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Interview With Sheri Benvenuti

Women in Leadership

Sheri Benvenuti

Sheri Benvenuti currently serves as vice president for student affairs and associate professor of social ethics at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California. She is a past vice president at LIFE Bible College in San Dimas, California. As a college professor, she not only is a leader in many capacities, but she is also training leaders for future ministry.

Sheri’s ministry experience spans over 25 years. She has served the Body of Christ in many ways during this time including evangelistic, youth, music, and pastoral ministry as well as being a very effective speaker at conferences, seminars and retreats.

Judy Rachels, member of the Women in Ministry Task Force and Women’s Ministries director of the Southern California District of the Assemblies of God, conducted the following interview.

We’d like to get to know you! Tell us about your earliest family memories. How do you think your formation was affected by your family life?

One of my earliest memories is of sitting in the church orchestra playing my child-size guitar. I was way too young to know how to actually play the thing (around age 3, I think), but Dad had tuned the strings to play a C chord, so at least every fourth strum or so I blended in.

Dad and Mom were evangelists before I was born, and when I came along, they simply made me one of the evangelistic team. Mom tells me they would just pile the collapsible crib on top of the Buick, and off we would go to the next church. When my brother was born, Dad and Mom decided it would be too difficult to travel with two kids, so they settled down to pastor a church. I was not only thrilled with my new baby brother, but also that we would be staying in one town long enough to allow me to take piano lessons. By the time I was about eight years old, Dad had me playing for the Wednesday night service (I was both cheap and reliable). So, I guess you could say, I simply grew up in ministry. But more than that, I grew up involved in ministry.

Tell us how you recognized God’s call on your life.

Several years ago, I was asked to lead worship at a women’s luncheon being held during the International Convention of the Foursquare Churches in Dallas, Texas. I thought it would be fun to take my mom along. I remember so clearly sitting at a large table of women, some questioning my call to ministry "since I was a woman." Before I could even get my mouth open to answer, my mom jumped in and said, "Listen, Sheri had no more choice about her call than Abraham did. I was there when she was born and trust me, God’s hand was on her life before she took her first breath." That’s mom’s version.

There was for me, however, a real moment in time that I look back to when I felt, "THE CALL." Americans used to drive really BIG cars in the "olden days." So big that a 7-year-old could stretch out in the back seat "deck." Of course, I had to fight my brother for this coveted space. But there I was one night coming home from my Grandmother’s house, looking up through the back window into the billions of stars in the sky. I began to sing a little song I had made up about my love for the Lord when I suddenly felt God overwhelm me with His presence. Somehow, even at that young age, I knew God wanted me to work for him. I can honestly say I have had many desires since that moment, but none greater than my true desire to be obedient to God’s call.

Tell us about your ministry journey.

My adult ministry has consisted of time spent as an evangelist, music minister/worship leader, youth pastor, associate pastor and even as an interim pastor a couple of times. A real shift in direction came when I decided, at age 32, to take a couple of classes at Vanguard University (then Southern California College). Having grown up as a preacher’s kid and then being in ministry on my own for 14 years gave me, what I considered to be, a real education through the School of Hard Knocks. However, by the end of the first week of classes, I began to realize how little I really knew about God, His Word, and even life itself. Those first few classes turned into a new quest to know God as I had never known Him and to understand people in the world in such a way that would help me to better live the kingdom of God embodied.

While I continued to work in full-time ministry at a local church during my academic years, I began to realize what great influence college professors had in young lives. So I found myself, in my late thirties and early forties, sitting in classes with people half my age, learning everything I could. Through a lot of hard work and a series of absolute miracles from God, I returned to Vanguard in 1995 as the associate professor of Social Ethics, living out the dream of giving back to the place that had given me so much.

What is your life passion?

Outside of my passion to retire on the island of Maui, my true passion is God Himself and the people Christ died for. I have learned that, especially as a single woman, loving God and loving people is the lowest common denominator for living. Loving God means I obey his commandments and loving people means I am a servant. How better to live this life?

What is your best advice to women who are trying to discern the will of God in their lives?

First expand your definition of "ministry." Not long ago, a woman told me she would drive by the local high school and have such a burden for the kids that stood smoking across the street,waiting for the bell to ring. She told me the only thing she could think to do was to feed them—teenagers are always hungry. So, she began to feed them doughnuts and juice. She told me that the first couple of mornings, the kids thought she was a narcotics officer and were a bit reticent to talk with her. But after she convinced them she was "just a mom who wanted to feed them breakfast," they began to open up to her and talk to her about issues in their lives. Her relationship with these high school kids eventually developed into a home Bible study, with literally dozens of kids giving their hearts to the Lord as a result. That high school, in Small Town, U.S.A., experienced great revival simply because a mom wanted to feed a few kids breakfast. Now that’s ministry!

Then, put simply, it is God’s will that, "none should perish, but that all be brought to repentance." Finding God’s will is sometimes as easy as asking the question, "Having been given the gifts that I have, how can I reach my neighborhood for Christ?" Or "How can I use my gifts to express God’s love to someone today?" I think we get the idea that ministry is preaching or teaching; most people seem to want to be the mouth in the body of Christ. But once we’re done talking, then we get to BE Christ’s witnesses. So much of Jesus’ ministry was outside the synagogue simply because that was where the "wheat ripe unto harvest" was. Christ’s Great Commission, "Go into the world and make disciples," not only describes the laying on of hands and the commissioning of missionaries. The Greek suggests that this verse could be better understood, "While you are going, make disciples." We come upon ministry opportunities every day of our lives. It’s time we make the renewed commitment to take Jesus to the world once again.

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