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miracles happen here 4_25_10 10_11 AM
Sermon by Todd Yonkman at Beneficent Church on April 25, 2010
can you see yourself in this picture3_14_10 10_17 AM
Sermon by Rev. Steve Sterner at Beneficent Church on March 14, 2010
a new worldview 4_4_10 10_22 AM
Sermon by Todd Yonkman at Beneficent Church on April 4, 2010
a new thing 3_21_10 10_16 AM
A New Thing: Sermon by Todd Grant Yonkman at Beneficent Church on March 21, 2010.
(Originally published in Beneficent Church’s newsletter, The People’s Times, May 2010).
We need wisdom, not just information. Recently Google CEO Eric Schmidt gave the keynote address at the American Society of News Editors conference. He said that in the 21st century, the world has moved from a situation of relative information scarcity to a situation of information abundance. The way Pastor Nicole and I like to put it is, in the Internet Age, “It’s all out there!”
For us, this means that we focus less on giving expert advice and more on building faithful community. We focus less on imparting knowledge and more on nurturing wisdom. This work requires less Internet searching and more soul searching. It invites us as a community to talk together and listen deeply to each other in respectful, loving ways. We are challenged to work through differences, hear each other’s stories, and discover that our diversity is not a problem to be fixed but an opportunity to be celebrated. Diversity is an opportunity for deepening our understanding, enriching our lives, and developing creative, life-giving solutions to the challenges that face us. In other words, our diversity is an opportunity to practice wisdom.
Proverbs gives God’s wisdom a voice: “The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago . . . I was beside him like a master worker; and I was his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race” (8:22, 30-31).
This month you will not want to miss the opportunities to celebrate community, diversity, and wisdom at Beneficent Church: International Families Sunday, May 2; Mothers’ Day, May 9; Youth Sunday, May 16; Confirmation Sunday, May 23; and good old-fashioned Memorial Day, May 30. We look forward to seeing you!
(By Rev. Nicole Grant Yonkman. First published on www.ucc.org.) This past Sunday, three of our confirmation class kids assisted in worship by leading prayers and reading scripture. Each child’s reaction ranged from petrified to resigned determination. For all of these kids, this was their first time speaking in front of a group of people that was not their class from school. In the look on their faces, I was reminded that being a church leader does not just happen, it is a skill that must be carefully nurtured and developed.
I am in the small minority of UCC pastors – just four percent – who are under 40 years old. I went to seminary right out of college and ministry has been my career for the last 14 years. While I was marginally involved in church as a child, my call was really nurtured and encouraged through a campus ministry program at college.
While I feel fortunate to have had strong role models in college who pointed me in the direction of seminary and ministry, I don’t see a lot of pathways for young people. I’m not just talking about young people who might want to become ministers. I’m talking about young people that want to be Christians; to live a life of faith and walk the Jesus walk. Although our country faces the toughest financial crisis since the Great Depression, our churches have been declining and struggling financially and numerically for years.
The truth is, many children, youth and young adult programs in local churches, denominations, and colleges were cut years ago. We are now reaping what we sowed a generation ago: a majority aging and aged congregations that have few or no children whatsoever. It’s now not just one lost generation, but two lost generations. Generation X has come of age and given birth to children who have no idea what church is.
So what is a church to do? Read more . . .
Here’s the new ad from the United Church of Christ’s “God is Still Speaking” ad campaign.
One of Beneficent Church’s newest members in an extravagant act of generosity donated one of his kidneys to a stranger. Read Rob’s story in the Providence Journal and watch a video!
Last month Beneficent Church made the news with our annual Homeless Memorial Service on January 20. Check out the Providence Journal article and video!
A Fisherman\'s Tale a sermon by Todd Grant Yonkman at Beneficent Church on February 7, 2010.
