You found us!
Manitou Mission is a missional community that exists
to carry love and light to Manitou Springs.
We have opportunities to worship, pray, and gather in groups to grow in our faith together.
Once a month we gather for worship services at the Manitou Art Center or Fields Park, depending on the season.
We also gather volunteers for a monthly potluck to collaborate on ways we can serve the city we love.
Worship with Us
Monthly Services
You’re invited to worship with us on the last Sunday of the month in song, prayer over the city of Manitou, live teaching, and fellowship.
When: Last Sunday of the month, January through May 2025
Where: 513 Manitou Avenue | Manitou Art Center
Album Release
Manitou Worship: Songs of the House Vol I released January 5 and is available on all streaming platforms. It includes original music and scriptures read by our missional community. Come to any of our services to receive a free CD from our welcome table.
Connect with Us
Manitou Women’s Ministry
Upcoming Events:
On Thursday, December 19, mark your calendars to join us for a Formal Christmas Dessert and Gift Exchange. We will meet from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at 515 MAC on Manitou Avenue.
Also, beginning in 2025 on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month, we will gather to deepen our personal relationship with Jesus, listening to him through his Word in real time. We share our lives together, pray for each other, and call forward the best in each other.
If you’ve been looking for a deep, authentic community of women, you have found it! Every lesson stands alone, there is no book to follow, and we provide print-outs of the Scripture study at each gathering. All you need to do is come.
When: Beginning January 16, 2025, we will meet on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month | 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Where: 515 MAC on Manitou Avenue
Join our contact list to be updated on location or event changes.
Serve with Us
MannaTuesday
MannaTuesday is a monthly gathering for the volunteers of Manitou Mission. We enjoy a potluck meal together, tell our stories, and recalibrate for ongoing mission with a time of devotion and worship.
To volunteer with Manitou Mission, please complete a “Serve” application by clicking the button below. If you are a badged volunteer with any of our New Life congregations, you’re already eligible to serve with us. Volunteer simply by clicking “Sign up to Volunteer” below.
Note that our December gathering will be a remembrance and celebration service where we will be stapling candy canes to Advent Service invitations to distribute at the parade.
When: January 7, 2025
Time: 5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
Where: Kirkendall Home | Crystal Hills, Manitou Springs
Food Theme: Winter Cozy
Manna Tuesdays
The Pantry
Come serve at the Pantry! Every week, we partner with the city to help serve locals of Manitou who are in need of food assistance. If you would like to become even more involved and help with shopping, coordination, or setup, please email us at ManitouMission@newlifechurch.org.
When: Wednesdays
Distribution Time: 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. [setup and tear-down occur before and after this hour]
Where: St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church | 808 Manitou Ave
Partner with Us
Meet Our Staff
Dr. Joe & Erica Kirkendall have lived in Manitou Springs since their first year of marriage in 2007. Dr. Joe has been a pastor with New Life since 2004 after graduating from Fuller Seminary. Erica came on staff in 2017 when they launched New Life Manitou where they pastored together over 7 years. Dr. Joe and Erica are passionate about being on mission with Jesus. Though they have served all over the world, they believe the greatest impact anyone can have is in their own local community. They have four boys all in the Manitou Springs schools. Join them on mission and come on over to their home for potlucks on MannaTuesdays.
Find What You’re Looking For
We look to the Nicene Creed (adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325) for our statement of faith, which reads as follows:
We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen
MannaTuesdays are a time for us to receive sustenance—to be refreshed in the presence of the Lord and recalibrated to be on mission with him. Being on mission with Jesus is a lifestyle, not just an event. We hope you’ll join our missional community as we apprentice Jesus together.
Our previous services will remain available to view on our YouTube channel.
We have seven sister congregations meeting throughout Colorado Springs on various days and at various times. Manitou Mission members frequent all seven, so please reach out if we can help you find a friend to attend worship with.
Those congregations are as follows:
New Life North | 11025 Voyager Parkway [Sundays at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.]
New Life Downtown | 301 North Nevada, at Palmer High School [Sundays at 9:30 a.m.]
New Life East | 4620 Antelope Ridge Drive, at Rocky Mountain Classical Academy [Sundays at 10:00 a.m.]
New Life Friday Night | 11025 Voyager Parkway [Fridays at 6:30 p.m.]
New Life Midtown | 5090 Austin Bluffs Parkway [Sundays at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.]
New Life Chinese Church | 11025 Voyager Parkway [Sundays at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.]
Iglesia Nueva Vida | 801 North Circle Drive [Sundays at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.; Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.]
Manitou is a quaint spa town founded in 1888 at the height of tuberculosis. It was established as a place of healing and restoration because of the natural springs throughout the town. Celebrities, presidents, and all the wealthy of the time came far and wide to seek out the healing waters of Manitou. Today, Manitou Springs is a tight-knit community full of artists, authors and intellectuals. It is full of very spiritual people, but for being such a spiritual town, there are only a handful of churches and not many Christians. Manitou Springs was voted the third friendliest city in the country. It’s welcoming to tourists and derives much of its revenue from the tourist industry as people still come to seek respite in this sweet, Euro-spa town.