-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Archives
- November 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- February 2014
- December 2013
- October 2013
- August 2013
- April 2013
- June 2012
- April 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- May 2011
Categories
Meta
Blogroll
Organizations to Check Out
- Andover Newton Theological School My alma mater and a partner with the New England Pastoral Institute
- City Mission Society Great organization where I used to chair the board
- Interim Ministry Network Center for training interim ministers. I’m on their faculty.
- The Center for Progressive Renewal Organization planting new churches and helping with church vitality
- The Congregational Library Holds library and archives for all branches of Congregationalism. The director is my roommate.
- The Inner City Christian Federation Great organization where I worked as Development Assoc.
- The Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ Great resources for local UCC pastors
- The New England Pastoral Institute Organization where I direct their Clergy and Church Resource Center
- The United Church of Christ My denomination
Author Archives: Norman Bendroth
The Paradox of Parenting
Roman 7: 15-20 and Selected Scripture Father’s Day 2015 When our kids were younger, we had a cartoon from the New Yorker called “Bad Mom Cards” attached to our refrigerator door. The artist, Roz Chast, obviously a mom, captured the … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Leave a comment
Children in Communion
This Sunday a number of our children will receive communion after having had instruction about it’s meaning and significance by Rev. Abby Heinrich. For centuries, churches in the western world restricted Communion to those who could “understand” it. In Eastern … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Leave a comment
A Prayer for the Human Family
A prayer offered on Father’s Day at the First Congregational Church (UCC) in Milton, MA, by a bi-racial couple Scott and Meg Matthews Dear God, On this special family day on which we celebrate the fathers in our lives, we … Continue reading
Posted in Blogs, Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Healthy Churches
I read an article this week about how churches are having “all or nothing” conflicts. Church consultant David Brubaker observes the sharp divisions and polarities that exist in society over politics, social issues, and idealogy have seeped into our churches. … Continue reading
Posted in Blogs
Leave a comment
WIND, FIRE, WATER, EARTH
Pentecost 2015 Acts 2:1-21; John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 Pentecost is a major Jewish feast—one of the three great feasts of the Torah called Sahvuoth which our Jewish brothers and sisters are celebrating in Johnson Hall. All the Jewish pilgrims would be … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Leave a comment
“Keep in Step with the Spirit”
This Sunday the Pentecost Season begins. “Penta” means fifty. It was fifty days after Christ rose from the dead that the promised gift of the Holy Spirit came. “I will not leave you as orphans,” said Jesus to his disciples … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Leave a comment
“Life Can Turn on a Dime”
By now most of you know that last Friday morning at 2 am my wife, Peggy, and my son, Nathan, found me face down in the hallway outside of the upstairs bathroom. For almost a minute I was unresponsive as … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Leave a comment
The Origins of Mothers’ Day and the Call for Peace
While Mother’s Day is not on the Christian calendar, it does have Christian roots, but not the sentimental ones you might think. Julia Ward Howe spawned the idea of an official Mother’s Day in the United States in 1872. An … Continue reading
Posted in Blogs
Leave a comment
They Were Afraid
Mark 11: 1-8 Easter Sunday 2015 What are you afraid of? There’s a lot to be afraid of in this world isn’t there? This past Tuesday the sun hadn’t risen at Garissa University College. Most students slept in their beds. … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Leave a comment
A Little Child Shall Lead Them
This Sunday is Children’s Sunday at church when we hear about what they have learned in Sunday school and make them feel special. Indeed, they are adorable with their patent leather shoes, swishy dresses, and clip on bow ties. But … Continue reading
Posted in Blogs
Leave a comment