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Bonnie Bates

The Reverend Doctor Bonnie Bates currently serves as the Associations Associate for Congregational Vitality and Development for the Eastern Ohio and Western Reserve Associations of the Ohio Conference of the United Church of Christ.  The Reverend Dr. Bonnie Bates received her Masters of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Colgate Rochester Divinity School.  The focus of her doctoral work was transformational leadership and her dissertation is titled, Navigating the River of Grief.   She has served churches in New York both as a licensed and ordained minister.  She directed and taught in the Graduate Human Resource Development program at St. John Fisher College in Rochester.  She has worked for several non-profits and has served on several not-for-profit Boards including the Dunkirk Camp and Conference Center in western New York.  She has been an active member of the associations where she has served as well as numerous leadership positions within the New York Conference including its work in becoming a Global Mission conference and designing its current governance structure.   She has recently completed the development and implementation of a Boundary Training model for local congregations.

Her hobbies are singing, reading, fly fishing. She once sang with a national choir in Carnegie Hall, Constitution Hall, the White House, Royal Albert Hall, and a variety of locations in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy.   She and her husband, Steve Vulcheff, have one son Samuel and two grandsons Kiel and Jakob.
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Illustration

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Sermon Illustrations for Proper 16 | OT 21 (2019) -- Jeremiah 1:4-10, Hebrews 12:18-29, Luke 13:10-17 -- Ron Love, Mark Ellingsen, Bill Thomas, Bonnie Bates, Frank Ramirez, Bob Ove -- Proper 16 | Ordinary Time 21 - C -- 2019
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Sermon illustrations for Easter 2 (2019) -- Acts 5:27-32, Revelation 1:4b-8, John 20:19-31, Revelation 1:4-8 -- Bonnie Bates, Bill Thomas, Bob Ove, Frank Ramirez, Ron Love, Mark Ellingsen -- Second Sunday of Easter - C -- 2019
Acts 5:27-32
Sermon Illustrations for Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 (2019) -- Jeremiah 2:4-13, Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16, Luke 14:1, 7-14 -- Mark Ellingsen, Bonnie Bates, Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez, Bob Ove, Ron Love -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - C -- 2019
Jeremiah 2:4-13
Sermon illustrations for Easter 3 (2019) -- Acts 9:1-6 (7-20), Revelation 5:11-14, John 21:1-19 -- Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love, Bonnie Bates, Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez, Bob Ove -- Third Sunday of Easter - C -- 2019
Acts 9:1-6, 7-20
Sermon Illustrations for Proper 18 | Ordinary Time 23 (2019) -- Jeremiah 18:1-11, Philemon 1:1-21, Luke 14:25-33 -- Mark Ellingsen, Bob Ove, Bonnie Bates, Ron Love, Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez -- Proper 18 | Ordinary Time 23 - C -- 2019
Jeremiah 18:1-11
Sermon illustrations for Easter 4 (2019) -- Acts 9:36-43, Revelation 7:9-17, John 10:22-30 -- Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love, Bob Ove, Bill Thomas, Bonnie Bates, Frank Ramirez -- Fourth Sunday of Easter - C -- 2019
Acts 9:36-43
Sermon Illustrations for Proper 19 | Ordinary Time 24 (2019) -- Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28, 1 Timothy 1:12-17, Luke 15:1-10 -- Ron Love, Mark Ellingsen, Bob Ove, Bill Thomas, Bonnie Bates, Frank Ramirez -- Proper 19 | Ordinary Time 24 - C -- 2019
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28
Sermon illustrations for Easter 5 (2019) -- Acts 11:1-18, Revelation 21:1-6, John 13:31-35 -- Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love, Bonnie Bates, Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez, Bob Ove -- Fifth Sunday of Easter - C -- 2019
Acts 11:1-18
Sermons Illustrations for Proper 20 | Ordinary Time 25 (2019) -- Jeremiah 8:18--9:1, 1 Timothy 2:1-7, Luke 16:1-13 -- Mark Ellingsen, Bob Ove, Bill Thomas, Ron Love, Frank Ramirez, Bonnie Bates -- Proper 20 | Ordinary Time 25 - C -- 2019
Jeremiah 8:18--9:1
Sermon Illustrations for Easter 6 (2019) -- Acts 16:9-15, Revelation 21:10, 22--22:5, John 14:23-29 -- Bonnie Bates, Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez, Bob Ove, Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love -- Sixth Sunday of Easter - C -- 2019
Acts 16:9-15
Sermon Illustrations for Proper 21 | Ordinary Time 26 (2019) -- Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15, 1 Timothy 6:6-19, Luke 16:19-31 -- Mark Ellingsen, Bob Ove, Bonnie Bates, Ron Love, Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez -- Proper 21 | Ordinary Time 26 - C -- 2019
Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15
Sermon illustrations for Ascension of the Lord (2019) -- Acts 1:1-11, Ephesians 1:15-23, Luke 24:44-53 -- Ron Love, Mark Ellingsen, Bonnie Bates, Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez, Bob Ove -- Ascension of the Lord - C -- 2019
Acts 1:1-11
Sermon Illustrations for Proper 22 | OT 27 (2019) -- Lamentations 1:1-6, 2 Timothy 1:1-14, Luke 17:5-10 -- Bill Thomas, Bonnie Bates, Frank Ramirez, Bob Ove, Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love -- Proper 22 | Ordinary Time 27 - C -- 2019
Lamentations 1:1-6
Sermon Illustrations for Easter 7 (2019) -- Acts 16:16-34, Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21, John 17:20-26 -- Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love, Bob Ove, Bonnie Bates, Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez -- Seventh Sunday of Easter - C -- 2019
Acts 16:16-34
Sermon Illustrations for Proper 23 | OT 28 (2019) -- Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7, 2 Timothy 2:8-15, Luke 17:11-19 -- Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love, Bonnie Bates, Bob Ove, Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez -- Proper 23 | Ordinary Time 28 - C -- 2019
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
Sermon illustrations for Day of Pentecost (2019) -- Acts 2:1-21, Romans 8:14-17, John 14:8-17 (25-27) -- Ron Love, Mark Ellingsen, Bonnie Bates, Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez, Bob Ove -- Day of Pentecost - C -- 2019
Acts 2:1-21
Sermon Illustrations for Trinity Sunday (2019) -- Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31, Romans 5:1-5, John 16:12-15 -- Bonnie Bates, Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez, Bob Ove, Ron Love, Mark Ellingsen -- Trinity Sunday | 1st Sunday after Pentecost - C -- 2019
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Sermons Illustrations for Proper 24 | OT 29 (2019) -- Jeremiah 31:27-34, 2 Timothy 3:14--4:5, Luke 18:1-8 -- Bob Ove, Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love, Bill Thomas, Bonnie Bates, Frank Ramirez -- Proper 24 | Ordinary Time 29 - C -- 2019
Jeremiah 31:27-34
Sermon Illustrations for Proper 7 | OT 12 (2019) -- 1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7) 8-15a, Galatians 3:23-29, Luke 8:26-39 -- Bonnie Bates, Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez, Bob Ove, Ron Love, Mark Ellingsen -- Proper 7 | Ordinary Time 12 - C -- 2019
1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a
Sermon Illustrations for Epiphany of the Lord (2019) -- Isaiah 60:1-6, Ephesians 3:1-12, Matthew 2:1-12 -- Mark Ellingsen, Frank Ramirez, Bonnie Bates, Bill Thomas -- Epiphany of the Lord - C -- 2019
Isaiah 60:1-6a
Sermon Illustrations for Reformation Day (2019) -- Psalm 46, Romans 3:19-28, John 8:31-36 -- Bonnie Bates, Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez, Bob Ove, Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love -- Reformation Sunday - C -- 2019
Psalm 46
Sermon Illustrations for Proper 8 | OT 13 (2019) -- 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14, Galatians 5:1, 13-25, Luke 9:51-62 -- Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love, Bonnie Bates, Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez, Bob Ove -- Proper 8 | Ordinary Time 13 - C -- 2019
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Sermon Illustrations for Baptism of Our Lord (2019) -- Isaiah 43:1-7, Acts 8:14-17, Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 -- Ron Love, Mark Ellingsen, Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez, Bonnie Bates, Bob Ove -- The Baptism of our Lord | Epiphany 1 | Ordinary Time 1 - C -- 2019
Isaiah 43:1-7
Sermon Illustrations for Proper 25 | Ordinary Time 30 (2019) -- Joel 2:23-32, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18, Luke 18:9-14 -- Bill Thomas, Bob Ove, Ron Love, Mark Ellingsen, Bonnie Bates, Frank Ramirez -- Proper 25 | Ordinary Time 30 - C -- 2019
Joel 2:23-32
Sermon Illustrations for Proper 9 | OT 14 (2019) -- 2 Kings 5:1-14, Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16, Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 -- Bill Thomas, Frank Ramirez, Bob Ove, Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love, Bonnie Bates -- Proper 9 | Ordinary Time 14 - C -- 2019
2 Kings 5:1-14
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John Jamison
Object: A sheet large enough for your children to stand around it. A dozen or so golf balls, or other small unbreakable balls. If you have a large number of children you could use two sheets to make room, or just ask for volunteers to play the game.

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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! But we’re not starting with the story today. I have something else I would like you to try. (Lay the sheet on the floor and put the balls in the middle of it.)
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Object: A piece of clothing that a superhero might wear. I used a simple cape made from a sheet, but you could also use a belt, a ring, or anything else your favorite superhero might wear.

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Mark Ellingsen
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates
Bill Thomas
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Over the Christmas season, I saw a picture of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes with his wife Brittany and their two young children. Like many people, the Mahomes’ took their kids to see Santa Claus. Patrick, Brittany, and Santa are all smiles, however, two-year-old daughter Sterling and one-year-old Bronze looked just like thousands of other kids, scared, and wanting to be somewhere else. It reminded me of how alike people are.
Mark Ellingsen
Bonnie Bates
Frank Ramirez
Bill Thomas
Acts 1:1-11
As I write this, world events have inspired any number of Christians in my area to speculate that these are clear signs of the end. By the time you read this those great events will be history, but don’t worry, stuff is happening as you read this that is causing some to speculate those current events are clear signs of the end.
Frank Ramirez
Today’s scriptures call upon us to listen carefully — to Jesus, through his words in the New Testament, and to the Spirit helping us to interpret that word and speaking directly in our hearts. And sometimes God is also speaking to us in the created universe. But make sure it is God we are listening to, and not ourselves.

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Mark Ellingsen
The lessons for this Festival of Ascension all testify to the heavenly power and cosmic presence of Christ. 

Acts 1:1-11

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John E. Sumwalt
…God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his son. (v. 11b)

Have you ever experienced the presence of God? Have you felt, seen, heard, smelled, tasted or known in some way that the Creator was near?

My colleague Becky Ardell Downs, pastor of John Knox Presbyterian Church in Houston, tells of a time forty years ago when she was attending the funeral of her uncle in the Chicago suburbs. He had died of multiple sclerosis at a relatively young age.
Frank Ramirez
When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. (Acts 1:9)

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. (Luke 24:50-51)

Defying gravity! What a concept? Is there anyone here who has not dreamt at one time or another that you were actually flying? Or floating? Or in some way defying gravity?

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John Jamison
Have you ever come across a piece of scripture that you really just didn’t know what to do with? Everything you read before it makes sense, and everything after it, but that one passage just sits there staring at you, almost defying you to understand why it is there and what it means.
Stan Purdum
Both Psalms 47 and 93 (the alternative psalm for this day) are enthronement psalms, praise hymns celebrating God's rule over the nations. They were most likely used on festal occasions when Israel again declared that God was its king.

While Psalm 47 was for Israel's celebration, verses 1-2 call all the nations of earth to recognize God as their monarch as well. Verses 3-4, however, return to the specific relationship between God and Israel.

David H. Webb
Today is Ascension Sunday.

Today we commemorate the day when Jesus bid farewell to his followers and friends and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.

In some ways it's an anxious day. "How will we go on without him?" they surely whispered among themselves. "How can we possibly maintain the strength and perspective -- the motivation to live according to his teachings and promises? How can we live with determination and purpose if he is not here to sustain us?"

John T. Ball
One of the blessings of God is the gift of writing, of putting our thoughts and observations on clay tablets or jars, on parchment, or on paper. Scholars are not certain when humans first began to write. Many think it happened in Samaria, the civilization between the Tigris and Euphrates, now modern-day Iraq. It may have happened about 3000 B.C.E. Nor is there a consensus on how writing was first used. It may have come from Shamans using it to pass on their skills and secrets. Or writing could have originated as a means to inventory the goods of merchants.
Mark J. Molldrem
Mark -- warlike

Shirley -- bright meadow

Jennifer -- fair lady

Jeffrey -- God's peace

Jesus -- God saves

What's in a name? Ever since God gave Adam the privilege of naming all the creatures, humankind has had a fascination with names. Names are important. Parents take great care when they select a name for their baby. They know the name will be with this new person for a lifetime and will identify him or her to other people.
Jerry L. Schmalenberger
It simply was unthinkable that the appearances of Jesus should grow fewer and fewer after Easter until they finally 'petered out' and melted away. That would have effectively weakened the faith of all people who had seen him. There had to come a day of dividing -- when Jesus of earth became Christ of heaven.
Richard E. Gribble
Many years ago one of the most popular shows on weekly television was Mission Impossible. Each episode of the show opened in a similar way. The head of the Impossible Missions Force, or IMF for short, would be found alone in some isolated office, home, or similar space. He would find a large manilla envelope, generally hidden in a desk drawer or possibly in a safe. Inside the envelope he would find materials that described the next mission of his IMF team. There would be lots of printed material, photographs of the principal people involved, and often maps to show various locations.

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Janice B. Scott
Sandy wasn't very good at prayer. Privately he thought it was probably a waste of time, although when things went really wrong he always found himself praying. He wasn't sure that God ever heard his prayers.

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