Grateful for FPC: Joe Harvard, Pastor Emeritus
Dear Friends,
Let me share with you why Carlisle and I are enthusiastic about increasing our financial pledge to FPC for 2025. When I retired as pastor in 2013, I told the congregation the best gift you could give me was to be stronger in 10 years. You have exceeded my expectations!
Thanks to Mindy, John, Esther, Kathy, and Lenore for providing excellent leadership in worship, service, and building an inclusive community among all ages! Coming out of the challenges of Covid, FPC has recovered and is vibrant with lots of children, new members, and young adults. It is thrilling to see the large number of children come to the front with their parents during worship!
The ministries seeking justice, mercy, and supporting inclusion are impressive. We hope you will join us in continuing or beginning your support of this vibrant Beloved Community with your time, talents, and resources.
Carlisle and I continually thank God for the joy of participating in the life and ministry of FPC!
Celia Dickerson
One’s Faith Journey is lifelong. My own journey ever surprises me with its revelation. Being a part of the Faith Journey for our youngsters has brought me joy and appreciation of what humans intuitively know: that we can live in hope while we question what brings us both joy and sadness.
My earliest memories of Sunday School (as we called it for decades) shape what I want our children to experience on their Faith Journeys. That means both what I don’t want it to be and what it can be.
Twenty years ago, I was enjoying the rich discussions in our adult Faith and Community class, visiting social issues, contemporary literature, and ethical dilemmas. My grandchildren, then ages 5,6, and 8, came to live with me, and I put them in the Sunday School. I mentioned to my beloved Aunt Fran that since I was asking others to teach my three, I should do it, too. She gave me this rule: for every child you have in the program, you owe 7 years yourself. “No, Fran! You mean I owe 21 years?!” It has been 20 years, and though my kids are adults, I am still teaching. About 20 years ago, FPC and our visionary associate pastor, Marilyn Hedgpeth, invested in the purchase of the materials and training of the volunteers in a unique curriculum called Godly Play. Godly Play asks the children to “wonder,” not read and memorize.
Currently, we use Godly Play in the 3 rd -5 th -grade classroom. No one insists: “This is what the scripture means.” We don’t give an imagined picture of humans in these millennia-old situations. Instead, we tell a story of the Bible and ask the children what THEY think it means. With hand-crafted wood props (an ark, a desert box, a temple, a fishing boat), we give them a visual anchor to remember later in life. This serves to impress on all the Bible’s relevance to the choices we face.
Our children are amazing theologians. Allowing them to articulate what is in their heads as they travel on their own Faith Journey is a profound experience every Sunday. We teachers often remark on what deep thinkers they can be.
In 2024, my pledge to First Presbyterian is in gratitude to God for the rewarding experience I have in this ministry of Faith Formation. I invite you to join me in pledging to support the Faith Journey of all.
Steve Rimmer
As I enter my eighty-fifth year, I am reflecting on my early childhood. I do not remember a time that The Church was not a central part of my life. I grew up in a small NC town, the son of a working mom and
dad. They made it clear that going to church was a commitment that included tithing.
Granted, our societal and religious beliefs have substantially changed since then. However, all of this
came to mind after the Stewardship committee requested that I write an article detailing my personal
history in the context of Stewardship and my pledge/tithe to First Presbyterian Church. Without my knowledge or input, our minister and my dad decided for me. I was going to our denominational college to get a business degree and make something of myself, and there would be no baseball. College was ok, but accounting did not light up my life. Sometime in my fourth year, I found myself about to graduate with no plan.
It was also in that fourth year that something changed. To this day I am still unsure of what. I wound up in the seminary across the street from the college. Three years later I graduated again, accepted my first call to a church in Charlotte, NC, and was ordained. My life that was just aimlessly plodding along was suddenly going faster and in a direction that I did not believe was possible. The next four years went even faster. With our baby (Lyn) in our arms, we headed out to greet a totally new world: The United States Navy Chaplaincy. It started in Newport, Rhode Island, for basic training and on to a Destroyer Squadron in San Diego, CA. In less than a year I was off to the Danang Harbor, Vietnam, leaving behind my wife Martha and four-year-old daughter, Lyn. After almost 27 years of a happy and fulfilling ministry with the Navy, it was time to find a new life out of uniform, initially in Jacksonville, FL. Later, in the year 2010, Martha and I moved back to tar heel country and the land of our birth. In 2011, while searching for a church home, a chance meeting with a college friend (Robert Brawley) led to an invitation to come to FPC. Our first day here was a very different and unexpected experience. This church, unlike any other, actually made us feel welcome, and within a few visits, we felt that we had found our church home. The years since have proved that to be a good decision. Within two years, Lyn and her husband John also moved to North Carolina and joined us at First Pres.
And now the real reason for this article. We are approaching the season when most churches begin to
focus on budget needs. The Stewardship committee would like you to start mulling over questions like:
How do we meet our monetary needs to continue the current ministry? What do we envision our ministry to be in the future, including our outreach? And how do we pay salaries, electric bills, etc.? All legitimate questions that need lots of prayers and lots of action. This is when the subject of Stewardship comes to the fore. Stewardship is another way of saying we are here to be caretakers of the world that comes to us through the Grace of God. FPC has a wonderful history of Being God’s presence and stewards in this community. “Downtown by choice,” a monicker of this Church, attracts a diverse, inclusive, and complex membership that simply wants and seeks to “Be” The Body of Christ, where no one is ever turned away.
Sunday morning gatherings find a community of believers warmly greeting each other and welcoming visitors who come to check out for themselves if what they have heard about FPC is true. And yes, the message of agape and acceptance is preached every Sunday, and the music is as rich and diverse as are the congregates. Another amazing part of each Sunday morning is the number of adults who bring their children down front for “A Time with Children.” A blessing in and of itself but a great example that the ordained leadership of this congregation is thinking of the future.
Specifically, as we think of the future of First Presbyterian, I encourage you to think of yourselves as individuals who are “caretakers” of something bigger than any one person. God calls you to be here and to share your gifts with others. Our gathering place is a beautiful and historic building that is a beacon in the heart of Durham, a safe harbor for all to see. But, we have a mission that is way beyond this sanctuary. This does not just happen. YOU, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU, MAKES THIS HAPPEN. Your attendance is a first step, but I am challenging each of you to contemplate what you can do that reflects how important this church is to you and how you might challenge others to join you in this ministry of faith. Stewardship is one of the ways we take care of the world that God has given/blessed us with, but there are always forces that would lure us into believing that what we do does not matter. IT MATTERS! When you see children gather with their parents, in your heart you know! FPC needs your. financial support to be sure, but it also needs people of faith not to hide their gifts under a basket but to cherish this pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45).
A Stewardship Journey: Patti and Jim Rogers
Stewardship has been an integral part of my faith journey since childhood. My earliest memory of
Sunday school was putting pennies in a basket for the Congo missionaries sponsored by our church. I
didn’t understand what missionaries did, but I knew that pennies were always part of Sunday school and
putting them in the basket was what I should do. A few years later, stewardship funds paid for our youth
group to take food when we tutored underprivileged children and traveled on youth mission trips.
In the years after college, I became a Christmas Eve Christian without time or interest for church. However, as the hurricane winds of mid-life disarranged me, God opened my eyes and heart to the life that can only be found through divine grace. Finding a church home enabled my first intentional adult faith journey. Engaging in that journey made me aware of the abundance I had received my whole life. Even the worst of times became unexpected treasures. Steadily my childish, self-centered faith became more child-like, trusting God to use even the hard times for good. My faith, which had been from the outside in, became from the inside out. The more difficult change was figuring out how to use God-given gifts to give back to God. Jim and I found a church family who embraced us and showed us in word and action what living stewardship truly means. We became mindful of God’s generosity and the importance of faithfully sharing what we have received with others. Stewardship developed a new meaning in our lives. We learned that Stewardship included giving from our hearts instead of our heads, moving our faith into action, and giving time and talents to the church as a form of worship. Pledging became a promise to engage so that more people might know the blessing of God’s love in us and for us.
More recently, we moved to North Carolina and found a new church home with First Presbyterian. The faith and generosity that are the foundation of FPC’s worship, programs, and missions drew us in and keeps us here. God has given Jim and me so much more than either of us ever hoped for or could have imagined. Giving back through FPC helps us stay mindful of the profound generosity of God’s many blessings. Jim and I invite you to join us in making your pledge to FPC’s 2025 stewardship campaign.
Community at FPC: Mary Ashley Rose and Taylor Kings
Attending a Presbyterian Church has been a lifelong journey for me. Growing up, I spent my summers at Montreat with my youth group from FPC Rocky Mount, which deeply shaped my faith. When I moved to Durham, I knew I wanted to continue strengthening that faith as I transitioned from a youth participant into a committed adult. One of my close friends, a Presbyterian reverend, recommended First Presbyterian Church and another local congregation. Though I initially planned to visit both, after my first Sunday at First Presbyterian, I knew I had found my spiritual home.
From the very beginning, I was warmly welcomed by the congregation. Despite its size, I felt recognized as a new face, and that sense of belonging made all the difference. Since then, I’ve been blessed to become involved in many aspects of our community. I’ve accompanied middle schoolers on a mission trip, spent two summers with our youth at Montreat, and now proudly serve as a deacon on the Welcoming and Belonging Committee. I also have the privilege of ushering every fourth Sunday with Taylor, helping to ensure that both visitors and members feel at home.
Community involvement doesn’t stop there. Taylor and I had the pleasure of hosting the Somethings group for a Friendsgiving gathering, and I’ve watched with joy as this group continues to grow and thrive. It’s truly inspiring to see how many different spaces there are for connection at First Presbyterian. Whether it’s through my work with the youth, the Somethings, or the Welcoming and Belonging Committee, I’m constantly reminded of the vibrant and diverse community we’re building together.
My pledge to First Presbyterian Church is offered with deep gratitude to God, supporting the
church’s mission and ministries. I encourage you to join me in this commitment, allowing our community to grow and flourish. Additionally, I invite you to consider giving your time and talents to strengthen our congregation. If you are interested in serving as an usher, please feel free to reach out to me or Wil James.
