BPMH GLOBAL FAITH LEADERS ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS- Monday, April 19, 7:00 p.m. A panel discussion of BPMH faith leaders on how climate change is impacting their countries and how/if their governments, environmental groups and the Church is responding. What will these faith leaders teach/model about the climate crisis when they go home. Panelists:Johnny Kashung, North Eastern India: ManipurBright Singh David, Southern India: KerolaLinna Gunnaway, IndonesiaLa Hkawng, MyanmarAlice Kabaganwa, RwandaLucina Lopez Perez, MexicoHeeWon Jin, Korea FAITH PERSPECTIVES ON CLIMATE CHANGE: From a Roman Catholic/Christian Perspective, Tuesday, April 20, 4:00 p.m. Beginning fifty years ago Roman Catholic Church Leaders worldwide have called attention to the ecological issue as a crisis stemming from ill-considered exploitation of nature, a crisis which threatens our existence and alienates us from the world we live in. In May 2015, drawing on this developing awareness and in view of the planned United Nations December Paris Summit Conference on the Environment, Pope Francis issued a major Document, Laudato Si’, addressed to “every person living on this planet” inviting “dialogue with all people about our common home.” He invited leaders of other religious communities to do the same. This presentation explores considerations that prompt religious attention to the climateRead the Rest…
January 26, 2021 – 6:13 pm
Sacred Dance artists, Landy Lalita performs the sacred dances that are a part of her own Buddhist practice. She is applying to the GTU as well as other schools to do PhD in Dharmic studies. A native of Taiwan, Landy was a resident at BPMH from May 2020 until January January 2021.
OUR BPMH GRADUATION EVENT WRAP-UP Saturday, May 30th was a bright and happy day in our hearts, if not in the sky as we honored our BPMH graduates. From our two youngest, Makaria and Timmy, leaving pre-school and making the important transition to kindergarten, to our MAs, Sharma and Saad, and Peter our Doctor in Christian Counseling to our proud PhDs, Sukhun and Pasesa, honoring these seven was a joyful experience. We were grateful to Dr. Chai Motupalli (our very own dear Chai) for his thoughtful and timely message to the graduates. Grateful too to each of those graduates who made such inspiring and wise comments at their journeys end. All of the participants in the program, Polly and Art and Sally held the hope that they helped to create something of a fond memory for our graduates in this 2020 year of Covid-19. There is no punctuation mark more fun than a bagpipe procession. That will be a fond memory for us all to enjoy for years to come!
December 28, 2019 – 12:37 am
Berkeley Presbyterian Mission Homes had a Christmas party on December 23rd. Potluck dinner, Scripture reading in various languages, Singing Christmas Hymns, and Fellowship made great party for the community. We deeply thank Mark Coplan for his talent, time, and service as a photographer and video editor for the event. You can visit the website using the link. https://www.flickr.com/photos/54922368@N07/albums/72157712342108642 For the video clip for “Silent Night” singing, please click the link below. (Password: mission)https://vimeo.com/381290269
December 17, 2019 – 6:57 pm
Climate change is a moral challenge that affects all people especially the most vulnerable which often suffer its effects first and most harsh. According to the United Nations “There is alarming evidence that important tipping points, leading to irreversible changes in major ecosystems and the planetary climate system, may already have been reached or passed.” Our faith, our planet, our responsibility aptly sums up our December 11, 2019 event at Berkeley Presbyterian Mission Homes (BPMH) led by Liore Milgrom-Gartner, Director of the Northern California chapter of California Interfaith Power and Light (CIPL), a network of religious communities in California committed to addressing global warming with affiliates across America. During the event, residents discussed environmental stewardship, conservation and the effects of global warming, shared their personal experiences as well learned how religious congregations were engaging in energy and water conservation, making environmentally friendly improvements to their houses of worship, holding training programs and lobbying the government for stronger climate policies and investments in renewable energy. It was an evening of inspiration motivating us to move forward as moral and ethical stewards of the Earth that God has entrusted to us, here on campus, in our faith congregations, communities and the world at large. To find outRead the Rest…
September 12, 2019 – 12:25 am
On Saturday, September 7, the Berkeley Presbyterian Mission Homes held it annual kick off event….The Ice Cream Social.Meeting on the grassy area between it’s two large houses, House A and the Bill Ng House (House B) residents gathered to make ice creamsundaes and ice cream cones. New residents in the Community were introduced. The coolness of the day kept the socializing to a minimum,but the Community all reassembled later that evening for the “Town Meeting.” There are currently 51 people living at the Mission Homes.
The BPMH Community of residents, Board members and Volunteers gathered on Saturday, June 1 for its annual graduation party and BBQ. This year, most of the graduates were the children (sons) of residents: Shan Shan Kashung, son of Johnny and Soyaphy and Erik Ko, son of Yong Kook and Hyun-Jung. Both boys are graduating from pre-school and looking forward to being kindergarteners in the fall. Also Ramaiah Sapolu makes the big move, graduating from elementary school and heading to middle school.We also said congratulation to Lia Rochill, who completed her M Div degree at ABSW and plans to continue on to get her D Min degree.The community also applauded the announcement of this year’s Virginia Hadsell Global Leadership Scholarship, awarded to Linna Gunawan from Indonesia. The party was a fun event with lots of great food, emphasizing the importance of eating a plant-based diet, hence, the BBQ black bean burgers! Well, yes, there was some BBQ chicken too, but at least we got started on reducing our carbon footprint. BPMH will continue to work on this new emphasis at all official community events. This summer BPMH Executive Director, Rev. Sally Juarez, will attend the national conference of Presbyterians for EarthRead the Rest…
The BPMH Community, Board Members & Staff congratulate Kijung Nam who graduated on Thursday, receiving his PhD in Philosophy, with his emphasis in Christian Spirituality. It was a delight to have this long-time former resident and his delightful family on campus again. This evening, Monday May 13th, they return to Korea. We wish them God’s speed and traveling mercies. Lia Rochill also graduated with her M Div from ABSW on Saturday, May 18th. She plans to remain at ABSW and work on her D Min. Here are some photos from Kijung’s and Lia’s Graduation.
January 26, 2019 – 4:28 pm
Hungarian goulash was the featured entre at the dinner that preceded the presentation by Lehel Molnar, archivist for the Unitarian church in Transylvania. While living and working in Romania, Reverend Molnar is Hungarian and so the meal was designed to honor his country and please his palate. The Rev. Lehel Molnar who has served for more than 20 years as Archivist for the Hungarian Unitarian Church in Kolozsvar, Romania, was the guest presenter at a BPMH Multi-faith Program on Wednesday night, January 23. Rev. Molnar is spending a year at Starr King School for the Ministry as this year’s Balazs Scholar. In his presentation, he described the persecution that Unitarians endured during the Counter-reformation and under 20th century Communism. He described the digitization of the historic Unitarian documents that is now taking place under his direction and he summarized the key features of the Unitarian faith tradition.
January 10, 2019 – 8:44 pm
The Berkeley Presbyterian Missions Homes community gathered on January 5 to culminate the holiday season with an Epiphany party that included a sumptuous pot luck dinner, a beautiful service of lessons and carols featuring the Epiphany story, the “gift game” and the cutting and serving of a tres leche cake, complete with the baby (3) Jesus baked into the batter. It was a marvelous party for adults and children alike.