Canon City. He also coached several sports, including head basketball coach at Canon City High School. God began to tug on Dan’s heart to answer the call to ministry. This new direction began when Dan became the pastor at United for Christ Community Church in Blanca, Colorado, where he served for 10 years. Dan then moved to Denver, Colorado, where he was a chaplain for 8 years in the New Life Program at the Denver Rescue Mission, and has been blessed to disciple men who are looking for a new life in Christ. Dan loves the Word of God and considers it an honor and privilege to repeat His Word! Dan and his wife, Liz, continue to enjoy family and outdoor activities, and are enjoying the loving, fun, committed folks at Smoky Hill Baptist Church.
Chris and Joi Copeland, World Venture Missionary Appointees
My wife works at Old Navy part-time while we raise support
to live and serve in Ireland as missionaries. One day, an Irish woman came to
my wife’s cash register at Old Navy. My wife asked her where she was from and
she said that she was originally from somewhere between Belfast and Dublin. My
wife then asked her how she felt about the recent vote to overturn a referendum
that protected unborn children, which made abortion legal for the first time in
the country’s history. She said that it was a “devastating blow to my country.”
This Irish woman knows just how quickly Ireland is abandoning the shackles of
Roman Catholicism and running as fast as they can toward secularism.
Ireland is a beautiful, green, and lush countryside. It’s on
most people’s bucket list to visit someday. The people are warm and hospitable.
It’s a prime vacation spot. What people don’t realize is the vast spiritual
darkness that is covering the island. Ireland is abandoning religion faster
than every country on earth except communist Vietnam. Atheism has grown 600% in
the last two decades. Ireland has legalized gay marriage in 2016 and repealed a
referendum protecting unborn children last May making abortion legal. Ireland
has some of the highest suicide rates in the entire world. The Irish struggle
with alcoholism and drug abuse, as they try to fill the hole left behind when
they walked away from God. What was once “the land of saints and scholars” is
quickly becoming a land of people with no religion, no moral foundation, no
spiritual compass, and no hope.
Ireland is not on the radar for most churches when they are
contemplating their missions budget for the year. However, Ireland, which was
once a bastion of the Christian faith, is now quickly decaying. Ireland is
leaving Catholicism in droves and the new generations are being raised without
knowledge of God. There are now 72 towns in Ireland with a population of 5000
people or above which do not have a Gospel presence at all. No church. No Bible
study. Nothing. Here in America, where there often a church on every corner,
this is unfathomable to us.
This is why my family and I have been called to live and
serve among the Irish. God called us back in 2014 and we were appointed by
WorldVenture. He made it very clear that we were to live and serve in Ireland. We
will be joining a church planting team already in place in Ireland. I have a
Masters Degree in Leadership Development from Azusa Pacific University and plan
to use that knowledge and my passion for building up leaders to help raise up
local leaders who will take over the churches planted by our missions team. My
wife is a Christian author who writes women’s fiction with stories of hope and
redemption. She will use that gift to write Irish stories that will minister to
the hearts of the Irish, who are a story telling people.
We also have an exciting opportunity to be a part of establishing a Compassion Centre in Galway City, which will provide services to all the young Irish women who would otherwise be forced to have an abortion. The government will likely encourage women to proceed with abortions because it is cheaper in the long run than providing social services for the mother and her child. The Compassion Centre, which will be church-run, will provide counseling, after school care, tutoring, and support for these desperate young women. Also, it will provide suicide intervention and prevention counseling for these women who are often on the brink of taking their own lives because they have no hope and no support system. I have had the opportunity to take several suicide intervention courses over the last four years and I will be training the team to identify and intervene when someone is in a suicidal pattern. We will provide services and direction for people who have lost hope and desperately need a reason to live. Most importantly, we will be discipling and meeting with people who need to hear the good news about Jesus. We will be hosting Bible studies in our home, meeting with individuals for discipleship, and working in the church to help lead others to Christ. The Irish need the hope that Christ gives and we have been called to share that hope.
If you are interested in hearing more about our ministry, we would love to connect with you. Also, if you are in a place to partner with us financially, please prayerfully consider joining us. We are currently at 74% of our monthly support. We are very close to going but we need a few more individuals and churches to join us. You can reach us via email at cjcopeland@worldventure.net. You can also visit our webpage at www.worldventure.com/cjcopeland or our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/copelandclantoireland for more information. Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Ireland needs your help.
LABORERS FOR THE HARVEST
A Missional Call to Kingdom Ministry
April 16-17, 2018 at the YMCA of the Rockies
2515 Tunnel Road, Estes Park, CO 80511
In a world that continues to distance itself from the acknowledgement that there is a God, let alone submit themselves to His rule and reign, Jesus calls His followers to pray for laborers to be sent into the harvest.
Pastor Nick Lillo and Dr. Marshall Shelley will help us explore the context of Matthew 9:35-38 to understand the critical application of this passage to the missional challenge and opportunity of the local church.
Pastor Nick Lillo
Pastor Nick Lillo
Nick Lillo is the Lead Pastor of Waterstone Community Church, Littleton, CO. Waterstone exists to advance the Kingdom of God – His rule and reign in His creation. They strive to catalyze and experience the transformation of God’s Kingdom in our own lives, the lives of others in our community, and the lives of those around the world.
Nick has been a adjunct member of the faculty at Denver Seminary teaching in the areas of theology and homiletics.
Dr. Marshall Shelley
Dr. Marshall Shelley
Marshall Shelley is director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Denver Seminary and is contributing editor of Christianity Today’s CTpastors.com
He is the author of Well-Intentioned Dragons, Ministering to Problem People in Your Church, the general editor of The Quest Study Bible, co-author with Harold Myra of The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham, and co-author with his father, church historian Bruce Shelley, of The Consumer Church: Can Evangelicals Win the World Without Losing Their Soul?
Raised in Colorado gazing at mountains, he lived for 34 years in “topographically challenged” Chicagoland while editing Leadership Journal before returning to the land of peaks, aspen, and Broncos.
Cost:
Monday Night – Per Person $105.00
Monday Night – Spouse $20.00
Tuesday Night (Commuting greater than 3 Hours) Free!
Tuesday Night – Spouse (Commuting greater than 3 Hours) Free!
Tuesday Night (Commuting less than 3 Hours) $105.00 *
Tuesday Night – Spouse (Commuting less than 3 Hours) $20.00 *
Once again we have an opportunity to offer discounted tickets to the Catalyst One Day Training event in Denver. Again this year it will be held at:
Cherry Hills Community Church 3900 Grace Boulevard
Highlands Ranch, CO 80126
It is often said that change is the only constant and we know that our world is constantly advancing, shifting, and adapting, but how do we lead in these new realities?
Join Craig Groeschel, Lysa TerKeurst, and Levi Lusko as we examine how to anticipate coming change before it arrives, create a strategy for transition, and map a compelling vision for the future.
Bring the entire team! Together you’ll learn to:
Foresee problems and opportunities before they arise
Create and communicate a strategy for change
Understand organizational life cycles
Establish a different way of thinking
Foster a culture that embraces change and fuels progress
