I attended the opening night of Peter Schaffer’s play, Amadeus, which is being performed through Novmeber 22 in the Roundtop Center at Beneficent Church.

The play itself is a compelling drama and an important work of art. This particular production is great. The acting is fantastic. The music is beautiful. The set is spare and suggestive, yet transforms the performance space into 18th century Vienna.

One of the things that makes this production special is the larger vision of creating a theater piece that is truly a community building and experiential learning process. Students and not-for-profit organizations from around Rhode Island have collaborated to make this production possible. Now you have a chance to be a part of the experience and a part of the community.

Get your tickets now at www.theamadeusprojectri.org. Don’t miss this exciting event.

A Call for Mercy Sermon for 25 October 2009 at Beneficent Church by Nicole Grant Yonkman

Power Issues Sermon for 18 October 2009 at Beneficent Church by Todd Grant Yonkman

Money Problems Sermon for 11 October 2009 at Beneficent Church by Todd Grant Yonkman

Adventurers for New England. Sermon preached at Beneficent Church on Sunday, September 20, 2009 by Rev. Nicole Grant Yonkman.

Beneficent Church kicked off its program year with Rally Day. We had a special worship service that began a sermon series entitled, “Congregationalism: Past, Present, Future.” To tell the story of congregationalism past, Todd dressed up in costume and delivered part of Governor John Winthrop’s sermon aboard the Arabella to the Pilgrims that arrived in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.

After worship we had a picnic in Abbott Park, the church’s park located next door. It was a fun day.

Olivia in the dunk tank

Olivia in the dunk tank

picnic

picnic

more picnic

more picnic

Playing in the fountain

Playing in the fountain

hula hoop!

hula hoop!

Jed Griswold, Minister of Education, in the dunk tank

Jed Griswold, Minister of Education, in the dunk tank

This summer, a church member and I attended a Christian Buddhist interfaith meditation retreat at Providence Zen Center. It was led by the same Kwan Um Zen Master and Christian monk (who is also a zen master) who led a Christian Buddhist meditation retreat that I attended exactly 10 years ago in Warrenville, IL back when we were living in West Chicago. It was great to see Dae Kwang Sunim again after all these years. The church member who attended with me also got a lot out of the experience.

Providence Zen Center

Providence Zen Center

Garden and grounds at PZC

Garden and grounds at PZC

This summer Nicole and I and Nicole’s sister, Sarah, attended the Newport Folk Festival. It was the 50th anniversary of the festival and founder Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday. It was a beautiful setting. It was a hot, sunny day. The music was great, and there was lots of it. What’s wonderful to me about the Folk Festival and Pete Seeger in particular is that Mr. Seeger understands the power of music to create community and lifts that community building aspect up and honors it. This is exemplified in the sing-along at the end of the festival day. Together with many of the artists that had performed that day, with Pete leading, we sang “Turn, Turn, Turn,” “If I Had a Hammer,” “This Land is Your Land,” and others. We feel blessed to have been a part of that experience as we continue our work of building authentic community.

Newport bridge

Newport bridge

Listening to the music from the bay

Listening to the music from the bay

Entering the festival

Entering the festival

Nicole and Sarah

Nicole and Sarah

Mavis Staples

Mavis Staples

Avett Brothers

Avett Brothers

Iron & Wine

Iron & Wine

Sermon preached at Beneficent Congregational Church, Providence, RI, Sept. 6, 2009. Power Source

The Adventure Team had a morning off from work, so we had breakfast at Little Falls Cafe in Pawtuxet Village, a neighborhood on the West Bay in Cranston. It is one of the places we visited when we were considering moving to Rhode Island. It’s a small place on the main street with great food, a diverse crowd, and a welcoming, community atmosphere. After our lunch there six months ago, I said to Nicole, “We could live here.”peopleincafe2