Blessing for Rev. Dr. Ben Bohren
On September 23, 2016, we gathered at Union Avenue Christian Church in St. Louis to honor Rev. Dr. Ben Bohren and celebrate his 50 years of ministry with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)! Rev. Bonnie Osei-Frimpong and Rev. Virzola Law, who work with Ben as the NBA XPLOR program team, shared this blessing as the evening’s benediction.
Today we crown Ben in this Golden Year of ministry. We have prepared a blessing crown of virtues that we want to highlight in light of the Rev. Dr. Ben Bohren NBA Leadership Fund.
We thank god for the Courage of a young lad at camp, who knew he had a call but didn’t fully know the way yet. You said, here I am Lord, send me.
All: May God’s golden light continue to shine through you.
We thank God for the Humor that is able to relieve the tension of our own insecurities and doubts and illuminates the light of Christ in dark spaces.
All: May God’s golden light continue to shine through you.
We thank God for your Discipline – journaling, working out, reading, meditating – for more than 50 years, you have practiced spiritual disciplines that demonstrate the promise of God’s unchanging love made manifest in mortal ministry.
All: May God’s golden light continue to shine through you.
We thank God for your heart for Care – in cards, in flowers, in phone calls, in visits, in sidecars over meals and emails – during worship and cups of coffee you model how Jesus fed the sheep. Even now as you tend to XPLOR Residents, you show the love of Christ for the little ones.
All: May God’s golden light continue to shine through you.
We thank God for your Excellence. Ben, you embody excellence and call us to be more than what we are now, as we embrace who we are as jars of clay knowing that the excellence is from God.
All: May God’s golden light continue to shine through you.
We thank God for your Faithfulness. When the challenges come you press towards the mark of the highest calling … You said yes, even when your voice was failing; you dug deep and renewed your yes.
Morning by morning, as the sun rises and sets, as you answer God’s call…
All: God’s golden light continues to shine through you.
