2024 McPherson Lectureship

2024 McPherson Lectureship

Please join us for the 2024 McPherson Lectureship on Sunday, March 10, with Willie James Jennings, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School.

Dr. Jennings is a graduate of Calvin College, later earning the M. Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary and the Ph.D. in Religion and Ethics from Duke University. He taught at Duke Divinity School and served as the interim pastor of several North Carolina Churches, before accepting his current position at Yale. Jennings is an ordained Baptist minister who is widely recognized for his writing in the areas of liberation theologies, cultural identities, and anthropology. He is the author of The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (Yale, 2010), Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate (Westminster/John Knox, 2017), and After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging (Eerdmans, 2020).

If you’d like to order copies of Dr. Jennings’ books in advance from Rofhiwa Books, please use this link.

Sunday, February 25 and March 3

In anticipation of Dr. Jennings’ visit, we will discuss some broad ideas from his writings in the Faith and Community Faith Formation Class. Steve Rimmer and Lea Bingham will lead the discussion on February 25, and  Susan Dunlap will lead the class on February 3. Participants could re-read Chapters 1-10 of the Book of Acts in preparation.

Sunday, March 10

Dr. Jennings will be speaking at the following events:

9:45-10:45       Faith and Community Faith Formation Class, Watts-Hill Hall

11:00-12:00     Worship Service

3:30-5:00         Community Conversation Watts-Hill Hall (childcare available, but please RSVP  by calling the church office)

The McPherson Lectureship is dedicated to enriching the faith and life of First Presbyterian Church as well as the Durham, NC community. This lectureship is made possible through an endowment initially given to FPC by the McPherson family in memory of lifelong members Dr. and Mrs. Samuel D. McPherson, Sr, and Dr. Samuel D. McPherson, Jr. It was established in 1999 by Mrs. Margaret “Peaches” McPherson (wife of Dr. McPherson, Jr.) and her family. Following Mrs. McPherson’s passing in 2018, the lectureship now also honors her life of service and generosity.

Monday, March 11

9:00-10:45        Clergy Breakfast, Watts-Hill Hall (please RSVP to the church office)

Proposed Building Expansion – Update 2024

Proposed Building Expansion – Update 2024

Proposed Building Expansion – Current Design

Check out this walk-through video of the proposed new entrance to the foyer and fellowship hall.

FPC Winter Blood Drive a Success!

FPC Winter Blood Drive a Success!

Thank you to the 20+ donors who showed up on Thursday, February 1 to give blood. Thank you for helping make our winter blood drive a success! Our next drive will be in May.

For more information on giving blood, contact Julie Whiddon (919-730-6673), FPC’s organizer and Red Cross volunteer.

Prayer for Israel: A Nation at War

Prayer for Israel: A Nation at War
Dear friends,
Last week, when our friends at the Jewish Community Center and Judea Reform had their lives interrupted by yet another threat of violence in the form of a bomb threat, I began to compose a letter to you. Before I finished that letter, intense violence broke out in Israel and Gaza as Hamas brazenly and violently attacked Israel. Hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians have been killed as a result. Many others have been kidnapped and are being held hostage. Destruction abounds across the region. We cannot be silent in the face of such horror.   We have friends and neighbors in Durham who have already been dealing with persecution, threats, and hateful rhetoric against them because of their faith, race, and culture. They have friends and family members in Israel and Palestine and are terrified about what might happen to them, or what already has happened.  

As Christians, we follow a leader of peace. Jesus never chose violence as a solution. Violence is not the answer for people of faith who live in a covenant of love with God and with our neighbors.   While there are many things we cannot do in this horrendous situation, we can offer words and gestures of support and kindness to our neighbors in Durham who are feeling attacked locally and globally. As others lash out with antisemitism and religious hatred, we can offer our prayers and support and seek to counterbalance the darkness and despair with regular infusions of light and hope.  

I invite you to join with me in this prayer for peace among all the nations:

God of all the nations, we cry out to you for peace. We cry out for an end to acts of hatred and violence against innocent people of all ages in Israel and Gaza. We pray for an end to the horror. Stop the madness. Bring about the peace and love that we are called to share with our neighbors of every race and creed. May anything and everything we do here reflect that peace and love you have shown us through Jesus. God give us peace. Give the world peace. Save your people. Save us all. We lift our voices in prayer. Amen.  

With love,
Mindy  

FPC’s second campaign to reduce medical debt a great success!

FPC’s second campaign to reduce medical debt a great success!

Our Phase 2 Building Beloved Community campaign to reduce medical debt in North Carolina is another success story. This campaign began May 1 of 2023 and concluded on July 31. With the help of some of our church friends in the Triangle, a total of $34,030.18 was received in donations. Those funds have already been distributed and eliminated over $7.5 million dollars in medical debt to citizens in North Carolina. Thank you so much for your generous giving.

Click here to see how the money was distributed.

Cash Bail Bond Resolution

Cash Bail Bond Resolution

May 22, 2023

To: The NC House of Representatives, The NC Senate and the Governor

From: First Presbyterian Church, Durham, NC

Copy: Ed Johnson, Stated Clerk of New Hope Presbytery

Dear Legislators and Governor Cooper,

Article XI, section 4 of the Constitution of North Carolina reads as follows:

“Welfare policy….

Beneficent provision for the poor, the unfortunate, and the orphan is one of the first duties of a civilized and a Christian state….”

However, the State of North Carolina maintains a cash bail bond system that systematically exploits “the poor, the unfortunate,” in direct violation of the “first duty” as claimed in the NC Constitution.

The Constitution of the State of North Carolina continues to look to a Christian moral compass especially, but not exclusively, in regard to the treatment of the poor. In that regard, Christian Scripture clearly calls us to extend special compassion and consideration for the poor and needy.

The Constitution of the State of North Carolina continues to look to a Christian moral compass especially, but not exclusively, in regard to the treatment of the poor. In that regard, Christian Scripture clearly calls us to extend special compassion and consideration for the poor and needy.

a. “Open your hand to the poor and needy…” (Deut. 15:11).

b. “You shall not withhold the wages of the poor and needy laborers… You shall pay their wages daily because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them, otherwise they might cry out to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt” (Deut. 24: 14-15).

c. “Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honor him” (Proverbs 14:31).

d. “The Lord enters into judgment with the elders and princes of his people. It is you who have devoured the vineyard, the spoil of the poor is in your houses” (Isaiah 3:14).

e. Jeremiah contrasts the good King Josiah and the bad King Jehoiakim. The only criteria distinguishing them was that the poor benefited from the government of Josiah while Jehoiakim instead invested in cedar siding and gold trimming in his luxurious house. Jeremiah declares harsh condemnation on Jehoiakim: “Are you (Jehoiakim) a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father (Josiah) eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy. Is not this to know me? says the Lord. But your eyes and heart are only on your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, for practicing oppression and violence” (Jer. 22:15-17).

f. Jesus implores his disciples to benefit the poor, and to never exploit them for personal gain.

g. Jesus “unrolled the scroll and found the place that it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free…’” (Luke 4: 17-19).

h. “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled” (Luke 6:20-21).

i. “And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me’” (Matthew 25:40).

j. “We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us – and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees his brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?” (1 John 3:17-18).

k. “They (the apostles in Jerusalem) asked only one thing, that we remember the poor…” (Galatians 2:10).

l. “But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you to court?” (James 2:6).

Fidelity to the NC Constitution then requires changes to the current cash bail system which exploits the poor. Considerable empirical evidence demonstrates that the cash bail system is inequitable and ineffective. The cash bail system requires pretrial defendants to pay hundreds to thousands of dollars to keep from going to jail. Because of economic challenges, a significant portion of these arrestees lack the 10%-15% non-refundable premium a bail agent charges, so they end up spending weeks and months in jail awaiting trial. Courts, often secured through bail bondsmen, typically result in low-income individuals agreeing to usurious borrowing terms to obtain funds. Several municipalities and states throughout the United States, and a few places in North Carolina, have successfully enacted other approaches to pretrial requirements for defendants accused of misdemeanors and some nonviolent felonies.

Additionally, the current bail bond system is more expensive financially to the State than the proposed changes offered by the NC House Bill 271.  Enacting NC House Bill 271 will save the state money.

Multiple studies, including the work of Jessica Smith, W.R. Kenyan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Government at UNC School of Government, report the need for change based on four problems with the current system: public safety (wealthier individuals can buy their way out of incarceration); costs to taxpayers; fairness; and racial and ethnic disparities.

WHEREAS, the vast majority of the jail population increase since 2000 was caused by the detention of individuals prior to trial (pretrial) of which 60% to 70% were classified nonviolent minimum-security;

WHEREAS, the Class Three misdemeanor cases addressed in NC House Bill 271 do not constitute a risk of flight;

WHEREAS, at least 70% of people held in local jails are not convicted of any crime;

WHEREAS, the inability to make cash bail extracts an untold human cost on the accused due to their loss of employment, housing and, often times, family support;

WHEREAS, there are proven instances of inadequate health care for incarcerated persons, death and injury suffered by incarcerated persons;

WHEREAS, bail set for people of color exceeds that for whites by 35%;

WHEREAS, three out of four criminal cases in state trial courts are for misdemeanors that, if proved, would result in fines and/or less than a year in jail;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Session of First Presbyterian Church of Durham, NC petitions the NC legislature to pass NC House Bill 271.  Additionally, the First Presbyterian Church petitions the Presbytery of New Hope to endorse the passage of NC House Bill 271.  The Session encourages the Presbytery to encourage each church session in the Presbytery of New Hope to adopt this resolution and to contact their state representatives and Senators.  Furthermore, that the Stated Clerk of the Presbytery convey this stand to every NC Representative, Senator, and the Governor.  The Stated Clerk is directed to communicate this resolution to the Presbyteries of Western North Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Salem, and Charlotte for consideration and adoption.