User:NBendroth

Biographical Sketch of Norman B. Bendroth

Norman Bowen Bendroth was born on December 30, 1953 at Lawrence General Hospital to Harold and Carolyn Bendroth. He was the oldest of four children, one of whom died at age three. He is a bred-in-the-bone Yankee and my roots go deep In New England. He is the first congregational minister in his family since Samuel Johnson Sewall was ordained in N. Edgecomb, Maine, in 1795. His parents are from Andover, MA, and he grew up in Wakefield, MA, and Exeter, NH. His wife, Peggy, is from Rochester, NY, and they met at seminary in Chicago. While there they were "urbanized" and have lived in cities ever since. Peggy did her doctorate in American History at the Johns Hopkins University. We then moved to Washington, DC, where both were Elders in a new church start while Norman worked on Capitol Hill for two non-profit Christian ministries and Peggy wrote her dissertation.

In 1986 they adopted our first child, Nathan, who is half-Vietnamese. Shortly thereafter they moved to Cambridge, MA, to start our ministry at Pilgrim Congregational Church, UCC. On their third Christmas there they adopted Anna, who is half-Laotian. Their children, along with their dog, Salamanca, and two cats, Garbanzo and Li’l Toot, are a source of inestimable joy and delight.

Unfortunately, after a valiant struggle of six years, Pilgrim Church closed like many other center city churches. Since then Norman has served as an Intentional Interim Minister at churches in Milton, Burlington, Topsfield, Reading, and Winchester, MA, Grand Rapids, MI, and Dover, NH, as well as a settled pastor in Dedham, MA. In 1997, he completed the Doctor of Ministry degree at Andover Newton Theological School. His concentration was on an integration of theology and pastoral psychology. While a student there he also served as the Coordinator for Pastoral Care (aka chaplain) and served on the adjunct faculty in the Practical Theology department.

In the summer of 1997 the Bendroth's moved to Grand Rapids, MI, where Peggy, was Professor of History at Calvin College, specializing in twentieth-century and women’s U.S. history. For the first three years there Norman worked for a non-profit Christian ministry called the Inner City Christian Federation (ICCF). ICCF develops housing for low-income families. While there Norman wrote grants, wrote the newsletter, developed contacts with local churches, and spearheaded special events. He also served as an Interim Minister there for 3 years. While in Grand Rapids, he also lead a practicum for seminary students at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, and hosted a radio show on 88.1 FM WYCE “where you get folk, rock, blues, jazz and world beat, all in one place.”

The family moved back to Cambridge during the summer of 2004 when a new and unexpected job opportunity opened up for Peggy. She is the Executive Director at the American Congregational Association on Beacon Hill. “The Congregational House,” as it is known, houses the library and archives of all branches of the Congregational church. She also has taught at Andover Newton Theological School, Boston University School of Theology and Northeastern University. She has published quite a bit on the history of women in the American church, denominations and family policy, and has edited a volume in the "Living Theological Heritage" series of the UCC.

Norman currently serves as the Coordinator of the Church and Clergy Resource Center for the New England Pastoral Institute in Salem, NH, helping churches and non-profits assess their purpose, vision and mission and the goals to get their in addition to working with agencies around conflict management, governance issues, stewardship, and coaching and consulting for churches and pastors. He is also on the faculty of the Interim Ministry Network.

In my spare time I mountainbike, backpack, kayak, play guitar, and read.

EDUCATION Doctor of Ministry. Focused in theology, pastoral psychology, and systems theory. Andover-Newton Theological School, Newton, MA, 1997. Master of Divinity, cum laude, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL, 1979. Bachelor of Science in Art Education, cum laude, The Univer¬sity of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 1975. Continuing education, workshops, and seminars Boston College School of Theology Boston University School of Theology Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Harvard Divinity School

TRAINING Professional Transitional Specialist certificate from the Interim Ministry Network Interim Ministry Network faculty, 2010 to present Training in conflict transformation through Walking in the Way curriculum Training in Appreciative Inquiry with the Clergy Leadership Institute. Certified in Mediation Skills for Church Leaders from the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center. Intentional Interim Ministry Training. Advanced training for interim ministry. Fundamentals of Interim Ministry. Basic training for the five phases of interim ministry. Certified Prepare/Enrich counselor Trained & Certification pending in Couples’ Communication Skills

MINISTERIAL STANDING HELD IN: Metropolitan Boston Association, Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ.

PUBLICATIONS The Cruelest Month, Christian Century, December 30, 2008. What We Do and Why We Do It: A Teaching Service on Worship, Reformed Worship, June 2008, No. 88. Brainstorm, The Christian Century, March 2007. Designing the Good City: Reflections on the New Urbanism, The Christian Century, June 20-27, 2001, Vol. 118, No. 9. Review of Inland Architecture: Subterranean Essays on Moral Order and Formal Order in Chicago, The Christian Century, February 2000. The Three Tasks of the Funeral, a paper presented and published at The Craigville Theological Colloquy, July 1997. Christmas Mixes Darkness and Light, Essay in the Perspectives section of The Grand Rapids Press, Sunday, December 19, 1999. On Being a Person of Integrity, The Dedham Journal, April 1995. I Married a Baseball Junkie, The Cambridge Chronicle, October 22, 1987. Alternatives of Hope, Sojourners, April 1985.

~Norman Bendroth 10/14/2011