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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.
To Build and to Plant a sermon by Todd Grant Yonkman at Beneficent Church on January 31, 2010.
With You I am Well Pleased a sermon by Nicole Grant Yonkman at Beneficent Church on January 10, 2010.
The First Christmas a sermon preached by Todd Grant Yonkman at Beneficent Church on December 24, 2009.
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.
Adventurers for New England. Sermon preached at Beneficent Church on Sunday, September 20, 2009 by Rev. Nicole Grant Yonkman.
Beneficent Congregational Church is Open and Affirming of all people regardless gender or sexual orientation. In June, Beneficent hosted Providence’s annual Interfaith Pride Service. We also had a booth at the Pride Fest, and we were a water stop at the Pride Parade. It was a wonderful, affirming celebration of folks in our community.
Getting Ready for the Parade
Water Stop
RI Pride banner
A Pride Float
Gaspee Days Parade
On June 13, the Adventure Team attended the Gaspee Days parade here in Cranston. The parade celebrates the burning of the H.M.S. Gaspee near Gaspee Point in the Narragansett Bay in 1772. The H.M.S. Gaspee was a British tax collecting ship. The burning of the Gaspee was an act of civil disobedience that led to the War for Independence. The parade consisted mostly of fife, drum, and musket corps from Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The marchers dressed in the costumes and uniforms of the historical communities and militias the represented.
I was surprised to find myself moved by the event. My stolid Dutch heritage taught me not to express patriotic emotions. What moved me at the Gaspee Days parade was the living embodiment of communities that 225 years ago banded together to face the greatest military power that the world had ever seen. Some of the marchers went barefoot. Many didn’t have uniforms. It’s this part of the American story that moves me: the legacy of every day people banding together against incredible odds to seek their freedom. It’s this legacy that continues to inspire people around the world today.
