This summer’s theme is The Dinner Guest Series. Each service leader will choose a person/persons that they’d like to have dinner with and then base a sermon around the teachings of their life. This Sunday’s ‘dinner guest’ is David Bentkofsky. Led by Allan Bentkofsky.
Allan’s father, David Bentkofsky, the first born son of Orthodox Jewish parents, was ostracized and disowned by his family after he married Allan’s mother, Margaret, an Italian Roman Catholic. Allan grew up mostly with no faith tradition. However, whether intentionally or not, his father taught him a simple lesson, which led him to Unitarian Universalism.
Summary:
This sermon explores a speaker’s personal journey toward Unitarian Universalism, beginning with the ancestral trauma of his father being disowned by an Orthodox Jewish family for marrying a Catholic woman. While his father did not pass down formal religious rituals, he instilled a foundational ethic of “being nice,” which the speaker eventually identifies as a precursor to the Golden Rule. The sermon traces the speaker’s rejection of rigid Catholic dogma and his search for a faith tradition that emphasizes empathy and human dignity over judgment. By examining ethical frameworks like the Platinum Rule and the concept of “holding space,” the sermon illustrates how active listening and compassion define his spiritual life. Ultimately, the speaker seeks to reconcile with his family history by applying these values of understanding and pluralism to his own grandfather’s perspectives. This reflection serves as a testament to how simple acts of kindness can evolve into a profound, lifelong theological commitment.